Raheny
| Raheny Irish: Ráth Eanaigh | |
| County Dublin | |
|---|---|
 The Sexton's Lodge, Raheny | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | O215382 |
| Location: | 53°22’49"N, 6°10’30"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | First argument to "number_format" must be a number. (2006; est.) |
| Dialling code: | 01 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dublin |
| Dáil constituency: |
Dublin Bay North |
| Website: | www.raheny.com |
Raheny is a village which has become a suburb of Dublin, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in AD 570[1]. The area shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint Anne's Park and Bull Island with its three-mile beach, with neighbouring Clontarf, and is crossed by several small watercourses.
The coastal hamlet grew rapidly in the 20th century and is now a mid-density Northside suburb with a village core.
Location and access
Raheny runs from the coast inland, with its centre about five miles from Dublin city centre and four miles from Dublin Airport. Nearby areas include Killester, Clontarf, Artane, Kilbarrack, Coolock and Donaghmede, and the skyline is dominated by Howth Head.
Raheny railway station, opened on 25 May 1844,[2] overlooking the village centre.
Much of the district is situated on gently rising ground, with a bluff overlooking Bull Island at Maywood and Bettyglen, and further rises from the village centre to the station and then to Belmont or Mount Olive, a hill which once featured a windmill.
Opposite and beyond Belmont was once an area of sunken land with limestone quarries[3] but this was landfilled, much of it with urban refuse, and then partly levelled and converted into a city park, Edenmore Park, in the late 1960s.[4]
Historical features
Ráth (ringfort)
At the heart of Raheny lie the remains of a large ancient ringfort (or ráth) from which the area gets its name. The ráth extends under the centre of the modern village, from beside the Santry River, including some marshy ground, to the Roman Catholic church, Windsor Motors, the Scout Den and the two St. Assam's Churches. Some excavations were carried out in the 1970s, giving an idea of its size (probably c. 110m across) and structure.[5] The old church and graveyard complex behind the village plaza may reflect a remnant of the rath, as does some embankment behind the Scout Den.
During the 19th century, significant changes to the village, especially the centre, occurred, as a result of work on the Howth Road by the Telford Engineering Company; prior to this, the road entered the village at the bottom of the central hill, turning sharply coastwards at the top of Main Street. Works to straighten the road resulted in a reduction of the old ringfort.
Churches
The ruined St. Assam's Church, dating from a 1712 reconstruction of a 1609 building, is believed to be the successor to early religious settlement. The later St. Assam's Church, opposite it, was built from 1859, in the period when Roman Catholics regained the right to have their own churches and opened in 1864.
Raheny was also the site of two holy wells. The first of these, St. Ann's Well, gave its name to St. Anne's Park.[6] The site of this well is still visible under a stone cupola by the boating lake in the park, but it has been dry for several decades, despite efforts by municipal authorities to restart it. The second well, dedicated to the patron saint of the area, St. Assam, lay in the field which now holds the Church of Our Lady Mother of Divine Grace. When last recorded, it was marked by a depression in the ground but was later, in the 20th century, covered over, and its waters diverted into the Santry River.[7]
Raheny-on-the-Strand
There was, at least by the 18th century, a hamlet, a "second Raheny", Lower Raheny or Raheny-on-the-Strand, in the area of Black Bush[8] and by the coastal point known as the "Whip of the Water" - where the Howth Road on its then route, and Fox Stream, met the sea.[9] There was a beach road here, later washed away, then succeeded by the tram line to Howth. The current coastal road, the James Larkin Road, is a much more recent construction.
Mills and quay
In the 18th century, Raheny had a water mill near the mouth of the Santry River, in ruins by 1757; this gave the name to the lane from the village down to the coastal road, now Watermill Road. There were also two windmills, a rare item on the map of the Dublin area. One of the latter, mapped as "Old Windmill", was situated on the Howth Road, on the slope above the Naniken River, and the other, "The Mill of Raheny", on Belmont hill, where the Capuchin friary now stands. There was also a stone wharf where the lane from the village came down to join the coastal road.
Crescent Cottages
Eight cottages in a crescent formation on Station Road near the junction with the Howth Road are among the oldest buildings in the village, having been built around 1790 by local resident Samuel Dick, then Governor of the Bank of Ireland. The cottages served as residences for men who worked on Mr. Dick's estate. The cottages are informally known as the "Doh-Ray-Mee" cottages due to their resemblance to piano keys. The cottage nearest to the Manhattan pub was once the village post office. The cottages were willed to a trust to support what is now Springdale School, and aside from one sold, with court permission, to fund capital developments, the rent from the cottages contributes to the running of the school.
