Following agreement by SDCC to initiate a Local Area Plan for Clondalkin as part of the County Development Plan 2022-2028, I called a few local groups together to form a working committee under my chairmanship to draw up a Vision for Clondalkin Document that we hope will help inform the Clondalkin Local Area Plan,
We are grateful that all 7 Local area elected Councillors and two elected TDs have added their names to support the document. I want to thank the committee who put in many hours of meetings discussing many issues that affect our area. I also especially want to thank Monica McGill who spent many additional countless hours typing up the finished document after each draft and producing the final draft.
Working in Partnership we can make Clondalkin the best place to Live, Work and Visit!
Go raibh maith agat,
Cllr Francis Timmons
Clondalkin Area Chair 2021-2022
In preparing this document, the Clondalkin Vision Alliance consulted with local groups such as:
Clondalkin Crochet Group
Clondalkin Tidy Towns
The Joe Williams Archive
Clondalkin Helping Homeless
Clondalkin Living History Group
Save Clondalkin Convent Campaign
Clondalkin Handcraft and Horticultural Show
Clondalkin St Patrick’s Day Festival
St Brigid’s Day Festival Committee
Friends of Clondalkin Oilmills Group
Elected Representatives – Dáil Éireann:
Deputy Emer Higgins TD
Deputy Gino Kenny TD
Elected Representatives – South Dublin County Council:
Cllr Peter Kavanagh, Mayor 2021-2222
Cllr Francis Timmons, Local Area Chairman, 2021-2022
Cllr William Carey
Cllr Kenneth Egan
Cllr Trevor Gilligan
Cllr Shirley O’Hara
Cllr Eoin Ó Broin
Clondalkin Vision Alliance Team Members:
Francis Timmons (Chairman)
Eddie Murphy
Carmel Lyons
Pat O’Sullivan
John Cawley
Monica McGill
Supporters of Vision Document. 2
Vision Plan for Clondalkin Village and environs. 6
Economic, Enterprise and Tourism Development (Objectives 1a-7.45) 8
Housing, Social & Community Development: Objectives 8.1 – 8.14. 36
Land Use, Planning and Transportation: Objectives 10.1 – 10.31. 44
Corporate Performance and Change Management: Objectives 11.1- 11.5. 50
A Local Area Plan (LAP) for Clondalkin is included in the South Dublin County Council draft County Development Plan, 2022-2028 – reference QDP14 Objective 3:
“To prepare an LAP for Clondalkin, the extent of the boundary to be defined, which will be guided by the Local Area Plans Guidelines for Planning Authorities, 2013 (Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government) or any superseding guidelines and which will incorporate:
A vision for the development of Clondalkin
Wider urban design principles
Framework plans for larger infill sites
A Conservation Plan
A local Green Infrastructure strategy derived from the County GI Strategy
Transport movement study.”
Clondalkin – the best place to live in, to work in and to visit.
What is a Local Area Plan?
A Local Area Plan (LAP) provides a blueprint of the direction that a local district will take over the life of the LAP – generally, the next 5 or 6 years. It forms part of a stated common purpose between local people and their County Council. An LAP is a legal document. It is in general alignment with the larger Development Plan which impacts on the lives of the people living, working, and visiting the larger region served by the County Council. Therefore, the combination of an LAP and Development Plan helps to establish a two-way process of co-operative and supportive partnership between South Dublin County Council (SDCC) and the people it serves.
In co-operation with elected County Councillors, SDCC is preparing a new Development Plan for 2022-2028. County Councillors are elected by local people, chosen to bring their concerns and suggestions to the County Council about the activities in the locality and region and to inform the County Development Plan when it is being drawn up.
This Vision Plan concentrates on Clondalkin village and the outskirts of the village area. The Strategic Local Objectives (SLOs) in the Draft Development Plan concerning Clondalkin are available at:
and at
for the Errata list regarding unintended omissions and changes from what was agreed.
As far as possible, this Vision Plan is drawn up in alignment with SDCC’s Draft Development Plan for South County Dublin 2022-2028 and addresses local area requirements.
prepared by the Clondalkin Vision Alliance
Clondalkin Vision Alliance (CVA) is a coalition of stakeholders, groups and individuals whose primary aims are to make Clondalkin village a better place to live in, to work in and to visit.
1. To influence and work with South Dublin County Council and other relevant public bodies to align their aims, objectives and plans for Clondalkin’s future with those of the people living in Clondalkin and as part of Ireland’s Ancient East campaign.
2. SDCC has agreed that a Local Area Plan (LAP) for Clondalkin is to be prepared under the County Development Plan (CDP) 2022-28. The CVA has prepared its draft Vision Plan to inform the Local Area Plan.
3. It is intended that this draft Vision Plan will be presented to all Local elected County Councillors and TDs, and local groups with a view to eliciting responses, receiving input, making any necessary changes, and harnessing their support for the Vision Plan.
4. When the final draft of the Vision Plan is ready, it will be presented to SDCC Management for their consideration in the LAP. We hope that positive and fruitful negotiations along with proposals in the draft County Development Plan will result in a final LAP which will be agreed by Elected Members and SDCC and put into effect, thereby fulfilling the Mission Statement of the CVA.
Clondalkin is a busy satellite town of Dublin, with a population of 46,813 according to the 2016 census. Human experience shows that each local area naturally forms its own character within the wider population in which it exists.
© Ben Ryan
Clondalkin village is recognised as being a cohesive, heritage area within the greater Clondalkin district. Clondalkin has already gone through a rigorous 4-year process resulting in its official Líonra Gaeilge status, an area outside the traditional Gaeltachtaí “recognised for its daily use of the Irish language.”[1] Tá aitheantas mar Líonra Gaeilge ag ceantar Chluain Dolcáin, stádas oifigiúil a bronnadh ar an gceantar, faoi choimirce scéim de chuid Roinn na Gaeltachta. Mar thoradh ar mhórobair an phobail chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn trí na hinstitiúidí oideachais agus cultúrtha a bhunaigh siad agus an gréasán cainteoirí a chothaíodh sa limistéar máguaird a tuilleadh an gradam seo. (See SDCC draft Development Plan ref Policy NCBH17, p.113)
A Vision Plan for the village area will underpin its character and continue its status in the larger Clondalkin district and the wider South County region. Increasing the prosperity of Clondalkin village will have a beneficial effect on the entire district of Clondalkin village, its outskirts and North Clondalkin.
℗ Ben Ryan
Economic growth and well-being are some of the acknowledged beneficial impacts on an area. Our vision is to make Clondalkin the best place for people to live in, to work in, and to visit.
The population of Clondalkin’s hinterlands will increase in the near future. New, large-scale developments such as Clonburris SDZ (up to 11,000 households) and City Edge (75,000 jobs and 40,000 homes)[2] described as “one of Europe’s largest urban regeneration projects … for people to live, work and socialise in”[3] means that what Clondalkin village offers to locals and visitors will become even more important soon.
Tourism:
Tourism has been identified as one of the main economic activities which would provide economic improvements for all Clondalkin’s people during the life of this Vision Plan. In this regard, Clondalkin village has much to offer local people and tourists, especially in the light of the South Dublin Tourism Strategy and the ever-increasing interest in genealogy.
B) Clondalkin has an Architectural Conservation Area (ACA). Its heritage is the main component underpinning its tourism offer.
C) Tourism is seasonal. Fewer people visit Ireland from about October to February/March. Clondalkin village will have to attract more people living in Ireland to continue the economic growth of the summer months.
D) Who is a tourist, a visitor? People coming here:
– with no previous connection to Clondalkin.
– coming back to visit family for a short time during the summer.
– to celebrate family, religious, inter-cultural or sports occasions. Clondalkin’s
proximity to the Red Cow interchange provides an opportunity to encourage people to avail of refreshments in the village.
– to trace their ancestors.
E) Where do visitors stay overnight in Clondalkin?
With family and friends
Accommodation partners include:
Hotels: The Maldron, The Green Isle, The Louis Fitzgerald, The Ibis,
The Clarion, The Red Cow, The Aspect
B & B
Camac Valley Caravan Park.
F) Facts and figures: Clondalkin Vision Alliance has carried out some research on visitor numbers, characteristics and behaviours. (See Table 1 overleaf: Visitor numbers).
Table 1: Visitor numbers
| Source | Raw data | Estimated annualised average |
| SDCC visitor data, 2018+2019 over five events to Clondalkin | 1,557 | 779 |
| Visitor data to Brú Chrónáin, 10 months, Sept 2017 – end June 2018 | 2,949 | 3,540 to Brú Chrónáin |
(See details in Appendix 1: Visitor Numbers – Clondalkin, p50.)
Note: Some visitors may have been counted in both sets of data.
Visitor characteristics and behaviours:
Based on the Tourism Ireland 2019 report, it’s more likely that visitors to Clondalkin are aged between 24-30 and returned home primarily to visit relatives.
Two Annual Campaigns: Objectives 1(a) and 1(b)
To increase visitor figures promptly, two campaigns are proposed:
Objective 1(a): Home to Clondalkin Campaign (1 June – 31 August)
* The “Home to Clondalkin” Campaign from 1st June to 31st August, supported and promoted by SDCC in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and media, and in conjunction with local hospitality partners.
Objective 1(b): Make It Home to Clondalkin for Christmas Campaign (20 Dec – 7 Jan)
* The “Make It Home to Clondalkin for Christmas” Campaign during the off-season is aimed at local people living abroad who didn’t come home to Clondalkin during the summer season. Campaign to be supported and promoted by SDCC in partnership with Fáilte Ireland and media, and in conjunction with local hospitality partners.
This campaign to be conducted in tandem with national events taking place such as:
St Brigid’s Festival,
St Patrick’s Day Parade and Festival,
and the Christmas/New Year periods.
Heritage Week
Assets for Protection/Conservation and Enhancement
Three Heritage Buildings and two Heritage Sites needing urgent attention
We have selected three heritage buildings for enhancement and two heritage sites to enlarge Clondalkin’s heritage offering. This would help to increase our visitor numbers, our economic and job opportunities.
Heritage Buildings:
* The two cottages on Main Street dating to the 1800s (to be branded as “Gogarty’s Cottages)
* The old RIC Barracks on Old Nangor Road
Heritage Sites:
* Mount St Joseph Cemetery, Monastery Road
* St Cuthbert’s Church, Moat and Cemetery, at Kilmahuddrick
To help increase footfall, many more heritage and non-heritage activities for locals and tourists could be offered if the suggested heritage buildings and sites were conserved/preserved. As appropriate, they could be put to new, sympathetic uses for visitors and also for existing and new local groups. (See Appendix 2: Additional activities when the Objectives in this document are completed, p51.)
Fairview Oil Mills: Objectives 2.1 – 2.24
Important part of our Industrial Heritage
Fairview Oil Mills are included on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS), reference number 165.
The present Fairview Oil Mills (NIAH reg. no. 11209010) date from 1860-1890[4] and are an important part of the surviving built industrial heritage of our local area.[5] (See Appendix 3, p54.)
Fairview Oil Mills, Clondalkin, approx. 2014 (Photo: South Dublin County Libraries)
Fairview Oil Mills is included in the Draft Development Plan:
NCBH16 Objective 5: To preserve and develop the Fairview Oil Mills, Corkagh Park, near Cherrywood Crescent in Clondalkin as the remains of the mill are a good example of functional industrial architecture and are an important reminder of the industrial heritage of the Clondalkin area.
Fairview Oil Mills, 1 August 2021. Note increased overgrowth since 2014.
Objective 2.1: Fabric of the building to be made sound
SDCC to arrange for the fabric of Fairview Oil Mills to be made sound. This to prevent any further deterioration of the fabric of the building until more permanent work can be carried out on it.
SDCC’s favourable intentions
“The Fairview Oil Mills are located in Corkagh Park and are in SDCC ownership. They are an important historic feature within the park. In order to protect them from further deterioration they were railed off with palisade fencing. The following are the proposals within the Corkagh Park Masterplan 2019.
“Fairview oil mills re-purpose
By respecting the site’s historic park features through the re-use of old structures, an educational trail through the park could be provided. The aspiration for this structure could be an adaptive reuse into an event space, creative studio for local artists or even a food and beverage offer.”
“They are listed in the masterplan as a potential long-term project (not currently funded) and possibly could be the subject of a commercial enterprise (as set out above) to be considered when the masterplan Phase 1 and 2 items are progressed.” (Members’ Reps ID: 1660759. Response dated 19.8.2021)
Re-purposing Fairview Oil Mills will enhance the Clondalkin experience for local people and visitors, help to increase pride of place and the economic and social well-being of the area.
Objective 2.2: Artist-in-Residence
That, in partnership with the Arts Council of Ireland, SDCC explore the possibility of having an Artist-in-Residence at Fairview Oil Mills. (This was one of the possibilities mentioned by SDCC, above.)
Objective 2.3: Food & beverage outlet
That SDCC consider establishing a food & beverage outlet in Fairview Oil Mills. (This was one of the possibilities mentioned by SDCC, above.) As part of the refurbishment of the Oil Mills, modern water-wheels to be installed to generate renewable power for the building.
Objective 2.4 (a): Possible sources of grants for refurbishment & re-purposing
SDCC to seek out and apply for grants from relevant government, semi-government and non-government departments and agencies to assist in renovating, refurbishing and equipping Fairview Oil Mills to the standards required for success.
Objective 2.4 (b): Private owners of heritage buildings
SDCC to contact private owners of heritage buildings to inform them of all grants available regarding the upkeep of their heritage buildings.
Objective 2.5: Possible sources of funding and sponsorship
To help to achieve the following objectives concerning Fairview Oil Mills, that SDCC seek funding from locally-based multi-nationals, data centers and other Big Tech corporations to support upgrading Fairview Oil Mills to the standards required for success, see Appendix 4, p56.
Objective 2.6: Main sponsor’s name
That SDCC consider the branding possibility of including the name of a main sponsor in the name of Fairview Oil Mills.
Objective 2.7: Thank funders and sponsors
SDCC to work with sponsors of Fairview Oil Mills to invite their personnel to visit Fairview Oil Mills thereby raising their corporations’ profiles amongst their employees and leaders. A tour of Clondalkin’s medieval centre and refreshments in a local hospitality venue could also be arranged.
Objective 2.8 (a): Tourist Venue and educational hub
With the support of SDCC and local groups, to establish Fairview Oil Mills as a tourist venue and educational hub in STEM subjects, (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and particularly regarding Clondalkin’s historic connections with the following domains and its contribution to the wealth of the nation. (See also list in Appendix 5, p57).
Fairview Oil Mills could provide a spring-board for discussions/lectures regarding:
* Traditional use of local building material (e.g. calp limestone),
* Building methods and practices,
* Quarrying and mining,
* Water power,
* Linseed and Rapeseed Oil production for human and animal consumption and building,
* Paper manufacture,
* Air and Ground Transport,
* Canal transport,
* Agriculture, Farming practices and the Environment,
* Education,
* Impact of medieval past on traffic flow today,
* Restoring heritage buildings (e.g. Fairview Oil Mills),
* War-time experiences and impacts.
