Donnybrook
| Donnybrook Irish: Domhnach Broc | |
| County Dublin | |
|---|---|
 Donnybrook Road, looking towards Stillorgan | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | O169318 |
| Location: | 53°19’26"N, 6°14’24"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | D04 |
| Dialling code: | 01 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dublin |
| Dáil constituency: |
Dublin Bay South |
| Website: | donnybrooktidytowns.ie |
Donnybrook is a village of county Dublin which has become a district of the City of Dublin. It stands on the southside of the city. The name of the village is from the Irish Domhnach Broc, meaning 'Church of Saint Broc'.
The River Dodder runs through Donnybrook and at one time there was a ford here. It is subject to periodic serious flooding and in 1628 one of the Usshers of Donnybrook Castle was drowned while trying to cross.[1]
This is home to the Irish public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann. It was once part of the Pembroke Township.
History
Donnybrook Fair dates from a charter of King John in 1204 and was held annually until 1866. It began as a fair for livestock and agricultural produce but later declined, growing into a more of a carnival and funfair. Drunkenness, fighting, and hasty marriages [2] became commonplace and the people of Donnybrook were anxious that it should cease. Eventually, the fair's reputation for tumult was its undoing. From the 1790s on there were campaigns against the drunken brawl the fair had become. After a good deal of local fundraising, the patent was bought by a group of prominent residents and clergy, who ended the fair. The Fair took place on lands now occupied by Donnybrook Rugby Ground and the Ever Ready Garage. The word donnybrook has since entered the English language to describe a rowdy brawl.
Donnybrook Castle was an Elizabethan mansion and residence of the Ussher family. James Ussher was appointed Archbishop of Armagh in the Church of Ireland by Queen Elizabeth I. The mansion was replaced in 1795 by the existing Georgian house. It is now occupied by the Religious Sisters of Charity.[3]
Donnybrook Graveyard dates back to the 8th century and was once the location of a church founded by St Broc. It was also the site of Catholic and Protestant churches, both called St Mary's. Those buried in it include Dr. Bartholomew Mosse, the founder of the Rotunda Hospital, Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, architect of the Irish Houses of Parliament on College Green and Dr. Richard Madden, biographer of the United Irishmen. It is possible that the wall on the south side of the cemetery is the oldest man-made structure still existing in Donnybrook. The brick chimney behind the cemetery was built on the site of a former marble works and later served as a Magdalene laundry.
Sport
Donnybrook is the traditional home of rugby union in Leinster. The headquarters of the Irish Rugby Football Union Leinster Branch is located opposite Donnybrook Stadium, where the professional Leinster team played their home games until recently. Kiely's pub in Donnybrook village is a traditional social point for rugby fans.[4]
- Cricket: Merrion Cricket Club
- Football: Belmont Football Club, with its home ground in Herbert Park
- Rugby clubs:
- Bective Rangers
- Old Wesley
- Tennis:
Outside links
- Donnybrook Parish (Sacred Heart Church)
- Historyeye|Seaview Terrace- a history
- Donnybrook Tidy Towns Web Site
References
- ↑ Moriarty, Christopher Down the Dodder Wolfhound Press 1991 p.155
- ↑ "Definition of DONNYBROOK". http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/donnybrook.
- ↑ Beatrice Doran, "Donnybrook: A History", Dublin, The History Press, 2013
- ↑ Kielys of Donnybrook
- Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive: 'donnybrook'
- Dublin's Famous People and Where They Lived by John Cowell
- Igoe, Vivien: 'A Literary Guide To Dublin'