Garristown
| Garristown Irish: Baile Gháire | |
| County Dublin | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | O071587 |
| Location: | 53°34’0"N, 6°22’60"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 433 (2011) |
| Post town: | Garristown |
| Postcode: | A42 |
| Dialling code: | 01 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fingal |
| Dáil constituency: |
Dublin Fingal |
Garristown is a village and civil parish in County Dublin, five miles north of Ashbourne.[1] It is located in hilly country, sloping down from west to east, with views towards the hills around the Naul. The village centre is 400 ft above sea level.[2] Garristown is also a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical parish in the Fingal North deanery.
Location
Garristown is 11 mies north of Swords, and around five miles north east from Ashbourne. It a short distance from Ballymadun.[3]
History
Records from 1200 show John Comyn, Archbishop of Dublin, granting the church at Garristown to the priory of Lanthony. William de Bardelby, later a senior judge, was parish priest here in 1318. By 1607, features included a windmill at Holtrass hill and two other mills, with 326 acres of land within the townland.[2] The village is also recorded in the Down Survey (1654). The mediæval church was later replaced by a Church of Ireland church.
Garristown's current street formation has not changed much since the Rocques map of County Dublin (ca. 1746).[2] In 1837, the village had a population of 741, and the surrounding civil parish 2,801. There was a police station, a dispensary, a windmill and churches of both the Church of Ireland (with a ruined residence constructed in 1791) and the Roman Catholic Church (built in 1828), along with one national school for boys and two private schools. There were three fairs a year, and the area had natural resources in the form of stone and peat.[3]
A new Roman Catholic church, the Church of Assumption, was dedicated on 10 June 1906.
The village today
The main street of Garristown runs north to south, with a tree-lined mall on the western side, and the central area where Main Street meets the Naul Road.[2] The population today is under 400 persons, and there is an active 'Community Council'. The police barracks in the centre of the village dates from the 19th century, and the Carnegie Library, still operational, from the early 20th century. The library was renovated in the 2000s.
Other amenities include a primary school and a community centre, which was a secondary school, Garristown VEC, which, after closure, was acquired by the community council, and converted into the multi-purpose hall and ancillary facilities. This centre is used by sub-groups of the community council, by the local branch of the Irish Countrywomen's Association, local scout groups (the 76th Garristown) and the youth club.[2]
Other key buildings include the Church of the Assumption and the former Church of Ireland and cemetery. The base of the windmill also survives. There is a bottle bank near the entrance to the old church yard opposite the butchers shop.
Sport
The local GAA club, Garristown GFC, has its grounds to the east. It has 11 teams and a new clubhouse with a small gym inside and the recent development of the pitch has made it one of the best pitches in the county. Other local groups include Garristown Gun Club and Garristown Historical Society and the Arena Airsoft Club.[2]
Business
There is one open public house, a butchers shop, small supermarket, one hair dressing salon and a service station. The village is served by a Garda station.
References and notes
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Garristown) |