Objective 2.8 (b): Adopt a WW1 local soldier
That SDCC work with local groups and schools to establish a project whereby school classes adopt a soldier who fought in WW1, to discover what happened to him, in much the same way as passengers on board the Titanic become known to visitors to that facility in Northern Ireland.
The results to be published in a booklet and in local media.
Objective 2.9: Identify and restore features of Fairview Oil Mills
SDCC to work with Friends of Clondalkin Oilmills, Clondalkin History Society and other relevant local groups and individuals to identify and restore what features and items are at Fairview Oil Mills now, or may have been moved to other locations (e.g. the millstone which used to be located outside Clondalkin Garda Station, and another in Tallaght).
Objective 2.10: Employment opportunities
That SDCC work with Pobal, and other Government departments and State agencies to seek and apply for grants for Fairview Oil Mills as a place of local employment including an overall Manager for Fairview Oil Mills.
Objective 2.11: Educational Outreach
SDCC to support local people in contacting nearby schools, colleges and universities, inviting them to visit Fairview Oil Mills when it is completed, with a view to enhancing their studies by showing in a new way the important part that maths and physics have. This may include a live tour via Zoom for schools that can’t travel to Fairview Oil Mills. (See Appendix 6: Educational Outreach – Ways in which students could benefit from visiting Fairview Oil Mills, p59.)
Objective 2.12: Facilitate on-site films and lectures by invited experts
As part of the educational hub, SDCC to arrange facilities in Fairview Oil Mills for on-site films, talks and lectures to be given by invited experts in the STEM fields (much like TED talks). These could be given to school-goers and 3rd level students as appropriate.
Objective 2.13: Links with other relevant institutions
SDCC to assist Fairview Oil Mills to establish links/relationships with other Science faculties and facilities in the Dublin region.
Objective 2.14: History of mills in Clondalkin
SDCC to liaise with local people, The Joe Williams Archive, Clondalkin History Society and other relevant groups to include information in Fairview Oil Mills about all the historic mills in the Clondalkin area. This includes Clondalkin Gun-powder Mills and Fairview Oil Mills itself.
Objective 2.15: Clondalkin’s contribution to History of Transport in Ireland
SDCC to include in Fairview Oil Mills Clondalkin’s important innovations and contribution to the history oftransport in Ireland, including those listed in Appendix 7, p60. Clondalkin History Society and The Joe Williams Archive contain information which may be helpful in this regard.
Objective 2.16: History and roles of the Grand Canal
SDCC to work with The Joe Williams Archive and other sources to include in Fairview Oil Mills the history and roles of The Grand Canal from its construction to its protection under Waterways Ireland.
Objective 2.17: Role of the River Camac
SDCC to work with the The Joe Williams Archive and relevant local groups to discover and display in Fairview Oil Mills the pivotal role that the River Camac played in the growth of Clondalkin.
Objective 2.18: Hand-made paper
SDCC to explore the possibility and potential of the Fairview Oil Mills becoming a place to make and sell small quantities of hand-made paper, possibly made on site. (This would retain Clondalkin’s heritage link with Clondalkin Paper Mills. Hand-made paper was first made in Clondalkin in 1837 in Sally Park Mills. Clondalkin Paper Mills closed in 1987.)
Joe Williams, holding St Mochua and The Round Tower, one of his books published by South Dublin Libraries
(Photo courtesy of Eoin Comiskey and Coláiste Bríde TY Students, 2014)
Objective 2.19: Locate the Joe Williams Archive in Fairview Oil Mills
SDCC to work with The Joe Williams Archive personnel to explore the potential and possibility of the Archive being located in Fairview Oil Mills. See Appendix 8, p61 regarding Joe Williams, The Joe Williams Archive and its importance.
The Joe Williams Archive is included in the draft County Development Plan:
South Dublin 16 Objective 6: To support the investigation of an appropriate location for The Joe Williams Archive.
Objective 2.20: Joe Williams annual lecture
In conjunction with South Dublin Libraries, SDCC to foster and support the presentation of the annual Joe Williams Lecture. These lectures to be based on a topic included in the archive. The first such lecture has already taken place.
Objective 2.21: Air travel – Baldonnell/Casement Aerodrome
That with support from SDCC, SDCC Libraries liaise with the Joe Williams Archive and other sources to create a comprehensive record of notable historical events at Baldonnell/Casement Aerodrome. This record to be kept at Fairview Oil Mills. (See Appendix 9, p62.)
Objective 2.22: Casement Aerodrome and Museum, possible day-trip
SDCC to work with stakeholders to have information at Fairview Oil Mills which may encourage people to visit Casement Aerodrome as well. This may form the basis of a tourist day-trip to Clondalkin and Baldonnell.
Objective 2.23: Connect with the Military History Society of Ireland
SDCC, in conjunction with South Dublin Libraries, to work with stakeholders in forging links with the Military History Society of Ireland to produce lectures in Fairview Oil Mills regarding Clondalkin’s military history/flight history. This may be of interest to the Military History Society of Ireland and their sister Societies abroad.
Objective 2.24: Exhibition/Display facility
SDCC to liaise with local people and groups to display items from Clondalkin’s heritage and form part of a number of such facilities to mount exhibitions and displays of various kinds, shared with other venues in the Clondalkin area.
Two Cottages on Main Street (Gogarty’s Cottages): Objectives 3.1 – 3.10
Two cottages on Main Street, Clondalkin. Source: Google.com/maps, accessed 10.9.2021
The two cottages on Main Street are included in the Draft County Development Plan:
NCBH19 SLO 5: To investigate the merit of including in the Record of Protected Structures the cottages on Main Street, Clondalkin.
Cottages, Main Street, Clondalkin
These cottages and the 2-storey dwelling house beside them are good examples of vernacular buildings of the 1800s. They are among the last of such vernacular buildings in Main Street.
The cottages haven’t been occupied (either as dwelling houses or commercial outlets) for a number of years and their refurbishment would:
* help to enliven the south side of Main Street,
* increase the diversity of outlets on Main Street
* underpin the history of Clondalkin in a sympathetic and friendly way for local people and visitors to experience and enjoy.
Objective 3.1: Branding Gogarty’s Cottages
That following refurbishment, SDCC work with other relevant departments and sections in local and national government to “brand” the two cottages on Main Street as Gogarty’s Cottages. (See Appendix 10, p63 re connections with Patrick Gogarty, Katharine Tynan and W.B Yeats.)
Objective 3.2: Derelict Site Order
That SDCC impose a Derelict Site Order on both of Gogarty’s Cottages, with a view to acquiring them by CPO, or else obtain them by corporate sponsorship.
Objective 3.3: Funding to refurbish Gogarty’s Cottages
That SDCC work with the Heritage Council, other Government departments and the EU to seek and apply for grants and/or funding to refurbish Gogarty’s Cottages.
Cottage 1
Objective 3.4: Community Crafts Activity Centre and exhibition space: “Old Crafts to New Hands”
SDCC to investigate and work in partnership with local people and members of the Clondalkin Crochet Group, the Heritage Council and other State and EU bodies to establish one of Gogarty’s Cottages as a Community Activity Centre venue for teaching and making local handcrafts and an exhibition space. Handcrafts to include making St Brigid’s Crosses, basket-weaving, knitting, crochet and lace-making. Clondalkin has a long and proud connection with lace-making. (See Appendix 11, p64.)
Examples of typical Clondalkin hand-made lace in Sybil Connolly’s internationally-acclaimed fashion designs.
Objective 3.5: Craftsperson-in-Residence
That, in partnership with the Crafts Council of Ireland and other relevant authorities, SDCC to explore the possibility of having a Craftsperson-in-Residence at Cottage 1.
Objective 3.6: Harvesting local raw materials for handcrafts
SDCC to support local people under supervision to:
* harvest some of the reeds in Corkagh Park to be used for handicrafts, e.g. St Brigid’s Crosses;
* harvest some of the willow branches in the Monastic Garden and along the River Camac for basket-weaving and other handicrafts.
Objective 3.7: Opportunities for local employment
ThatSDCC work with other relevant Government departments and Sections in local and national government to seek out opportunities for employment for people to work as teachers of handicrafts in No. 1 Gogarty’s Cottages under Back to Work Schemes, Pobal, and other employment initiatives.
Cottage 2
Objective 3.8: Tourist Information Office for the County
SDCC to investigate and work in partnership with relevant government agencies (e.g. Fáilte Ireland) to explore the possibility and potential of one of Cottage 1 becoming a Tourist Information Office for the County, with a Tourism Officer, in partnership with Fáilte Ireland.
Objective 3.9: Heritage information for the County
Objective 3.10: Exhibition/display facility
That SDCC work with relevant local groups to arrange for displays of local works to be displayed in Cottage 2. If possible, this display to move to other venues in the area after 6 months.
The old RIC Barracks, Old Nangor Road: Objectives 4.1 – 4.7
The old RIC Barracks: broken windows & ivy invasion.
(Photo: South Dublin County Libraries)
The old RIC Barracks is included in the Draft Development Plan.
NCBH20 SLO 1: To investigate the purchase and development of the old RIC Barracks on the Old Nangor Road which is a Protected Structure within the present Architectural Conservation Area (ACA).
The old RIC Barracks, September 2021: windows boarded up, increased ivy invasion, condition of courtyard deteriorating.
For many years Clondalkin Tidy Towns voluntary members have removed litter from the front courtyard and painted the front of the building in an effort to reduce the appearance of its dereliction. At present, ivy is encroaching on the roof and possibly blocking air-flow via the chimney.
Record of Protected Structures
The old RIC Barracks is included on the SDCC Record of Protected Structures (RPS), reference number 136 and named as “Riverside” – it was probably a dwelling house at the time it was recorded. It is also included in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, registration number 11209019.
Ownership
Despite many searches, the identity of the owner(s) of the old RIC Barracks does not appear to be known.
There are no publicly-available records of planning permission applications since at least 1964.
Objective 4.1: Derelict Site Notice
That SDCC issue a Derelict Sites Notice regarding the old RIC Barracks (otherwise known as “Riverside”) on Old Nangor Road and include the property on their Derelict Sites Register.
Old RIC Barracks, September 2021: Roof edge of the building to the right, overgrown back garden to centre and left of photo.
Objective 4.2: CPO and renovation
That SDCC proceed to purchase by CPO or corporate sponsorship the old RIC Barracks on Nangor Road (otherwise known as “Riverside”), with a view to renovating this historic building for the purposes mentioned in this document.
Objective 4.3: Grants & funding
ThatSDCC work with The Heritage Council, other Government Departments, the European Union to seek and apply for grants and/or funding to refurbish the old RIC Barracks as an exhibition space for art and displays of items and images connected with Clondalkin’s heritage. These displays can be exchanged with other venues in the locality on a regular basis.
Objective 4.4: Employment opportunity
That SDCC work with Pobal and other Government departments to seek and apply for grants to establish the old RIC Barracks as an outlet for local employment, particularly a Manager for the old RIC Barracks and its contents.
Objective 4.5: Non-financial support
SDCC to support connections with relevant local companies for requirements and possible non-financial support in other ways.
Objective 4.6: Archive in RIC Barracks – venue for Clondalkin ephemera already recorded by SDCC and future ephemera to be recorded
SDCC to work with stakeholders to establish the old RIC Barracks as an archive of copies of memorabilia and ephemera connected with Clondalkin. This to include materials already recorded and others to be recorded as part of the proposal about families whose relatives worked in various mills in the Clondalkin area.
Objective 4.7: Reunion of Families whose relatives worked in various Mills in Clondalkin
This innovation proposes that with support from the local community, SDCC to connect with the families of the former Mills employees and invite them to a reunion in Clondalkin village. As part of the reunion, the memories of family members could be recorded and artefacts and ephemera photographed. The results to be archived in the RIC Barracks.
Other Heritage Sites: Mount St Joseph Cemetery: Objectives 5.1 – 5.6
Objective 5.1: Protect and preserve Mount St Joseph Cemetery
That SDCC work with Clondalkin Tidy Towns and other groups to protect and preserve Mount St Joseph Cemetery and to find long-term solutions to the ongoing litter, dumping, graffiti and damage to walls and gravestones in and around this site. Also that SDCC work with stakeholders to investigate raising the boundary walls and other possible ways to stop vandalism. Raising the boundary walls could include using the limestone material currently in store which previously formed the boundary wall surrounding the Health Clinic on Convent Road.
Objective 5.2: Mount St Joseph gravestones
SDCC to assist and support Clondalkin Tidy Towns to restore the broken (vandalised) gravestones in Mount St Joseph Monastery.
Objective 5.3: Mount St Joseph Burial Records
SDCC to liaise with The Joe Williams Archive to ensure that the burial records available online via SDCC website are accurate and easily accessible to people tracing their ancestors.
Objective 5.4: Celebrating Mount St Joseph Cemetery Bi-centenary
SDCC to support local people to celebrate the history of the Mount St Joseph Monastery (now gone) and also its contribution to Clondalkin’s educational heritage and other aspects of our history. (See Appendix 12, p66.)
Objective 5.5: Promoting Mount St Joseph Cemetery Bi-centenary
SDCC to assist local people in promoting the celebration of the bi-centenary of the first burial in Mount St Joseph Cemetery, on 19th June 2022.
Objective 5.6: Mount St Joseph Monastery and The Emergency/WW2
That SDCC liaise with local groups and individuals to create a temporary display in Fairview Oil Mills regarding
* Mount St Joseph Monastery during The Emergency. It was the billet of the 2nd Motor Squadron and HQ staff of Air and Marine Intelligence until 1945.
* The local men who fought in WW2 and other combat arenas including The Congo.
The temporary display to be at Fairview Oil Mills and may travel to other locations in the area.
Other Heritage Sites: St Cuthbert’s Church, Moat and Graveyard, Kilmahuddrick – Objectives 6.1 – 6.6
Location of St Cuthbert’s Church, Moat and Graveyard.
(Courtesy of: Maps.archaeology.ie/historic environment)
St Cuthbert’s Church, Kilmahuddrick, some years ago (Photo: South Dublin Libraries)
St Cuthbert’s Church, Moat and Graveyard have been included in the County Development Plan:
NCBH 19 SLO 2: To prepare a design plan for St Cuthbert’s Park and to make provision for St Cuthbert’s Church.
St Cuthbert’s, photo taken October 2021
These monuments date to 1186. They are included in the SDCC’s List of Protected Structures (Map ref & RPF no.133, written as “Kilmahuddrick”). They are also listed in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH), available online via https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/
St Cuthbert’s Church – ref. DU017-038001
St Cuthbert’s Graveyard – ref. DU017-038002
St Cuthbert’s Moat – ref. DU017_038003. (See
Appendix 13, p67 for further information.)
Objective 6.1: St Cuthbert’s Church and surrounds to be cleared of litter
SDCC to arrange for these medieval monuments and surrounds to be cleared of litter on an ongoing basis while waiting for the outcome of the High-Level Task Force connected with SDCC’s plans for St Cuthbert’s Church and the attached cemetery and moat are completed.
St Cuthbert’s – part of interior: notice the evidence of fires, litter, encroaching plants, graffiti. Photograph taken: October 2021.