Name
Several explanations exist for the origin of the name Raheny: one (from Ráth Éanna) is that it means the ringfort of Éanna, an early local chief, another (Ráth Eanaigh) is that the name derives from eanach, an old Irish word for marsh or swamp, or for a passage through a swampy area.[10] Yet another (deriving from Rath Ain Abha) comes from "Noble Fortress of the Sea".[11] It is a matter unlikely ever to be fully resolved, as the origins of names, especially in areas within the Pale, were lost. Locally, most use Ráth Éanna while officialdom now tends towards Ráth Eanaigh. Until the mid-20th century, many local residents pronounced the English language name as something more like Rahenny or Rathenny, as it was mapped in the 18th century, or Ratheny.
Although there is a range of similar names (such as Rahanna), the name Raheny is nearly unique in Ireland, occurring in just one other locality, a portion of the rural town of Lusk. This once-significant monastic and civil centre in north County Dublin is not very remote but no connection between the two locales is known.
Community organisations and media
- Raheny Heritage Society
- Raheny Toastmasters
- Raheny St. John Ambulance Division[12]
- Raheny Order of Malta unit[13]
- Raheny Community First Responders[14]
Churches
- Church of Ireland: All Saints; built at the expense of Arthur Guinness, 1st Baron Ardilaun of the Guinness family.
- Before this church was built, the parish church was St Assam's Church, dating back to 1712, and previously to 1609
- All Saints' has a Rectory in the grounds, as well as a community hall and a preserved gate lodge for the verger.
- Roman Catholic:
- Church of Our Lady Mother of Divine Grace Raheny, completed in 1962
- A precious church, St Assam's Church, was built between 1859 and 1864, with the same name as the mediæval church. It was later sold and converted to office space.
- St Benedict's
- Plymouth Brethren meeting hall now demolished
Sport
- Gaelic Athletics:
- Raheny GAA, founded in the late 1950s
- St Vincents GAA, now in Marino
- Athletics: Raheny Shamrock Athletic Club
- Football: Raheny United F.C.
- Golf:
- St Anne's Golf Club, founded in 1921 and based at the Raheny end of Bull Island[15]
- The Royal Dublin Golf Club, also on Bull Island
- Tennis: St Anne's Park Tennis Club
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Raheny) |
References
- ↑ Archdall, Mervyn
- ↑ "Raheny station". Railscot – Irish Railways. http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf.
- ↑ "Where". http://www.raheny.com/where.htm.
- ↑ "Edenmore Park before development, late 1960s". https://www.dublincity.ie/image/libraries/021-parks-edenmore.
- ↑ Raheny Parish Golden Jubilee (1st ed.). Dublin, Ireland: Church of Our Lady Mother of Divine Grace Raheny. 2012. pp. 9–11.
- ↑ Sharkey, Joan U. (2004). St. Anne's: The Guinness Estate. 57. p. 134.
- ↑ Dawson, T (September 1976). "The Road to Howth". Dublin Historical Record 29 (4): 127–128.
- ↑ Flood, Donal T. (1 September 1978). "Dublin Bay in the 18th Century". Dublin Historical Record 31 (4): 130.
- ↑ O'Croinin, Michael (n.d.). The Heartland - Heritage - North of the Liffey (1st ed.). Dublin, Ireland: Ray Fay. pp. 3–4.
- ↑ "Foclóir Irish–Béarla (Ó Dónaill): eanach" (in en). https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fgb/eanach.
- ↑ Dublin, Cahill, 1922: Authentic Derivations of Place-Names in County Dublin Traced and Explained With the Aid of Real Evidence, MacNamara, M. A.
- ↑ "Raheny Division – St John Ambulance Ireland". http://www.stjohn.ie/divisions/raheny/.
- ↑ "Order of Malta - Raheny unit (Dublin 5)". http://www.cdysb.ie/Clubs/Directory/Order-of-Malta-Raheny-Unit.aspx.
- ↑ Campbell, Jamie. "National Safety Centre Sponsors Raheny Community First Responders". https://www.nationalsafetycentre.com/blog/raheny-community-first-responders.
- ↑ "St. Anne's Golf Club". https://www.stanneslinksgolf.com/.