Objective 6.2: Encroaching plants to be removed
That until such the High Level Task Force connected with SDCC’s plans for St Cuthbert’s Church, graveyard and moat are completed, SDCC to arrange for encroaching plants (including saplings) to be removed from the interior of this medieval church on an ongoing basis and the surrounding grass/weeds to be mown carefully and regularly.
Objective 6.3: Graffiti to be removed
SDCC to liaise with the relevant authorities to arrange for the graffiti on this medieval monument to be removed carefully.
Objective 6.4: Building fabric to be made sound
SDCC to arrange for the fabric of this medieval church to be made sound until such time as the outcome of the High Level Task Force for St Cuthbert’s Church, the attached cemetery and moat is known. Liaising with relevant authorities may be necessary.
St Cuthbert’s – part of interior showing present condition, October 2021.
Objective 6.5: Site to be made secure to prevent trespass & anti-social behaviours
SDCC to arrange for the site of this medieval church, its cemetery and moat to be made secure against any further unauthorised entry and vandalism. This to preserve what remains against anti-social behaviours.
Objective 6.6: Burial records
SDCC to liaise and work with The Joe Williams Archive and nearby schools to discover the details of the burials (as far back as possible) in St Cuthbert’s Church Graveyard, the results to be made easily accessible on SDCC website to those wishing to trace their ancestors.
Note: St Cuthbert’s Church, graveyard and moat are dated to about the same era as our Round Tower.
Other Objectives: 7.1 – 7.45
Objective 7.1: New outdoor and indoor activity-based vacation/staycation packages to be arranged with accommodation partners
That SDCC Tourism Section, in conjunction with suitable local venues, the local enterprise office and accommodation partners (e.g. hotels, B &B, Camac Valley Tourist Caravan and Camping Park), to explore the potential of providing new vacation/staycation packages for activity weeks and week-ends regarding indoor and outdoor activities in Clondalkin and on the River Camac and Grand Canal. (See Appendix 14, p69 for examples.)
Objective 7.2: Hosting conventions
SDCC to explore the potential with local hotels to facilitate conventions. (See Appendix 15, p71 for list of possible conventions.)
Objective 7.3: Climbing wall
SDCC to re-energise and support the return to use of the Climbing Wall in the Sports & Leisure Centre in Clondalkin Park. This Climbing Wall has not been used for some years.
Objective 7.4: The Clondalkin Fragment
Following a favourable response from South Dublin County Council (Motion ID: 71919), SDCC will work with the Library Section to acquire and display an enlarged, full-color, high-resolution image of the Clondalkin Fragment to be prominently displayed permanently in Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre.
The Clondalkin Fragment, part of Image 1 from http://www.mira.ie/072 Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Fragm. Aug. 18 [palimpsest old] Sacramentarium, Fragment – Cod. Aug. Fr. 18
This and Fragm. Aug. 17 detached from binding of Aug. 167 (Bede). Re-written Clondalkin, 9th cent. Upper script: “(Libe)r trinitatis et sci cronáni filii lugaedón.”
The reference is to the writing at the top left. According to the best available translation into English, it reads: “The book of the Trinity and of the holy Cronán, son of Lugaedón.”
(See Appendix 16, p72 for some more information about The Clondalkin Fragment.)
Objective 7.5: Information Centre/Hub re all Round Towers
That SDCC explore and promote Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre as an information centre/hub for all Round Towers.
As an initial move, to install an interactive display about Round Towers and provide online and hard-copy leaflets of information aimed at adults about all Round Towers. The present leaflet about Clondalkin Round Tower is aimed at children. A leaflet suitable for adults providing more meaningful information is also required.
The intention is to make Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre the go-to place for all information about Round Towers anywhere, as originally requested when the centre was envisaged.
Objective 7.6: Information about Round Towers
That SDCC continue to make updated information about Clondalkin’s Round Tower (in the context of other Round Towers) available on the website of Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre.
Objective 7.7: Film of local march supporting the Round Tower
Clondalkin man, Geoffrey Keegan, recorded a now historic, contemporary film of local people marching in support of the preservation of our Round Tower and Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre. This objective requests that SDCC arrange for this film to be permanently shown for visitors to see in the Centre. This film to include the name of the original film-maker.
Objective 7.8: Connection with other Round Tower locations
That SDCC support connections to all other Round Towers via History Societies, and other County Councils where there are Round Towers.
Objective 7.9: Reciprocal tours
That SDCC support reciprocal tours between Clondalkin and other Round Tower locations, and for their local people and History Societies to visit Clondalkin’s Round Tower and refurbished buildings.
Objective 7.10: Clondalkin Living History Group
That SDCC explore ways to support and fund the Clondalkin Living History Group during the summer season and festivals.
Objective 7.11: Blue Plaques
That SDCC explore installing Blue Plaques in and around Clondalkin, showing where notable local people lived/worked, in agreement with local representatives and interested parties including property owners.
Objective 7.12: Farm & Pets’ Corner
That SDCC explore re-stocking the farm and pets’ corner in Corkagh Park with usual farm animals of suitable size and temperament in a secure and safe environment for both animals and visitors.
Objective 7.13: Clondalkin insignia/logo and flag
As part of local identity building, SDCC to work in partnership with local designers to create an outstanding, noticeable Clondalkin insignia or logo for a Clondalkin flag, and on merchandise for sale in Clondalkin’s shops, such as items mentioned in Objective 7.14: Merchandise and gifts.
Objective 7.14: Merchandise and gifts
SDCC to facilitate with local enterprises reasonably-priced merchandise and gifts for visitors and local people to buy from local outlets. All gifts to be marked with the Clondalkin logo. (See Appendix 17, p73.)
Objective 7.15: Clondalkin finger-ring
Promote the Clondalkin finger-ring, available in silver or gold.
Objective 7.16: Expand Irish Music Week
To coincide with the Home to Clondalkin Campaign and the 2021 Art Strategy, SDCC to expand the work of Áras Chrónáin and create Clondalkin Irish Music Week – involving not only traditional music, but any music by an Irish singer or group.
Signature performances to be in Áras Chrónáin, other performances to take place in venues around the village – for instance, Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre, school halls, community centres, and open-air venues such as Corkagh Park and on-street busking.
Objective 7.17: Accommodation packages connected with Irish Music Week
SDCC Tourism Section to work with local accommodation partners to arrange and promote suitable packages for visitors to attend Clondalkin Irish Music Week.
Objective 7.18 (a): Organ recitals
That SDCC would support the Clondalkin Village Festival committee in organising organ recitals in the Church of the Immaculate Conception & St Killian, especially during Clondalkin Festival Week and as part of the SDCC Arts Strategy 2021.
Objective 7.18 (b): Clondalkin Arts Festival
That SDCC would support relevant groups and arts practitioners in Clondalkin to establish an annual Clondalkin Arts Festival as part of the SDCC Arts Strategy 2021.
Objective 7.19: Day tours – 9 heritage villages
SDCC to work with Fáilte Ireland office located in Gogarty’s Cottages to establish day tours around the 9 heritage villages and associated sites.
Objective 7.20: Promoting tours of Clondalkin village
SDCC to support and explore the promotion of the tours of Clondalkin village with local accommodation partners.
Objective 7.21: Information leaflets: what to do in Clondalkin
SDCC Tourism Section to explore with local hotels the distribution of information to all visitors arriving at the hotels about things to do in the Clondalkin area.
Objective 7.22: Temporary cinema and theatre venues
Explore various venues including Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre, Áras Chrónáin, school halls and hotels the availability of temporary cinema and theatre facilities (indoors and outdoors) in Clondalkin village to show films, with supports from SDCC as needed. This to include films suitable for young children.
Objective 7.23: Club Scannán
Explore with Áras Chrónáin the increased availability of Club Scannán to the wider community to show Irish language films and films with an Irish connection (theme, actor, director, location) with supports from SDCC as needed.
Objective 7.24: Treasure Hunt/Easter Egg Hunt
That SDCC support local groups to run a Summer Treasure Hunt and Easter Egg Hunt in Corkagh Park, suitable for families and people of all ages.
Objective 7.25: Tours around Clondalkin village – people attending conventions
SDCC to support the promotion of tours around Clondalkin village to visitors to conventions.
Objective 7.26: Annual Slí Chrónáin Grand Canal Walk
SDCC to support local groups in arranging, promoting and conducting Slí Chrónáin (the annual St Crónán’s pilgrimage walk along the Grand Canal to Guilliarstown Bridge/Gollierstown Bridge to meet with pilgrims coming from the Celbridge area). Promotion to include www.pilgrimpath.ie and other relevant outlets, websites and social media. See Objective included in SDCC’s draft Development Plan, Appendix 18: Tourist and Heritage Trails, p74.
Route of annual Slí Chrónáin Grand Canal Walk. (Drawing and design: © Monica McGill. Map: © OSI)
Objective 7.27: Annual St Brigid’s Day Festival
SDCC to continue supporting and promoting St Brigid’s Day Festival Committee in conducting the annual Pattern Day in honour of St Brigid (1st February each year) to St Brigid’s Well. Promotion to include www.pilgrimpath.ie and other relevant outlets, websites and social media. See Objective included in SDCC’s draft Development Plan, Appendix 18: Tourist and Heritage Trails, p74.
Objective 7.28: Heritage directional signage
That SDCC liaise with Clondalkin History Society regarding the wording and placement of roadside heritage signage for the St Brigid’s Day Festival Pilgrim Path/An tSlí Mhór and record it. (See SDCC draft Development Plan, NCBH17, Objective 7, p. 113.)
Objective 7.29: Inter-Cultural Centre activities
In conjunction with the Inter-Cultural Centre and with relevant groups, SDCC with South Dublin Partnership to create and co-ordinate suitable multi-cultural events, especially those involving ethnic minorities.
Objective 7.30: Refresh and re-train local groups
SDCC to assist local groups to refresh and re-train where necessary in order to fulfill their aims and objectives.
Needs may include Health & Safety training.
Objective 7.31: PowerPoint presentation
SDCC to support, make and produce a PowerPoint presentation of the village tour for use in Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre when inclement weather prevents on-foot tours from taking place and to accommodate those with mobility issues.
Objective 7.32: Brú Chrónáin exhibition
SDCC Libraries Section to work with Stakeholders to this document to arrange for the changeable elements of the exhibition in Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre to change every 6 months.
Objective 7.33: Artworks & craftworks for sale at Civic Office Railings:
As part of SDCC Arts Strategy 2021, SDCC to support and promote regular displays for sale of artworks and craftworks by local people at the plaza at the SDCC offices in Clondalkin. This to happen regularly.
Objective 7.34: Clondalkin Cultural Quarter
Clondalkin Vision Alliance (CVA) understands that SDCC and some venues intend to establish a Clondalkin Cultural Quarter in the area of Tower Road and Watery Lane. This to provide various activities for local people and visitors to the area who are staying in local hotels.
CVA praises these sentiments and requests that the “branding” or designation of a Cultural Quarter be extended so that other venues around the greater Clondalkin village area can be included in the designation. This would result in more opportunities for more local people to experience and enjoy cultural activities, leading to increased social inclusion and a broader application of SDCC and other public funding opportunities.
Objective 7.35: Joe Williams Archive items & Brú Chrónáin
That SDCC work with Joe Williams Archive personnel to arrange for suitable items from the Joe Williams Archive to go on public display, initially in Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre and then to other suitable exhibition/display venues.
Objective 7.36: TV touch screens
That SDCC include the provision of TV touch screen displays in exhibitions where relevant.
Objective 7.37: Historian-in-Residence
SDCC to explore the possibility of establishing an Historian-in-Residence based in Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre and explore funding available in this regard via relevant Government Departments, and the EU.
Objective 7.38: Exhibition spaces
As part of the SDCC Arts Strategy 2021, that SDCC, assisted by South Dublin Libraries, local groups and individuals, to increase the number of suitable exhibition spaces in the Clondalkin area for artwork and craftwork, including:
* Fairview Oil Mills
* Gogarty’s Cottages (2 cottages on Main Street)
* the old RIC Barracks on Old Nangor Road – as mentioned in the relevant section of this document,
* the presently unused old swimming pool (a multi-functional venue), in Clondalkin Park,
* the common spaces in Clondalkin’s Community Centres,
* the interior of the SDCC Civic Offices in Clondalkin,
* Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre.
Objective 7.39: Rotating exhibitions and displays
That SDCC, assisted by South Dublin Libraries, local groups and individuals, to facilitate exhibitions of artworks and craftworks being rotated between an increased number of suitable host venues in the locality.
Objective 7.40: Protected Structures List
SDCC to liaise with The Joe Williams Archive and Clondalkin History Society to review and update the SDCC Protected Structures List in the new County Development Plan; to accept the entries on the National Monuments > National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) onto the SDCC Protected Structures List, and keeping it up to date with the NIAH.
Objective 7.41: SDCC Heritage Plan 2010-2015 and succeeding Heritage Plan(s)
That SDCC report every 6 months to local County Councillors for Clondalkin regarding any outstanding objectives or aims listed in SDCC’s Heritage Plan 2010-2015 which were not started or completed, and to state when and how any outstanding objectives and/or aims will be fulfilled.
Objective 7.42: Heritage Plans prior to 2010
SDCC to report every 6 months to local County Councillors for Clondalkin regarding any remaining incomplete or uninitiated objectives or aims from Heritage Plans prior to the SDCC Heritage Plan 2010 – 2015 and to state when and how any outstanding objectives and/or aims will be fulfilled.
Objective 7.43: Cultural heritage
SDCC to liaise with local groups about displaying a permanent list of famous deceased Clondalkin people in the Mill Shopping Centre and/or Brú Chrónáin.
Objective 7.44: Clondalkin anthem
SDCC to support Áras Chrónáin to compose a Clondalkin anthem.
Objective 7.45: Dogs bred for sale or gain and animal pounds
SDCC to work with the relevant authorities, using legislation, bye-laws and recommendations to:
* eradicate puppy farms in the County;
* to ensure that people who breed dogs for sale or gain in the County do so within the law and relevant recommendations;
* to ensure that animal pounds in the County conduct their activities in accordance with the law and relevant recommendations concerning animal welfare and public accountability;
* to discourage social media outlets from accepting advertisements about animals for sale or gain on their websites;
* to publish advice regarding the proper ways people can obtain an animal from reliable sources (e.g. registered dog breeders, humane animal rescue establishments).
Objective 8.1: Step-down Accommodation (1)
SDCC to focus on step-down accommodation schemes for people over 55 who want to move to a smaller accommodation within Council-owned property, and to view favourably planning permissions containing that intention, for instance the CB Packaging site.
Objective 8.2: Step-down Accommodation (2)
SDCC to consider step-down accommodation schemes for private individuals aged over 55 who may wish to down-size to smaller accommodation, and to view favourably planning permissions containing that intention, for instance the CB Packaging site.
Objective 8.3: Orchard Lodge
The community facility in Orchard Lodge to have a Management Committee comprised of different representatives from various groups from the area.
Objective 8.4: Sports & Leisure Centre, Clondalkin Park
That SDCC work with the Dept of Sport, Art, and Culture to facilitate a multi-purpose community-based facility in the old Sports & Leisure Centre in Clondalkin Park.
Objective 8.5: Pedestrianising Tower Road – pilot scheme
That SDCC, in conjunction with local elected representatives and local business traders, consider the possibility of pedestrianising Tower Road at weekends, to start with a pilot scheme.
Objective 8.6: Market at Christmas
That SDCC, in conjunction with local elected representatives, to expand the Urban Picnic Market in Corkagh Park to include a market at Christmas.
Objective 8.7: New Apartments
That SDCC ensure and enforce that the design of new apartments include the following to meet people’s needs:
lockable storage area per housing unit,
communal laundry and drying facilities,
indoor play area,
bicycle parking,
indoor or roof gardens.
Objective 8.8: Building materials, techniques and finishes
That SDCC ensure and enforce that the building materials, techniques and finishes of new houses and apartments are of a high standard and meets people’s needs – at both pre- and post-planning stages. This to ensure that no pyrite, mica or other detrimental elements are included in building materials, and that fire safety inspections and recommendation measures are complied with fully if possible before occupants are allowed to move into the buildings concerned.
Objective 8.9: Cement and cement products for buildings
That SDCC ensure that suppliers of cement and/or cement products for building which are later found to contain detrimental elements are held fully accountable to the owners of the buildings and accommodation for any loss or damage caused.
Objective 8.10: Builders’ and developers’ contractual obligations
That SDCC ensure and enforce that builders and developers fulfill their contractual obligations in a timely fashion, in order to progress the taking-in-charge of estates and apartment areas. This to avoid delays in completing new developments and ensure their on-going maintenance.
Objective 8.11: Non-compliance
That SDCC ensure and enforce that builders and developers who do not fulfill their contractual obligations in a timely fashion are not to be considered for further contracts by SDCC until they do so.
Objective 8.12: Monitoring outsourced maintenance services
That SDCC monitor and enforce the quality of workmanship of any maintenance contractor the County Council uses as an outsourced provider of services. This to ensure that in-house employees don’t have to re-do any work, thereby reducing waste of public monies.
Objective 8.13: Archives and other sources
SDCC Libraries to work with local groups to collate an updated list of archived and other sources for people who wish to follow up on their genealogy and/or local history. This list to include a bibliography, maps and university documents and are to be made available online.
Objective 8.14: Graveyards and tombstone records
SDCC Libraries to work with local groups to publish online a list of all graveyards in Clondalkin and environs and ensure that tombstone recording is complete and available online also.
Environment, Water and Climate Change: Objectives 9.1 – 9.40
Objective 9.1: Needs and local knowledge
SDCC to liaise with Clondalkin Tidy Towns and other relevant local groups to discuss the needs of the area and gain local knowledge to inform future plans.
Objective 9.2: Flood avoidance
SDCC to continue to liaise with relevant local groups concerning the Camac Flood Alleviation Scheme and clear out the Fairview Oil Mill pond near Cherrywood Estate to avoid more possible flooding in the future.
Objective 9.3: Drainage Trenches
SDCC to put in drainage trenches in relevant parts of Corkagh Park to alleviate surface flooding.
Objective 9.4: Care of the banks of River Camac and old mill ponds
SDCC to clean up and maintain the banks of the River Camac and the old mill ponds at the Community Centre. This to be done in conjunction with Waterways Ireland and relevant local groups.
Objective 9.5: Clean and maintain sluice gates
SDCC, in liaison with Waterways Ireland and relevant local groups to clean and maintain the sluice gates at the fishing ponds in Corkagh Park and all sluice gates in Clondalkin and, where necessary, repair them so they remain in working order. The same work to be carried out at Sandy Hole. (As an example, see Appendix 19, p75 re Sandy Hole Mill Race.)
Sandy Hole Mill Race, May 2002
(Photo: courtesy of Buildings of Ireland https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11209042/clondalkin-clondalkin-dublin)
Objective 9.6: Water Quality
SDCC to check monthly and report each month to local elected representatives on the water quality of our domestic supply and waterways. Monthly reports to be made easily available on SDCC website.
Objective 9.7: Fishing
SDCC to work with relevant groups concerning the rejuvenation/facilitation of fishing as a pastime at the Grand Canal and at the ponds at the Sports & Leisure Centre in Clondalkin Park and Corkagh Park.
Objective 9.8: Fish stocks – Corkagh Park fishing ponds
SDCC to replenish the fish stocks in Corkagh Park fishing ponds, so that Clondalkin Fishing Club can rejuvenate.
Objective 9.9: Dredge fishing ponds in Corkagh Park
SDCC to dredge with care the fishing ponds in Corkagh Park.
Objective 9.10: Fishing Platforms – Corkagh Park
SDCC to repair the fishing platforms at Corkagh fishing ponds so they conform to Health & Safety considerations and make them wheelchair-accessible.
Objective 9.11: Fishing tackle shop
That SDCC re-facilitate a shop selling fishing tackle and that this shop be open when the park is open.
Objective 9.12: People with Disability
SDCC to explore the existing potential for people with disability and wheelchair users to have access to the fishing ponds in Corkagh Park.
Objective 9.13: Mill race at Sally Park
That SDCC work with relevant local groups in protecting and preserving the Sally Park building and Millrace in finding long-term solutions to the ongoing litter, dumping and graffiti in and around this site.
Objective 9.14: Dog runs in Corkagh Park
SDCC to provide separate enclosed dog runs in Corkagh Park: one run for larger dogs and a second run for smaller dogs.
Objective 9.15: Bye-laws regarding dogs
SDCC to ensure that all bye-laws regarding dogs in public spaces to be rigorously enforced. As the relevant signs are replaced, the word “please” be removed, and consider having the signs in both Irish and English.
Objective 9.16: Personal safety
SDCC and the local Community Sergeant to explore and implement ways to improve public safety in Corkagh Park and along pathways at the Grand Canal where they are near Clondalkin.
Objective 9.17: Park Wardens’ patrols
SDCC Park Wardens to patrol Corkagh Park and Clondalkin Park several times a day and enforce the bye-laws particularly in regard to dog control and litter.
Objective 9.18: Local Heritage Plan
That SDCC liaise and work with local groups to prepare and implement a new local Heritage Plan for the greater Clondalkin area. The Objectives in this document – Vision Plan for Clondalkin Village and environs, 2021 – to inform this new Local Heritage Plan.
Objective 9.19: Removing ivy and weeds from heritage structures
That SDCC work with relevant local groups and relevant authorities to arrange the careful removal of ivy and weeds from the Round Tower, St Brigid’s Well, and the wall along Tower Road adjoining the Round Tower and to keep them free of plants which might damage their structures.
Objective 9.20: Tree Preservation Orders
Along with the SDCC Objectives in the draft County Development Plan Policy NCBH11: Tree Preservation Orders and Other Tree Protections (see Appendix 20, p76):
* SDCC Planning Department to communicate its decisions in a timely way following requests for Tree Preservation Orders;
* the process and requirements of requesting Tree Preservation Orders to be made easily accessible on SDCC’s website;
* existing and future surveys of trees in the Clondalkin area to be made easily accessible on SDCC’s website.
Objective 9.21: Protect Wildlife
SDCC to work with the Irish Wildlife Trust, the DSPCA and Waterways Ireland regarding the protection of wildlife in Corkagh Park, Clondalkin Park, and the Grand Canal including swans, squirrels, ducks and rabbits.
Objective 9.22: Wildlife workshops and walks
SDCC to fund various educational workshops and walks relating to wildlife – e.g. swift bird and bat walks and talked by invited NGOs, e.g. Irish Wildlife Trust. (These workshops and talks could take place in present venues and later in the heritage buildings suggested in this document.)
Objective 9.23: Trees and hedgerows
It is vital that trees and hedgerows are protected in the urban setting. SDCC to ensure that developments do not impact negatively on standing trees or hedgerows. SDCC to identify trees for preservation and ensure that new developments work around them and when compromised ensure replanting is carried out with mature specimens appropriate to the natural context. (proposed for Heritage Plan in 2008).
Objective 9.24: Bug “hotels”
SDCC to fund Clondalkin Men’s Shed to make bug “hotels” for the area surrounding the redundant water tower on Monastery Road and elsewhere in Clondalkin.
Objective 9.25: Wildlife “hotels”
SDCC to fund “wildlife hotels” for bees in selected areas, e.g. the River Camac at the Civic Offices.
Objective 9.26: Wildlife signage/information panels
SDCC to fund wildlife signage/information panels in selected areas, e.g. the River Camac at the Civic Offices.
Objective 9.27: Sponsoring planting at roundabouts
SDCC to review criteria and be less restrictive about businesses sponsoring planting at roundabouts, e.g. the roundabout close to Red Cow Luas station.
Objective 9.28: Water Tower – wildflower meadow
SDCC to plant fruit trees and cultivate a wild flower meadow in the area surrounding the redundant Water Tower on Monastery Road.
Objective 9.29: Flower barrels
SDCC to work with Clondalkin Tidy Towns to fund non-rented and permanent flower barrels in Clondalkin village and environs. Regarding SDCC Clondalkin Civic Plaza, all flower barrels and other street furniture to be kept to the edges of this open space, as it is the only open, flat, public space available in the village for public activities and performances.
Objective 9.30: Workshops about pollinator planting
SDCC to fund workshops to encourage public participation in pollinator planting.
Objective 9.31: Litter Report
SDCC to issue a revised monthly Litter Report that includes the names of businesses in Clondalkin who have received litter notices and/or fines. The Data Commissioner has already advised SDCC that such information complies with GDPR Guidelines.
Objective 9.32: Voluntary poster ban
Elected Representatives, Clondalkin Tidy Towns and the people of Clondalkin will continue to work in alignment with the voluntary poster ban and will work with Clondalkin Tidy Towns to expand it to other areas.
Objective 9.33: Murals
SDCC to work with Clondalkin Tidy Towns to consider appropriate locations and fund murals in areas that are prone to graffiti. This objective does not apply to limestone walls; if graffiti is found on limestone walls, the graffiti should be cleaned off carefully to avoid damage to the fabric of the wall(s).
Objective 9.34: Clondalkin Memorial Stone
SDCC to grant permission for the installation of a WW1 “Clondalkin Memorial Stone” in Clondalkin Park.
Objective 9.35: WW1 Memorial Garden
SDCC to fund completion of the WW1 Memorial Garden.
Motion to Clondalkin Area Committee ID 67139, on 22.9.2020:
That this Committee supports Clondalkin Tidy Towns in the building of a Memorial to locals who died in WW1. The Motion was agreed.
Objective 9.36: Removing tree stumps
SDCC to liaise with local elected representatives concerning the schedule of removing tree stumps in housing estates.
Objective 9.37: Allotments
SDCC to review and expand the current allotments available in Corkagh Park with a view to prioritising people who live in apartments (partly proposed for Heritage Plan in 2008).
Objective 9.38: Rights of way
That SDCC work with local groups and individuals to identify and compile a list of rights of way in the Clondalkin village and environs.
Objective 9.39: Stop Food Waste workshops
SDCC to sponsor Stop Food Waste workshops in schools and in selected venues to create public awareness.
Objective 9.40: Recycling Directory
SDCC to fund publication of a Recycling Directory for distribution at SDCC Civic Offices and Clondalkin Libraries.
Objective 10.1: Extend the present Clondalkin Architectural Conservation Area (ACA)
SDCC to extend the present Clondalkin ACA in line with the following in the Draft Development Plan:
NCBH20 Objective 10: To extend Clondalkin’s Architectural Conservation Area (ACA) subject to an assessment of the roadways, buildings and historic features as set out in Appendix 3C. (SDCC ref)
SDCC recognises Clondalkin as a Heritage Village. The heritage character of Clondalkin becomes even more valuable in the light of developments such as Clonburris SDZ and City Edge (described as Europe’s largest regeneration project).
Objective 10.2: Heavy Goods Vehicles & buses travelling near the Round Tower
That SDCC make the necessary arrangements to ensure that heavy goods vehicles (including buses) are re-routed so that they do not have to pass by our 10th century Round Tower. This is to preserve the integrity of the Round Tower.
The following has been included in the draft County Development Plan 2022-2028:
Errata Document Draft South Dublin County Development Plan 2022-2028 August 2021
Chapter 7 Transport
7.9.1 Integrated
Transport Studies
Amend Existing Objective Amend SM6 Objective 7 to read:
To carry out a review of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV) restrictions in the County and consult with An Garda Síochána in relation to the implementation of restrictions on the movement of HGVs within residential areas and around schools and where particular issues are identified, to implement appropriate control measures in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
Objective 10.3: Use vernacular building materials in future
That SDCC Planning Department to ensure that all new buildings to be sympathetic to the present and extended ACA and amenity areas, particularly to use local vernacular building materials such as limestone.
Objective 10.4 (a): Thomas Byrne designed cottages
SDCC to extend the present ACA and include all the cottages in Clondalkin designed by Thomas J. Byrne or based on his designs. These cottages are included in the draft County Development Plan. (See Appendix 21, SDCC’s response to Members Reps ID No. 1668472, p77.)
Objective 10.4 (b): Other heritage cottages and houses
SDCC to extend the ACA (and the SDCC Protected Structures List) to include the houses and cottages listed in Appendix 22, p79, and all entries on the National Monuments > National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) list.
Objective 10.5: Shopfront signage guidelines in Clondalkin ACA
That SDCC to liaise with relevant parties to gain greater adherence to the relevant guidelines as mentioned below in relation to signage in the ACA:
NCBH20 Objective 7: To ensure proposals for shopfronts and retail signage within ACAs adhere to best practice and achieve high quality designs which respect the character of the area. In this regard, applicants shall be required to have regard and adhere to the principles laid out in South Dublin’s Shopfront Design Guide.
Part of Objective 10.5 is the dissemination of a leaflet prepared by Clondalkin Tidy Towns which includes information about grants available from Foras na Gaeilge for signage in the Irish language (see Appendix 23, Clondalkin Tidy Towns leaflet, p81.)
Objective 10.6: Enforcement of shopfront signage guidelines
SDCC to review, examine and enforce shop front signage guidelines and to make the guidelines mandatory.
Objective 10.7 (a): Shopfront and signage grants available
SDCC, with assistance from members of the Clondalkin Vision Alliance, to raise the awareness of all shop-owners/managers about the grants available to help them to comply with the relevant shopfront and signage guidelines in English and bilingually. This to enhance the street-side appearance of their businesses and increase footfall. Part of this Objective is the dissemination of a leaflet prepared by Clondalkin Tidy Towns. (See Appendix 23: Clondalkin Tidy Towns leaflet, p81.)
Objective 10.7 (b): Timber shopfronts + guidelines enforcement
SDCC to insist that all shopfronts in the area of Clondalkin ACA to be made of timber and adhere to the relevant guidelines and that the guidelines be enforced. (See Appendix 23: Clondalkin Tidy Towns Leaflet, p81.)
Objective 10.8: Existing limestone boundary walls
That SDCC Planners and SDCC work to retain, conserve and preserve the existing limestone boundary walls of Clondalkin in all future grants of planning applications and permissions. See list in Appendix 24: Walls map, roads list and SDCC Objective, Policy and Specific Local Objective (SLO) p82.
Objective 10.9: New boundary walls to be made of limestone
SDCC to ensure that all new buildings to have boundary walls made of limestone if the buildings are within the current ACA, the extended ACA and in surrounding areas of Clondalkin village.
Objective 10.10: Removing pebble-dashing from limestone walls
That SDCC in conjunction with the relevant authorities and agencies, provide a grant for the removal of pebble-dashed rendering from the old limestone boundary walls of Clondalkin village, especially those along Convent Road, St John’s Road, Tower Road, Monastery Road and Old Nangor Road. Such grants to be sufficient to enable the old limestone walls to be repaired so that their structures remain sure/solid/don’t fall down when the pebble dashing is removed.
Objective 10.11: Best shopfront summer competition
SDCC to support with sponsorship an annual best shopfront summer competition. This to be in addition to the national annual Tidy Towns Competition.
Objective 10.12: Best housing estate summer competition
SDCC to support with sponsorship an annual best housing estate summer competition. This to be in addition to the national annual Tidy Towns Competition.
Objective 10.13: Security Cameras
That SDCC liaise and work with local Gardaí to ensure that Gardaí have direct access to the security cameras along the Grand Canal and in other public places where SDCC has installed security cameras.
Objective 10.14: Use of public funds
That SDCC review the use of public funds to out-source security measures which are more correctly the purview of the Gardaí with a view to reducing and/or eliminating such expenditure by SDCC.
Objective 10.15: General information panels showing all heritage buildings and sites in the area.
SDCC to erect a non-digital, general information panel in key strategic places in Clondalkin Village (e.g. Civic Offices or Bru Chrónáin Visitor Centre) which list all the heritage buildings and sites in the area. These panels should not impede the easy use of the footpath by wheelchair users or people with buggies.
Objective 10.16: Specific information panels at key historical buildings and sites
SDCC to erect non-digital, specific information panels at key historical sites, (e.g. Mount St Joseph Monastery, the Carnegie Library, the old RIC Barracks, etc). These information panels would inform about the specific building where the buildings are situated. SDCC to liaise with Clondalkin History Society, Clondalkin Tidy Towns and The Joe Williams Archive regarding other relevant sites. These panels should not impede the easy use of the footpath by wheelchair users or people with buggies.
Objective 10.17: SDCC Civic Offices Plaza
SDCC to overhaul and upgrade the Clondalkin SDCC Civic Offices Plaza area and arrange for it to be kept clear of otherwise desirable street furniture so it can be promoted as a space for public events.
Objective 10.18: Public seating
SDCC to install and maintain public seating especially for the elderly in and around the greater village area.
Objective 10.19: Main Street paving
In light of the current “maintenance” issues on Main Street, that SDCC issue an engineer’s report outlining how the paving can be appropriately cleaned and maintained by SDCC.
Objective 10.20: Drinking water fountains
SDCC to install and maintain more drinking water fountains in and around Clondalkin village and ensure that potable water is constantly supplied to them.
Objective 10.21: Water Tower – viewing platform
SDCC to arrange for the redundant water tower on Monastery Road to be used as a viewing platform.
This objective is included in the draft County Development Plan:
NCBH15 Objective 3:
To seek to create a viewing platform in the vicinity of Woodford Hill to allow panoramic views from this which is the highest point in Clondalkin.
Objective 10.22: Blue bridge
SDCC to name the blue bridge at the top of Monastery Road in honour of Joe Williams (RIP), respected local historian. (See Appendix 8, p61.)
Objective 10.23: Protected Structures List
SDCC to ensure that included on its List of Protected Structures are all the buildings, heritage sites and heritage items included on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
An SLO concerning SDCC’s List of Protected Structures and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage is included in the draft County Development Plan.
Objective 10.24: Brookfield Cottage chimneys
SDCC to include the chimneys on Brookfield Cottage, off Orchard Road, in their List of Protected Structures.
Objective 10.25: Civic signage in various languages
That SDCC explore the possibility of ensuring that civic signage be in English, Irish, Polish, Latvian and the African languages of the people living in the Clondalkin area.
Objective 10.26: More Viking themed sculptures
SDCC to fund more Viking themed sculptures in and around Clondalkin village.
Objective 10.27: Sculpture of St Crónán Mochua
SDCC to work with stakeholders and fund the erection of a sculpture of St Crónán in Clondalkin village. Funding may be available under the Per Cent for Art Scheme. (See Appendix 25: The Per Cent for Art Scheme, p84.)
Objective 10.28: Sculpture of Brian Ború
That SDCC seek and secure funding from relevant Government Departments, Councils (e.g. The Heritage Council) and the EU for a larger than life sculpture of Brian Ború to be installed on top of the disused water tower at the top of Monastery Road. Ború and his men camped in this area before proceeding to engage the enemy at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Funding may be available under the Per Cent for Art Scheme. (See Appendix 25: The Per Cent for Art Scheme, p84.)
Objective 10.29 (a): – Availing of Per Cent for Art Scheme funding
SDCC to avail of funding for art in Clondalkin under the Government’s Per Cent for Art Scheme and apply the funding to identifiable art projects and art items in the Clondalkin area in line with SDCC’s Art Strategy 2021. (See Appendix 25: The Per Cent for Art Scheme, p84.)
Objective 10.29 (b): Per Cent for Art Scheme Reports
SDCC to report to publicly-accessible meetings of the Council twice a year regarding the outcomes under the Per Cent for Art Scheme and details of the art commissioned under this Scheme. (See Appendix 25: The Per Cent for Art Scheme, p84.)
Objective 10.30: Orchard Road and footpaths
That SDCC Planning and Roads Departments protect and conserve the cambre, rise and turn of Orchard Road and its footpaths because they follow in all these respects one of the boundaries of the pre-medieval monastic settlement that became today’s Clondalkin village.
Objective 10.31: Car-parking in Clondalkin village
That SDCC make extra provision for car-parking spaces in Clondalkin village for those who are driving older and/or disabled people to the village to access businesses.
Objective 11.1: Excellence
That SDCC continue to work in partnership and mutual co-operation and with the people of Clondalkin via elected Councillors as this will help to underpin democracy, enhance relationships, encourage voter participation in elections and provide economic growth and well-being in Clondalkin.
Objective 11.2: Co-operative partnership
That Clondalkin Vision Alliance and SDCC to form a mutually co-operative and ongoing partnership. To this end, monthly meetings to be held between representatives of SDCC and Clondalkin Vision Alliance to work together to complete and fulfill the SDCC Local Area Plan.
Objective 11.3: Public documents
SDCC to ensure that all public documents can be accessed easily on the SDCC website. It is desirable for members of the public to gain access documents easily via the “Search” engine on the Home Page of SDCC’s website.
Objective 11.4: SDCC website
SDCC to keep all aspects of their public website up to date.
Objective 11.5: Job opportunities in Clondalkin
That SDCC to work with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation and other relevant National and EU Departments to source funding and support for job creation in the Clondalkin area, and to support job opportunities within this Clondalkin Vision Plan.
Appendix 1: Visitor numbers – Clondalkin
SDCC Tourism figures kindly supplied the following data in August 2021:
The County Promotion Unit of South Dublin County Council through the Tourism Events and Festivals Grant Scheme have supported events in Clondalkin, attracting visitors from outside both the county and the country.
In 2018 and 2019 the Unit supported 5 events which brought 1,458 visitors from outside the county and 99 from different countries to Clondalkin.
Due to restrictions the Tourism Events and Festivals Grant was not availed of in 2020. The scheme was revised for 2021 to acknowledge the challenges facing event organisers to manage an event while adhering to the National Health Guidelines.
South Dublin County Council is responsible for the Round Tower Visitor Centre which opened in 2017.
In collaboration with Fáilte Ireland through the Surprising Stories grant scheme the visitor exhibit has been enhanced in 2021 through improved interpretation panels and audio-visual displays and the introduction of an audio guide in English, Irish, French and German.
The visitor centre has recently been promoted on hoarding throughout Dublin city centre and advertised to the broader Dublin area in a number of local newspapers.
Throughout the pandemic both Corkagh Park and the Clondalkin Heritage trail app were promoted on social media.
The Unit has sought operators to deliver an outdoor market for September/October in Corkagh Park.
Events held in the local area that may be of interest to visitors are added to the events section on www.dublinsoutdoors.ie and promoted through the Dublin’s Outdoors social media channels on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. [end]
The following data were taken from visitor sign-in sheets at Brú Chrónáin:
Visitor numbers to Brú Chrónáin, 1.9.2017 – 21.6.2018:
Irish people (including locals): 863 (very few local people signed the visitor sheets)
European 281
School classes 1,276 individuals
Adult groups/clubs 445
Beyond Europe 84
Total individuals 2,949
The figures include:
365 individual from countries worldwide, outside Ireland
13 classes from Irish-speaking schools
35 classes from English-speaking schools
2 Irish-speaking adult groups
33 English-speaking adult groups
35 = total number of groups.
Appendix 2: Additional activities when the Objectives in this document are completed
| Proposed Location/Venue | Additional Activities |
| Various venues | Home to Clondalkin Campaign |
| Various venues | Make it Home to Clondalkin for Christmas Campaign |
| Fairview Oil Mills: listed in the masterplan as a potential long-term project (not currently funded) and possibly could be the subject of a commercial enterprise (as set out above) to be considered when the masterplan Phase 1 and 2 items are progressed.” (Members’ Reps ID: 1660759. Response dated 19.8.2021) | Tourist venue and educational hub: * Educational tours for students and history buffs about Clondalkin’s industrial heritage * Films and lectures (like TED talks) * Exhibition/display items from all aspects of Clondalkin’s heritage * Making small quantities of hand-made paper * Location of Joe Williams Archive & annual Joe Williams lecture for history societies and supporters. * Link with Casement Aerodrome Museum and form day-tour with them. * Link with Military History Soc of Ireland * Adopt a World War I soldier * Artist-in-residence * Food & beverage outlet * Opportunities for local employment |
| Cottage on Main Street: Gogarty’s Cottage 1 | * Community craft centre – “Old Crafts to New Hands”, e.g. lace-making, crochet, knitting * Craftsperson-in-residence * Harvesting local raw materials for handcraft making * Opportunities for local employment |
| Cottage on Main Street: Gogarty’s Cottage 2 | * Tourist Information Office for South County Dublin * Centre for heritage/ancestry information for South County Dublin * Exhibition/display facility * Opportunities for employment |
| Old RIC Barracks, Old Nangor Road | * Exhibition space for displays to be exchanged with other venues in the district. * Archive of images and ephemera already recorded by SDCC * Archive of images and ephemera supplied by Paper Mills Families Reunion |
| Mount St Joseph Monastery & Cemetery | * Bi-centenary of first burial, 19.6.2022 * Celebration of Mt St Joseph’s contributions to education, Irish history and The Emergency. |
| St Cuthbert’s Church, Moat & Graveyard | High Level Task Force has been established. |
| “The Gluepot” (or Brú Chrónáin ?) | Paper Mills Families Reunion |
| Various venues at present | Activity-based vacation/staycation packages with accommodation partners regarding activities already available in Clondalkin |
| Various venues at present | Hosting conventions |
| River Camac | Outdoor activities such as nature study and health walks while preserving the integrity of the river and its banks. |
| Grand Canal | Indoor and outdoor activities, e.g. kayaking, canoeing, nature study, health walks & cycles |
| Sports & Leisure Centre | Re-establish use of the climbing wall |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Display – large image(s) of The Clondalkin Fragment |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Information Centre/Hub regarding all Round Towers |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Produce hard-copy leaflet & online information aimed at adults about Clondalkin’s Round Tower |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Historic film of the march in support of the Round Tower to be permanently on show, as with the animated film available at the centre at the moment. |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Connect with other locations where there are Round Towers, other History Societies, other County Councils to encourage reciprocal tours and co-sponsored lectures |
| Various venues | Clondalkin Living History Group events during summer season and festivals |
| Corkagh Park Farm & Pets’ Corner | Re-stock with suitable animals in secure surroundings for children to see them. |
| Design and produce opportunity for local artists and manufacturers | Clondalkin insignia/logo and flag |
| Design and produce opportunity for local artists and manufacturers | Merchandise and gifts, marked with the Clondalkin logo |
| Various suitable local shops | Re-energise interest in Clondalkin finger-ring |
| Various Venues including Áras Chrónáin and Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre, school halls, community centres, open-air venues | Expand Irish Music Week to other venues in Clondalkin |
| Accommodation partners | Arrange accommodation packages in connection with Irish Music Week |
| Church of the Immaculate Conception & St Killian | Organ recitals, especially during Clondalkin Festival Week |
| Gogarty’s Cottage No. 2 | Work with Fáilte Ireland to organise tours of the 9 heritage villages & associated sites |
| Various temporary cinema venues in addition to Áras Chrónáin and Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Film shows including ones suitable for children |
| Áras Chrónáin | Expand Club Scannán to the wider community, to show films with a broader Irish connection, e.g. theme, actor, director, location |
| Corkagh Park | Treasure Hunt and Easter Egg Hunt |
| Intercultural Centre | In consultation with stakeholders, conduct suitable multi-cultural events, especially those involving ethnic minorities |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | SDCC to produce a PowerPoint presentation for visitors on days of inclement weather and for people with mobility issues. |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Change the exchangeable items on show every 6 months |
| Civic Office Railings | Sale of artworks and craftworks |
| Various venues in the greater area of Clondalkin village | “Clondalkin Cultural Quarter” Expand the branding to other venues in the greater Clondalkin village area (aids social inclusion & a broader application of public funding opportunities) |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre & other venues | Liaise with Joe Williams Archive to arrange for items to go on public display |
| Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | Arrange for an Historian-in-Residence |
| Fairview Oil Mills Gogarty’s Cottages RIC Barracks Old swimming pool, Clondalkin Park Community Centres Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre SDCC Libraries | Proper exhibition/display spaces for rotating displays – i.e. displays or exhibitions which could be on public display in one venue and then move to another, swopping places with other displays as required. |
| Mill Shopping Centre and Brú Chrónáin/Round Tower Visitor Centre | On permanent display: list of deceased Clondalkin people who are famous or made a significant contribution to the life of Clondalkin and/or Ireland. |
Appendix 3: NIAH Description and Appraisal of Fairview Oil Mills
Re: Fairview Oil Mills, Corkagh Park: Information copied from the website of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage at webpage https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/
Fairview Oil Mills – Reg. No. 11209010
Date: 1860 – 1890
Original Use: mill (water)
Photo above: South Dublin County Libraries. Photo taken c. 2014.
Photo above, taken 1 August 2021.
From Main Record of
Description:
Detached multiple-bay two-storey former water mill, c. 1875, now ruinous. Coursed limestone walls with brick-dressed openings. Openings to ground floor now blocked, including a segmental-arched doorway. Square red brick chimney. Associated ruins to southwest including single-arch limestone rubble bridge.
Appraisal:
Although ruinous, the walls stand proud of the tree line, have an attractive quality and impose an historic charter onto the surrounding parkland. The remains of the mill are a good example of functional industrial architecture and are an important reminder of the industrial heritage of the Clondalkin area.
Appendix 4 – Fairview Oil Mills: possible sources of funding and sponsorship
These include:
Diageo/Baileys Irish Cream
Irish Distillers
Goodyear Dunlop Tyres, Fonthill Industrial Park, FonthillRoad, Yellow Walls, Dublin.
Toyota Ireland, Killeen Road, Bluebell Dublin.
and companies in Grange Castle Business Park including:
Pfizer,
Takeda,
Grifols (pharma companies)
Google,
Microsoft,
Interxion (IT)
Appendix 5 – Fairview Oil Mills: Tourist Venue and Educational Hub
Further aspects of Clondalkin’s contributions to Ireland’s wealth and heritage:
* 701-800AD: date of Clondalkin Fragment;
* c. 900 AD: round tower constructed;
* medieval times: limestone quarried locally for building material;
* 1326: first mention of mills in Clondalkin, Report of the Manor of Clondalkin;
* 1663: Fairview Oil Mills established – milled flaxseed, linseed and rape-seed for human and
animal consumption and building use.
* c. 1700s kilns produced quicklime for use in plaster and mortar in building construction. Lime was also used in lime-wash for waterproofing walls, for bleaching paper, for preparing hides for tanning, as a disinfectant, in medicine and later for soil improvement.
* 1756: The Grand Canal was started at the 11th Lock, opened in 1779, continued in use to 1960.
* 1782: Moyle Park Gun-powder Mill established. Supplied gun-powder to British military
forces in America and elsewhere in the British Empire.
* 1800s: water piped to village houses from St Brigid’s Well.
* 1813: Mount St Joseph boys’ free and boarding schools founded. Daniel O’Connell was a
patron.
* 1833: Bianconi Coaching Services – HQ Clondalkin
* 1837-1987: Paper manufacturing in Clondalkin
* 1844: Round Tower GAA Club founded, the second in the country.
* 1845: Great Southern & Western Railway, first sod turned at Adamstown.
* 1857: 8th March: RC Parish Priest requests donations for the erection of a new parish church
(i.e. the Church of the Immaculate Conception & St Killian). The call was responded to
in a manner unprecedented in the annals of chapel building … in Ireland.” First stone
laid on 5th July 1857.
* 1911: Carnegie Free Library, Monastery Road, opens. It was designed by T. J. Byrne and is the oldest library in SDCC’s library network. Although refurbished, the building retains original architectural features. For many years it was used as a venue for community/public meetings, and also as a place where dances could be (and were) held.
* 1919: Clondalkin Motor Omnibus Service (the first in Ireland).
* 1919: Paper mill supplies electric power to village, churches, convent and RIC Barracks
* 19.6.1922: 5-seater Martynside – First aircraft to fly the then new Irish tricolour lands at
Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1928: The “Bremen” makes the world’s first east-west flight, (Baldonnel Aerodrome to
Canada).
* 1930: Iona Air Taxi, charter operations. First Irish commercial aircraft.
* 1932: first international flight, Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1934: first use of planes to assist civil power: Clondalkin Civic Guards request air search after
a raid on a shop in Cheeverstown.
* 1936: first Aer Lingus flight, it departed from Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1938: first trans-Atlantic flight: “Wrong Way” Corrigan lands at Baldonnel Aerodrome.
* 1940: Intelligence HQ, Irish Army takes over Mount St Joseph.
* 1960: Irish soldiers depart for The Congo from Casement Aerodrome.
* 1969: Scoil Áine and Scoil Íde opened, first Vertical Schools.
* 1981: Coláiste Cillian opened, (Irish-language school).
Appendix 6 – Fairview Oil Mills: Educational Outreach
Table 2: Ways in which students could benefit from visiting Fairview Oil Mills:
| Receivers & givers of the following subjects, their project content/assessments | Practical problem-solving then and now. Can out-moded innovations be updated and re-used? | Engender or renew enthusiasm for chosen subject or area of exploration | Modern-day practical applications and differences |
| STEM subjects/courses | Explore and compare solutions to problems | STEM ≠ boring. STEM-minded people ask What if …? Why not …? How did that happen? Why did that happen? | Solve today’s STEM problems (and tomorrow’s). What should have happened when the Suez Canal was blocked? |
| 19th & 20th century History and Sociology | The price of solving problems, and not doing so | Intelligence: do something different for a better solution? | Where did they go wrong? Where might we go right? How have 19th/20th century innovations affected the lives of workers then – and now? |
| Topological Geography | Working with “the lie of the land”, or not | Where does all the water in the Canal come from? Go to? Why does it get there? | What might we do about problematic mountains, valleys and flood plains? |
| Environmental Studies (climate change/global warming) | Costing the earth vs respecting Mother Nature | Global warming = Global WARNING? | Do clean rivers = a shortage of paper? |
| Woodwork & Metalwork | Can you make it like your Granda, or better? | Are older methods and work practices still the accepted standard now? | What modern methods and practices are improvements (or disimprovements) on the past? Where are various items manufactured now? |
| Industrial Engineering and Design | Yesterday’s wheel = today’s hovercraft = tomorrow’s – what? | ditto | ditto |
| Precision Engineering in large and small domestic, civil and public projects | What’s a Walkman, a reel-to-reel tape, a cassette tape, a Gestetner, a Telex machine? | ditto | ditto |
| Courses on model-making for the film industry at home & abroad e.g. new studios at Grange Castle | Technologically-assisted, motorised models are always needed in genre films | ditto | ditto |
Appendix 7 – Clondalkin’s contribution to the history of transport in Ireland, by land, water and air
* 123AD: An tSlí Mhór (The Great Road) – mentioned in the Annals of the Four Masters,
ref. M123.2). Part of this ancient roadway still exists in Clondalkin village today.
* 1756: The Grand Canal was started at the 11th Lock, opened in 1779, remained in use
until 1960.
* 1833: Bianconi Coaching Services – HQ Clondalkin.
* 1845: The Great Southern & Western Railway, first sod turned at Adamstown.
* 1856: Clondalkin Railway Station was built – in the height of the Great Famine.
* 1919: Clondalkin Motor Omnibus Service, 1919 (the first in Ireland)
* 19.6.1922: 5-seater Martynside – First aircraft to fly the then new Irish tricolour lands at
Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1928: The “Bremen” makes the world’s first east-west flight, (Baldonnell Aerodrome to
Canada), piloted by Col. James M.C. Fitzmaurice, D.F.C. (1898-1965)
* 1930: Iona Air Taxi, charter operations. First Irish commercial aircraft.
* 1932: first international flight departs Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1934: first use of planes to assist civil power: Clondalkin Civic Guards request air
search after a raid on a shop in Cheeverstown.
* 1936: first Aer Lingus flight, Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1938: second ever trans-Atlantic flight: “Wrong Way” Corrigan lands at Baldonnel
Aerodrome
Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan beside his plane described by an American journalist who was present at Baldonnell as “a most wretched-looking jalopy”.
Corrigan landed after a 28-hour, 13-minute flight.
His provisions were just two bars of chocolate, two boxes of fig bars, and a quart of water. He had no radio, his compass was decades old, and the extra fuel tanks (which were leaking before he left America) meant that he could only see out of the sides of the plane—but he had made it. In aviation terms, Baldonnell is very near the Irish Sea – he almost overshot Ireland!
* Aug 1960: Irish soldiers depart from Casement Aerodrome for The Congo.
* Nov 1960: Irish soldiers killed at Niemba are repatriated, arriving at Casement Aerodrome.
* 1966: Blockbuster film The Blue Max is filmed at Baldonnell.
* 1999: Work started on the Luas Line. Clondalkin’s Red Cow stop included on the line.
Appendix 8 – About Joe Williams, The Joe Williams Archive and its importance
Joe Williams
Joe Williams grew up in Palmerstown and later lived in Clondalkin. He had a life-long interest in local history. He gained his Diploma in Local History from Maynooth University and was a founding member of the Clondalkin History Society. He often and regularly represented Clondalkin in the national Federation of History Societies at home and abroad. He was an excellent lecturer until his untimely passing in April 2016. Joe was a founding member of Rally Round the Tower Group. He was a regular tour guide during Clondalkin Festival, concentrating on the Round Tower, St John’s Church and its ancient graveyard, Mount St Joseph Monastery, schools and cemetery.
Author
Joe authored many books and pamphlets on Clondalkin’s local history for the general and academic reader. These include “St Mochua and The Round Tower” and “The Monastery of Mount St Joseph Clondalkin” published by South Dublin Libraries, as well as other works by him. He also wrote about Clondalkin’s history for school-children, their teachers and publications for people interested in making walking tours of the area.
The Joe Williams Archive: its importance
This Archive is an important local history resource with great potential for anyone with an interest in the area in both an amateur and professional basis. It was carefully assembled by a nationally-acknowledged expert. Its various materials interlock and cross-reference neatly. They show Clondalkin’s importance in the history of Ireland from approximately 5,000 BC to modern times.
The Archive contains:
The Archive’s contents depict Clondalkin and its environs down the years and its place in Ireland’s history. It includes books (including rare, antiquarian, out-of-print and more modern publications), maps, photographs, slides, relevant journals, newspaper clippings, various artefacts and framed images. Many of the Archive’s contents are not available elsewhere.
Keeping the Archive together:
Because of its unique interlocking nature and the rarity of many of its materials, it is imperative to keep the Archive together as a unit. The Joe Williams Archive is strictly a reference library. Its natural home is in the village of Clondalkin.
Where has the Archive been since 2016?
The Joe Williams Archive has been carefully curated in a local home since Joe’s untimely passing in April 2016. It should be available to anyone, of any age, who wishes to research the area, but normal household insurance won’t permit visitors to consult or use the Archive. In accordance with the Williams family wishes, it should be accommodated more properly in Clondalkin village where people can access it, learn from it, and enhance their knowledge and appreciation of the local area and its contributions to Ireland’s history.
Appendix 9 – Notable historic events at Baldonnell/Casement Aerodrome
* 19.6.1922: 5-seater Martynside – First aircraft to fly the then new Irish tricolour lands at
Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1928: The “Bremen” makes the world’s first east-west flight, (Baldonnel Aerodrome to
Canada).
* 1930: Iona Air Taxi, charter operations. First Irish commercial aircraft.
* 1932: first international flight, Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1934: first use of planes to assist civil power: Clondalkin Civic Guards request air
search following a raid on a shop in Cheeverstown.
* 1936: first Aer Lingus flight, it departed from Baldonnell Aerodrome.
* 1938: first trans-Atlantic flight: “Wrong Way” Corrigan lands at Baldonnel Aerodrome,
after a 28-hour, 13-minute flight. His provisions had been just two bars of
chocolate, two boxes of fig bars, and a quart of water.
* Aug 1960: Irish soldiers depart for The Congo from Casement Aerodrome.
* Nov 1960: Irish soldiers killed at Niemba are repatriated, arriving at Casement Aerodrome.
* 1966: Blockbuster film The Blue Max is filmed at Baldonnell.
[Information courtesy of Pat O’Sullivan and The Joe Williams Archive.]
Appendix 10 – Patrick Gogarty (local shoe-maker, writer, poet, Hon. Secretary of Clondalkin Branch of the Irish National League), Katharine Tynan, and W.B. Yeats
Patrick Gogarty (1849-1892) was, like his brothers, a shoemaker. He lived on Main Street, Clondalkin. As well as being a gifted cobbler, he was an enthusiastic and promising poet, encouraged by Katharine Tynan, Lady Gregory and W.B. Yeats. Yeats“often” visited Gogarty in the shoe-maker’s shop on Main Street to discuss books and referred to it in a letter he wrote to the Boston Post on 3.8.1889 (details in Vol VII of Yeats’s collected works Letters to the New Island, p. 11). Gogarty was part of the literary revival in Ireland which included W.B. Yeats, Lady Gregory and AE.
Gogarty’s efforts as a poet and essayist annoyed his family. They preferred him to be “a good shoe-maker, not a bad poet” (Katharine Tynan, A Cluster of Nuts, p. 4). Tynan reports that Gogarty would walk the 2 miles to her house to ask her advice about a piece he was writing, still wearing his shoe-maker’s leather apron. He submitted stories and sketches to Irish newspapers possibly under various pen-names. Patrick Gogarty died in 1892 and was buried in the main graveyard at St John’s Church in Clondalkin.
Gogarty was the Hon. Secretary of the Clondalkin Branch of the pro-Parnell Irish National League. In 1885, official RIC files described him as “a shoemaker + poor + of no standing in the neighbourhood”. He had come to the attention of the constabulary, the Inspector General and the Attorney General because he openly and staunchly defended tenants’ rights when the local landlord (William Roper-Caldbeck) evicted 3 local families. The landlord claimed that at least one of the families hadn’t paid rent for years. The tone and content of Patrick Gogarty’s public pronouncements in favour of tenants’ rights indicate that he was not afraid to speak his mind despite the Crime Branch’s official note-taker being present at the Irish National League’s public meetings, accompanied by RIC policemen and officers. Mr Roper-Caldbeck wrote to the Under Secretary for Ireland in Sept 1885 describing the “Land League in this Village which exercises this terrorism is almost entirely managed by Shoemakers and Publicans.”
(Information courtesy of The Joe Williams Archive)
Appendix 11 – Lace-making tradition in Clondalkin
Irish hand-made lace remains highly prized among experts at home and abroad. Before Covid-19, approximately 320-400 people attended lace-making classes in Ireland each year and there are at least a dozen formal centres in Ireland offering lace-making classes and/or displaying Irish lace (information courtesy of The Guild of Irish Lace-makers). There are no such lace-making centres in South County Dublin.
Irish National Inventory and UNESCO recognition
As an initial step towards UNESCO acknowledgement, the Irish National Inventory of Intangible Cultural and Heritage recognises Irish crochet lace-making as an important part of our heritage, and refers to Clondalkin crochet lace-makers in particular:
“A corresponding movement to revive and support Irish Crochet Lace-making specifically has recently started in Clondalkin, Co. Dublin, where a small group of practitioners have formed the Clondalkin Irish Crochet Lace Group.
In general, as many practitioners in Irish Crochet Lace continue to work individually on their craft, much of the advanced skills and the creative styles of the earlier practitioners who worked in creative hub situations are in decline and old designs appear outdated to some in the modern world.
The Clondalkin Irish Crochet Lace Group aim to revive interest in this craft by drawing together remaining practitioners in Dublin and linking with other remaining groups and individuals around the country.” Source: webpage: https://nationalinventoryich.chg.gov.ie/irish-crochet-lace/
Irish crochet lace made in Clondalkin and high fashion
From 1950 – 1970 Sybil Connolly (internationally-acclaimed Irish fashion designer) required Irish hand-made lace for her range of ladies’ outerwear, characteristically based on Irish materials. Based on the ingenuity of Clondalkin’s lace-making families, Ms Connolly requested them to make lace for gowns for her large number of clients. Her clients included Mrs Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Grace of Monaco.
Nowadays, the third generation of Carmel Lyons’s family are Clondalkin lace-makers and continue this intricate craft. A video was recently launched.
Brief history of Irish lace
There is evidence that hand-made lace was crafted in Ireland in the 1700s. By the 1890s there were several lace-making schools in Ireland producing many different kinds of Irish lace. Irish lace is closely intertwined with Ireland’s history:
* the income lace-making generated helped many Irish families to overcome hardship in famine times and other periods of severe economic distress – e.g. the Congested Districts Board, 1891, arranged for Irish women to be employment as lace-makers in their homes.
* Irish lace helped to put Ireland “on the map” at international industry exhibitions, such as the RDS (1850 and 1888), Chicago Exhibition (1893), International Exhibition, Dublin (1907).
* Since the 1800s European royal families have included Irish lace in bridal gowns and clothes worn at formal occasions: (Queen Victoria, Crown Princess Margaret of Sweden, Queen Mary, Princess Alexia of Greece, Diana Princess of Wales, Catherine the present Duchess of Cambridge (Kate Middleton).
* Wearing Irish lace in the early 1900s became a statement supporting Home Rule.
Sources:
Guild of Irish Lace-makers;
Mrs Carmel Lyons, Clondalkin, ICA-accredited expert lace-maker;
The Joe Williams Archive: (Nic Ghiolla Phadraig, B.: History of Irish Lace);
online information re Sybil Connolly.
Appendix 12 – Mount St Joseph Monastery: contribution to education & history
The rich and varied history of Mount St Joseph Monastery and Cemetery deserve to be acknowledged. Key aspects (but not exclusive ones) relate to:
1813: Monastery established. Boys’ Free School opened. 190 pupils in Jan 1814.
19.6.1822: First burial in Mount St Joseph cemetery.
1833: Boarding school opened.
* Daniel O’Connell was a patron.
* Born 1793, Brother Elias (aka Luke Cullen) taught at Mount St Joseph
Monastery. He collected the memoirs of the survivors of the 1798 Rebellion,
historic notes about Clondalkin, Anne Devlin and Michael Dwyer. His records
informed much of later scholastic work and are in the national archives.
* Some boys who were educated at Mount St Joseph joined the priesthood and
contributed to religious life and education in Canada, India and Australia.
* Other ex-pupils of Mount St Joseph remained in Ireland and became leaders in
their local communities.
* The Monastery was a significant base for air and marine intelligence during
World War II (from 1940-45).
1961: The Monastery school moved to St Joseph’s Boys’ National School in
Clondalkin village.
1961-81: Little Sisters of the Assumption.
1981: Eastern Health Board, Rutland Centre.
1988: Mount St Joseph buildings demolished following vandalism.
(From: Joe Williams: Monastery of Mount St Joseph, Clondalkin, 1813-1939, passim, Research Project 1995)
Appendix 13 – St Cuthbert’s Church, Moat and Graveyard
Location: (link: https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/
This webpage is part of the website of the National Monuments of Ireland, National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.)
St Cuthbert’s Church – ref. DU017-038001
St Cuthbert’s Graveyard – ref. DU017-038002
St Cuthbert’s Moat – ref. DU017_038003
St Cuthbert’s Church is included in SDCC’s List of Protected Structures: Ref. 133 – “Kilmahuddrick”: Stone Church (Ruin), Graveyard, & Moated Site. Possible Recorded Monument.
DU017-038001-
Class: Church
Townland: KILMAHUDDRICK
Scheduled for inclusion in the next revision of the RMP: Yes
Description: Situated in the NE corner of a rectangular disused graveyard close to Deansrath Estate. This is a medieval parish church which served the smallest parish in the county. It is dedicated to St. Cuthbert of Lindesfarne and was held by St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin from 1186 until 1540 when it was re-united with Clondalkin (Ball 1940, 182-183).
Comprises a nave and chancel divided by a two-centred chancel arch. Built of undressed random rubble masonry. Entrance is in the W gable through a round arched doorway. There is a rectangular window above the doorway. The door is rebated with draw bar holes. The nave (dims. L 6.60m, Wth 5.10m, wall Wth 0.90m) is lit by narrow slit opes on W and S side, there is a square opening in N wall and a wall press in the S wall. A double bellcote rises above the chancel arch. The chancel (dims. L 5.85m, Wth 5.05m narrowing to 4.42m) is lit by plain pointed lights. The E window is a pointed light in deep widely splayed embrasure, which has a stepped feature. There is a recess under the sill of the E window and on S wall of chancel and a low aumbrey at S end of E wall (Mc Dix 1898, 165-166). To the S of the graveyard is a possible moated site (DU017-038001-; see Ní Mharcaigh 1977, 270-271).
Compiled by: Geraldine Stout
Date of upload: 26 August 2011
References:
1. McDix, E.R. 1898 Kil-Ma-Huddrick, near Clondalkin, Co. Dublin. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 28, 165-6.
2. Ní Mharcaigh, M. 1997 The medieval parish churches of south-west County Dublin. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 97C, 245-96.
DU017-038002-
Class: Graveyard
Townland: KILMAHUDDRICK
Description: Located in a flat, low-lying area, this is a rectangular disused graveyard close to Deansrath Estate.
Remains of a medieval parish church (DU017-038001-) stand in the NE corner of the graveyard. Very few gravestones remain visible. It contains some 19th century memorials. Attached to the S side of the graveyard is a possible moated site (DU017-038003-).
Compiled by: Geraldine Stout
Date of upload: 26 August 2011
DU017-038003-
Class: Moated site
Townland: KILMAHUDDRICK
Scheduled for inclusion in the next revision of the RMP: Yes
Description: Located in flat, low-lying land attached to the S side of Kilmahuddrick graveyard (DU017-038002-). A roughly rectangular enclosure (int. dims. L 95m; Wth 50m) which is defined by a flat-topped earthen bank (Wth 4.1m; H 0.5m) and wide outer fosse (Wth 3.5m; D 2.1m).
There is a causeway across the fosse in the NE and a corresponding break in the enclosing bank.
Compiled by: Geraldine Stout
Date of upload: 26 August 2011
Appendix 14 – Activity-based vacation/staycation packages, indoor & outdoor activities
* Painting/drawing classes;
* Flower arranging (SDCC to work with relevant local companies for supports);
* Learn Irish at all levels – Clondalkin has a special status as an Irish-speaking
area;
* Meditation;
* Making greetings cards (using the paper made and bought in Fairview Oil Mills);
* Fishing (SDCC to work with local fishing/angling clubs, re-stock the fishing lakes and ponds
with trout and enable people – including wheelchair users – to use the fishing ponds in
Corkagh Park;
* SDCC to explore the potential of Corkagh Park for people to learn about trees
and natural habitats;
* Photography;
* Writing (stories, books, calligraphy) – SDCC to work with local Carnegie Library, relevant
local groups and local schools;
* Songwriting/singing;
* SDCC to explore possibility of establishing Clondalkin Book Week for adults and children,
with help from SDCC Libraries: read other books or write your own (or at least get started!)
* Focus on local writers and poets, write your own poem;
* Handcrafts – knitting, crochet, lacemaking, etc.
* Tai-Chi;
* Set-dancing;
* Kite-flying in Corkagh Park for families;
* Swimming gala in Clondalkin Leisure Centre;
* Learn how to play hurling, camogie, handball, GAA football, cricket, soccer, and other sports;
* Genealogy in Ireland: SDCC Libraries to work with Joe Williams Archive, local genealogists
and individuals. This could be linked later with the “Home to Clondalkin” campaign as well;
* Lace-making/knitting/stitching/sewing Fair.
Next, new indoor and outdoor activities include:
* barge trips on the Canal between Clondalkin and Hazel hatch, part of “Home to Clondalkin
campaign” and at other suitable times such as Clondalkin Festival, Slí Chrónáin Canal Walk;
* family outings by bicycle along the Grand Canal;
* canoeing/kayaking on the Grand Canal (Omer’s Lock-keeper’s house is due to become a
canoeing/kayaking centre);
* family nature study outings along the River Camac and the Grand Canal;
* skate boarding competitions at Clondalkin Park Skate Park;
* establish the Dublin Bike Scheme to enable family outings by bicycle along the Grand Canal;
* activities in connection with various “weeks” supported by SDCC (see response below from
SDCC Social Inclusion Unit).
* Practical handicraft classes;
* Learn Irish, Irish dancing and set dancing classes;
* Learn how to play GAA games, including handball.
Response from SDCC Social Inclusion Unit dated 16.9.2021:
“The Social Inclusion Unit organise an annual programme of events to highlight and promote the positive work South Dublin County Council is involved in to reduce social exclusion and poverty. The following are some of the initiatives held throughout the year.
•European Action Week Against Racism (21st March)
•Bealtaine Festival (month of May) for the active age members of our communities
•Social Inclusion Festival – 15th to the 21st November 2021 (second last week in November each year).
The Social Inclusion Festival is a programme of events organised by the Social Inclusion Unit, Community Services Department to highlight the diversity and creativity of people in South Dublin County. The Unit reaches out into all sections of the community, connecting many people and groups who are normally isolated and on the margins. It is an opportunity for people to learn new skills, share ideas and participate in their community.
Following an online open call for proposals for events to be included in this year’s festival, 50 proposals have been received to date. They are currently being considered by the Committee and on approval a calendar / brochure of events for that week will be circulated widely via our social media pages.”
[end]
Appendix 15 – Hosting conventions
Some possible conventions include:
* Professional international conventions – for doctors, nurses, dentists, lawyers,
etc. who must upgrade their professional statuses on a regular basis;
* Environment/Conservation – invite EU representatives as well;
* World Federation of History Societies (SDCC to work with Clondalkin History
Society);
* Board games – contests, learn how to play them, buy them, and bring them
home. Outlets selling board games to be invited to attend so they can sell their
goods to convention visitors;
* Video games;
* Pokemon conventions;
* Comics/Sci-fi Conventions;
* Handcrafts Conventions (when the RDS Fair is NOT on. 25,000 people attended
over a number of days in 2017. These are the latest figures from the RDS:
The Knitting and Stitching Show in the RDS has been an annual event for more than 25 years. The latest figures state that 12,000 visitors attended the Show in 2017. Not all attendees were lace-makers, but the number of visitors indicates the popularity of this sort of handicraft fair. (Source: From: https://www.tipperarylive.ie/news/home/343822/win-free-tickets-to-the-knitting-stitching-show-in-the-rds-dublin.html
Appendix 16 – The Clondalkin Fragment
Discovered in modern times, The Clondalkin Fragment is a piece cut from a manuscript of antiphons (short chants in Christian ritual, recited or sung as a refrain). Experts indicate the manuscript was written between 701 and 800AD. The words are in Latin but in Irish lettering, an early example of written Irish. At the upper edge in Latin wording/Irish letters “holy Crónán son of Lugaedón” is written. St Crónán died c. 630 AD.
“This Cronán [sic] son of Lugaed was also called Mochua of Cluain Dolcain, now Clondalkin near Dublin. See the Martyrologies of Oengus and Donegal at Aug. 6.”
(Stokes, Whitley and Strachan, John: Thesaurus Paleohibernicus Vol. 2, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, 1903, page 256)
The reference to “Aug. 6” may be to another manuscript or publication.
Between 800 and 850AD part of the Clondalkin book was used to bind another book, possibly dedicated to the Venerable Bede who died on 25 May 735AD.
References for The Clondalkin Fragment where more photographs and information can be found:
Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Fragm. Aug. 18 [palimpsest old] Sacramentarium, Fragment – Cod. Aug. Fr. 18
from
Appendix 17 – Merchandise and gifts
List of possible merchandise and gifts to be made available at outlets in Clondalkin village, including Fairview Oil Mills, Round Tower Visitor Centre/Brú Chrónáin. All items to be marked with the Clondalkin logo:
fridge magnets
mugs
key rings
tea towels
T-shirts
Pencils/biros
Candy rock
Clondalkin limestone keepsake (Connemara marble did this, but upgrade the idea)
postcards of the area, using photographs taken by local people, printed by
a local printer and those from the Joe Williams Archive.
artworks made by local people
various sized flags of Clondalkin with insignia or logo on them
lapel badges (like COVID-19 vaccine badges) that say something suitable about
visiting Clondalkin, or with a picture/drawing of the Round Tower;
back-packs or other bags/carriers
re-usable canvas or cotton carrier bags
items made from lace and crochet
St Brigid crosses
basketry made from locally grown willow (from monastic garden & River Camac banks)
Appendix 18: Tourist and Heritage Trails
(re An tSlí Mhór/St Brigid’s Day Festival Pilgrim Path, An tSlí Chrónáin annual walk along the Grand Canal)
The following objective has been included in the draft SDCC County Development Plan:
EDE20 Objective 2 (amended):
To support the development of local tourist and heritage trails at suitable locations including across the Dublin Mountains, and between and within Brittas-Saggart-Rathcoole; Clondalkin; Lucan; NewcastleLyons; Rathfarnham; and Tallaght and seek to make such trails interactive through the use of sensitive signage and the further development of application software ensuring in HA DM that all such trails are sensitively landscaped and designed to ensure positive impact on biodiversity and visual amenity.
Appendix 19 – Clean & maintain sluice gates in Clondalkin Park and Corkagh Park
(example: at Sandy Hole Mill Race)
Sandy Hole Mill Race. Photograph courtesy of Buildings of Ireland https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11209042/clondalkin-clondalkin-dublin
From: https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/
Reg. No. 11209042
Date: 1830 – 1870
Original Use: mill race
Date recorded: 28.5.2002
Main Record
From: https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11209042/clondalkin-clondalkin-dublin
Description:
Mill race, c. 1850, with associated concrete weir, walls and sluice on the Cammock (Camac) River. Mill race no longer functional, and now forms pond.
Appraisal:
This mill race is valuable evidence of the former land use in this part of Clondalkin. Though now disused, it remains important as a feature of the nearby parkland and as a wildlife habitat.
Appendix 20 – Tree Preservation Orders: SDCC Policy & Objectives
SDCC has listed the following policy and objectives in the draft South Dublin County Development Plan, 2022-2028, p. 98: (from: https://www.sdcc.ie/en/devplan2022/stage-2-draft-plan/consolidated-draft-county-development-plan/1-draft-south-dublin-county-development-plan-2022-2028.pdf)
Policy NCBH11: Tree Preservation Orders and Other Tree Protections
Review Tree Preservation Orders (TPO) within the County and maintain the
conservation value of trees and groups of trees that are the subject of a Tree
Preservation Order while also recognising the value of and protecting trees and
hedgerows which are not subject to a TPO.
NCBH11 Objective 1:
To review Tree Preservation Orders within the County and maintain the
conservation value of trees and groups of trees that are the subject of any Tree
Preservation Order.
NCBH11 Objective 2:
To regularly evaluate and identify trees of amenity value within the County with
a view to making them the subject of Tree Preservation Orders or otherwise
protecting them and further, to furnish information to the public in this regard.
NCBH11 Objective 3:
To protect and retain existing trees, hedgerows, and woodlands which are of
amenity and/or biodiversity and/or carbon sequestration value and/or
contribute to landscape character and ensure that proper provision is made for
their protection and management taking into account Living with Trees: South
Dublin County Council’s Tree Management Policy (2015-2020) or any
superseding document and to ensure that where retention is not possible that
a high value biodiversity provision is secured as part of the phasing of any
development to protect the amenity of the area.
NCBH11 Objective 4:
To protect the hedgerows of the County, acknowledging their role as wildlife
habitats, biodiversity corridors, links within the County’s green infrastructure
network, their visual amenity and landscape character value and their
significance as demarcations of historic field patterns and townland
boundaries. (Refer also to Chapter 4, Green Infrastructure)
Appendix 21 – Cottages and houses in Clondalkin designed by Thomas J. Byrne
SDCC’s responses regarding cottages and houses in Clondalkin designed by Thomas J. Byrne:
Date: 6/10/2021
Your Reference: Members Reps. ID: 1668472
26 cottages were approved for Clondalkin but the only existing buildings that we can confirm as TJ Byrne’s are the two at the junction of the 9th Lock Road and Ballymanaggin Lane, and the cottages on Ballymanaggin Lane itself.
_________________________________________
Date: 13.10.2021:
Please refer to the minutes of the development plan meetings approved at the September Council meeting. I have extracted the relevant minutes of the motion for your convenience:
DPM166/0621 Item ID:70644
Proposed by Councillor F. Timmons, seconded by Councillor P. Kavanagh
That this council recognise the buildings of Thomas J Byrne (Builder) and that the council set an objective to protect the buildings he built, Many spread out throughout SDCC and are of historical importance to our history and heritage , these houses should be categorised and listed (Reference SDCC Libraries published book Nation Builder (2013).
REPORT:
A number of TJ Byrne houses and public buildings are currently listed on the Record of Protected Structures and are found throughout the County, offering fine examples of his architectural style. It is also noted that many TJ Byrne houses are currently designated Architectural Conservation Areas within the County, such as St Patrick’s Cottages, Grange Rd, Rathfarnham, Balrothery Cottages, Tallaght and Riverside Cottages Templeogue.
The draft Plan contains policy and objectives to protect these buildings such as:
NCBH Policy 20 – “Preserve and enhance the historic character and visual setting of Architectural Conservation Areas and carefully consider any proposals for development that would affect the special value of such areas”.
NCBH 20 Objective 1 – “To avoid removal of distinctive features that positively contribute to the character of Architectural Conservation Areas including building features, shop fronts, boundary treatments, street furniture, landscaping and paving”.
NCBH Policy 19 – “Conserve and protect buildings, structures and sites contained in the RPS and carefully consider any proposals that would affect the setting, special character or appearance of a Protected Structure including its historic curtilage, both directly and indirectly”.
NCBH19 Objective 1 – “To ensure the protection of all structures (or parts of structures) and their immediate surroundings including the curtilage and attendant grounds of structures identified in the Record of Protected Structures”.
As indicated, many of Thomas Byrnes buildings are already included on the record of protected structures and more are included within existing ACAs. It is considered that the policies and objectives outlined above, in addition to the RPS and ACAs, sufficiently protect a variety of TJ Byrne buildings. It is considered that the Motion can be adopted with amendment whereby the existing objective NCBH Policy 20, NCBH 20 Objective 1, NCBH Policy 19 and NCBH 19 Objective 1, NCBH 23 Objective 2 are sufficient to ensure the protection of the said buildings.
Recommendation
It is recommended that this motion is adopted with amendment to reflect that the existing policies and objectives, including the relevant list of protected structures and ACAs and NCBH Policy 20, NCBH 20 Objective 1, NCBH Policy 19 and NCBH 19 Objective 1, NCBH 23 Objective 2 as currently set out in the CE Draft Plan is sufficient to provide for the intent of the motion:
NCBH Policy 20 – “Preserve and enhance the historic character and visual setting of Architectural Conservation Areas and carefully consider any proposals for development that would affect the special value of such areas”.
NCBH 20 Objective 1 – “To avoid removal of distinctive features that positively contribute to the character of Architectural Conservation Areas including building features, shop fronts, boundary treatments, street furniture, landscaping and paving”.
NCBH Policy 19 – “Conserve and protect buildings, structures and sites contained in the RPS and carefully consider any proposals that would affect the setting, special character or appearance of a Protected Structure including its historic curtilage, both directly and indirectly”.
NCBH19 Objective 1 – “To ensure the protection of all structures (or parts of structures) and their immediate surroundings including the curtilage and attendant grounds of structures identified in the Record of Protected Structures”.
NCBH23 Objective 2 – “To ensure that conservation is a key design principle underpinning any redevelopment/regeneration schemes that affect the historic built environments of the County”.
The Members unanimously AGREED to accept the Chief Executive’s recommendation
Appendix 22 – Other heritage cottages and houses to be included on the SDCC’s Protected Structures List If not already listed on it
Some of these cottages and houses may have been designed by Thomas J. Byrne.
No. 1 Old Naas Road
No. 2 Old Naas Road
No. 3 Convent View
No. 4 Convent View
No. 5 Convent View
No. 6 Convent View
No. 7 Convent View
No. 8 Convent View
No. 1 Ballymanaggin
No. 2 Ballymanaggin
No. 3 Ballymanaggin
No. 4 Ballymanaggin
No. 5 Ballymanaggin
No. 6 Ballymanaggin
No. 7 Ballymanaggin
No. 8 Ballymanaggin
No. 5 Station Road
No. 6 Station Road
Chimneys of Brookfield Cottage, off Orchard Road
The 2 cottages on Main Street, beside Byrne’s Auctioneers
“Bubbles”, retail outlet at corner of Main Street (opposite Coby’s jewellery shop)
“Laurel House”, Laurel Park/New Road (“Poppadom” Indian take-away)
“Castle View”, Laurel Park/New Road
“Shangri-La”, house beside “Tower View”, Laurel Park/New Road (at present business premises: P. Reid Dental Laboratory and Pet Stylist)
“St Cecilia’s”, New Road (opposite the Church of the Immaculate Conception & St Killian, and convent)
No. 1 New Road Cottages, New Road (opposite entrance to St Brigid’s Road and car dealer’s premises)
No. 2 New Road Cottages, New Road (ditto)
No. 3 New Road Cottages, New Road (ditto)
No. 47 New Road (ditto)
No. 2, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 4, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 6, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 8, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 12, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 14, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 16, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 18, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 20, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 22, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 24, Knockmeenagh Road
No. 26, Knockmeenagh Road please turn over/
No. 28 Knockmeenagh Road
All of St Brigid’s Cottages, off the extension of Knockmeenagh Road – house numbers to be confirmed)
“St Anne’s”, Monastery Road
House beside “St Anne’s”, Monastery Road, at “Village Hardware” shop
No. 1, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 2, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 3, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 4, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 5, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 6, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 7, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 8, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 9, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 10, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
No. 11, Beech Row, Old Nangor Road
Appendix 23 – Clondalkin Tidy Towns leaflet
Photo: © Ben Ryan
Dear business owner,
Did you know that Clondalkin village is designated as an
Architectural Conservation Area?
An ACA is an area that is of special architectural, historical, archaeological, technical, social, cultural or scientific interest.
This means that SDCC has specific guidelines in place about ACAs to guide good quality development that enhances the character of such areas. Further details can be found here:
With this in mind, did you also know that there is an SDCC-funded Shopfront Grant scheme which covers 50% of the cost of improvements to painting, signage and façades? For further information on the scheme, please visit:
Further to the above, a bilingual signage grant is also available from Foras na Gaeilge under their Business Support Scheme. See below for details:
We hope that you will consider these great opportunities both to enhance your business as well as well as the overall character of Clondalkin village.
With best wishes,
Clondalkin Tidy Towns
Appendix 24 – Map of old limestone walls along roads and streets in Clondalkin
Boundary walls along the roads and streets marked with a blue line in the image above, and to include the following roads and streets:
* Old Naas Road – wall along the right hand side of the road leading to the Green Isle Hotel
* Old Bridge, Old Nangor Road – at the entrance to the Mill Shopping Centre)
* From St John’s Road junction with Convent Road, to include walls along Convent Road, Tower Road, and Old Nangor Road as far as Millpark Apartments.
* Orchard Road
* Monastery Road (both sides), from Mount Talbot Apartments to Main Street.
* Knockmeenagh Road
The following is included in the SDCC draft County Development Plan:
NCBH20 Objective 1: To avoid the removal of distinctive features that positively contribute to the character of Architectural Conservation Areas including building features, shop fronts, boundary treatments (including walls), street furniture, landscaping and paving.
Policy NCBH26: Climate Change, Adaptation and Energy Efficiency in Traditional and Historic Buildings Secure the identification, protection and conservation of historic items and features of interest throughout the County including street furniture, boundary walls, surface finishes, roadside installations, items of industrial heritage and other stand-alone features of interest.
NCBH21 SLO 1: To protect and maintain the remaining old stone walls of Clondalkin
Appendix 25 – The Per Cent for Art Scheme
From: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/38b6d-per-cent-for-art/
Per Cent for Art Scheme
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on 27 October 2020
Last updated on 9 November 2020
The Per Cent for Art scheme is a government initiative, first introduced in 1978, whereby 1% of the cost of any publicly funded capital, infrastructural and building development can be allocated to the commissioning of a work of art. Since 1997 this scheme has been made available to all capital projects across all government departments.
Capital programmes where the Per Cent for Art scheme applies include:
public housing projects (social and affordable schemes)
transport and roads
environmental schemes such as drainage schemes, pump stations and reservoirs
public buildings such as libraries, public offices, schools, hospitals, medical centres, prisons, arts buildings – cinemas, theatres, art centre
conservation works carried out to public buildings and sites
urban and village renewal schemes
In July 2019, the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht announced new bands and maximum limits. [Link]
Effective from 1 January 2020, the new investment bands and limits are:
projects below €5,000,000: 1% of the cost of the project to a maximum of €50,000 (1% of upper limit)
projects between €5,000,000 and €20,000,000: 1% of the cost of the project to a maximum of €125,000 (1% at median)
projects between €20,000,000 and €50,000,000: 1% of the cost of the project to a maximum of €350,000 (1% at median)
projects in excess of €50,000,000: Up to €500,000 being 1% of the lower level scale and declining as projects increase in scale
An inter-Departmental Committee has been established in relation to developing the Scheme, reviewing the guidelines and coordination of information in relation to projects under the Scheme. This group is to meet shortly.
Further detail on the Scheme can be seen here and the existing guidelines to the Scheme may be seen here.
*Note these guidelines refer cite the previous parameters, which are now outdated.
[end]
[Please also see overleaf document dated 15 May 1997 regarding The Per Cent for Art Scheme.]
Document concerning the Per Cent for Art Scheme
Appendix 26: Two newspaper articles about Clondalkin
Article by the late Con Houlihan in The Irish Times
Next, an excerpt of newspaper article
[Accessed on 6.10.2021]
Priced out of Walkinstown? Consider Clondalkin
Graced by a 1,000 year old round tower, Clondalkin has a strong community feel and a good supply of family homes.
Sat, Feb 3, 2018, 06:00
Tadhg Peavoy
The Tower development, including the Happy Pear Restaurant
Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Clondalkin is without question one of the best value neighbourhoods in the capital, offering prices that are affordable to most and a location within striking distance of Dublin city, making it an option for those who may have thought their only alternative was to move to a commuter county.
The town itself is a very old one. There were Neolithic settlers before the town became a monastic settlement and the town’s round tower was built around 790AD.
Clondalkin developed into a mill town during the 1800s and expanded out into a grouping of homes, schools and farms in what was then rural Dublin. That growth continued in the 1900s as Clondalkin became the more than 40,000-resident town it is today, connected to the city centre via the N7 and the red Luas line at the Red Cow interchange.
Church Terrace on Tower Road, Clondalkin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
What does the housing look like?
Almost 40 per cent of Clondalkin’s homes date from between the 1960s and 1980s, with Celtic Tiger builds accounting for 35 per cent. Most of the earlier homes are in housing estates with communal green areas. Apartments are also present, but in small numbers – just 11 per cent – with houses accounting for the large majority of builds.
The most desirable homes are in the old south Clondalkin area, built in the 1960s and 70s and consisting mostly of three-, four- and five-bed terraced homes, as well as detached homes.
…
Any new developments coming on stream?
Clondalkin is part of a Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) and a large scale scheme, the Clonburris development, announced in September 2017 and in the final stages of planning approval, will bring 8,437 new homes to the wider area over the next decade. The SDZ spans 280 hectares and is located between the established communities of Lucan, Clondalkin and Liffey Valley.
Cairn Homes, the largest private landowner in Clonburris, said it could provide homes costing less than €300,000 and would be in a position to start construction straight away.
The lands benefit from two train stations; the Clondalkin-Fonthill station is operational, and the Kishogue station is constructed but not currently operational.
Beside the Mill Shopping Centre, at the crossroads of Ninth Lock Road and New Nangor Road, BNP Paribas have a corner site that is believed to be set for commercial development. Directly opposite is another development site believed to be largely primed for commercial, with an element of residential.
Clondalkin town centre. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Three sporting legends
GAA, soccer, rugby, basketball and boxing are all served by clubs in the area with three of Ireland’s most famous sporting sons hailing from Clondalkin: former WBA super-bantamweight boxing world champion Bernard Dunne is from Neilstown; Kenneth Egan, 2008 Olympic light-heavyweight boxing silver medallist, is from Woodford; and current Dublin football manager Jim Gavin is attached to the Round Towers GAA Club [sic] with five All-Ireland titles to his name – one as player, four as manager.
Quinlan’s ‘The Black Lion’, Orchard Road, Clondalkin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Village life
Clondalkin has had something of an image problem in recent times, largely due to a number of shootings that have taken place relating to the Hutch-Kinahan gangland feud, with the most recent being in Ronanstown in January.
But as in Finglas or Dublin 1, these are very much isolated incidents that cast an unfair image over what is largely a safe area. A number of well-regarded schools, specifically Gaelscoil na Camóige and Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcain, are located in the town.
The new addition of The Happy Pear, the first franchise opened by the Flynn brothers in Dublin, to the Round Tower Visitor Centre embodies green shoots in the village as it begins to try to assert itself as a go-to west-Dublin village. The building is a tasteful conversion of a number of old cottages, which has turned a run-down part of Clondalkin into a new hub for the town.
The Happy Pear doesn’t disappoint it must be said: the staff are friendly and knowledgeable about the produce, and the head barista was hired after an interview process that included several hundred candidates going for the role.
The Happy Pear situated in the Round Tower Centre, Clondalkin. Photograph: Nick Bradshaw
Further south lies the main village, with a large number of other eateries and The Laurels pub – its intriguing The Tree Top restaurant, built into a top-tier wooden floor of the village-centre building. It is well regarded and a decent spot to dine and chat with the locals over a scoop.
The northern end of town has the Mill Shopping Centre, which includes a Dunnes Stores. [Link] There are a number of vacant lots ready for development into eateries and retail all over town. It’s an interesting area with a lot of change planned, change that will produce a spike in property prices and desirability for the area in the not too distant future.
[1] “Clondalkin’s Gaeltacht credentials given a big thumbs suas”, https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/clondalkin-gaeltacht-south-dublin-council-14402065
[2] Article: “750 hectares of land …” by Mary Dennehy, The Echo, 9.9.2021, p. 12
[3]Notice published by Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council, The Echo, 9.9.2021, p. 26
[4] See https://maps.archaeology.ie/historicenvironment/ (from the Buildings of Ireland website).
[5] See https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/11209010/fairview-oil-mills-cherrywood-crescent-fairview-clondalkin-dublin
