Sandymount
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (April 2010) |
Sandymount
Dumhach Thrá | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | County Dublin |
| Government | |
| • Dáil Éireann | Dublin South–East |
| Time zone | UTC+0 (WET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-1 (IST (WEST)) |
| Area code(s) | 01, +353 1 |
| Irish Grid Reference | O190325 |
Sandymount (Irish: Dumhach Thrá) is a coastal suburb in Dublin 4 on the Southside of Dublin in Ireland. It is in the Dublin South–East constituency and the Pembroke Ward. It was once part of Pembroke Township, which took its name from the fact that this area was part of the estate of the Earl of Pembroke.
An early name for the area was Scal'd Hill or Scald Hill.[1] During the 18th Century, there was a village called Brickfield Town on the site of Sandymount Green.[1] This took its name from Lord Merrions Brickfields which stretched from here to Merrion at the time.[1]
Location, access & boundary
Sandymount is located between 3 and 4km south east of Dublin City, In the north end it begins where Newbridge Avenue meets Herbert Road to Church Avenue at the coast and west along the DART rail line and south to Merrion Gates. Sandymount Promenade runs along the coast road (Strand Road) from Sandymount Strand down to Merrion Gates. It lies a little south of the Great South Wall in Dublin Bay. Neighbouring suburbs are Ballsbridge, Merrion and Irishtown.
The area is served by the (DART) commuter rail system and two stops are located in the area, Sandymount and Sydney Parade. It is served by Dublin Bus routes 1, 18 and 47. It was once served by routes 2, 3 which ceased operation on 12 May 2012 and 52 which ceased operation in 1998. Both the Greystones and Dalkey Aircoach services to Dublin Airport have two stops in Sandymount.
Sandymount railway station on the electrified (DART) suburban railway system was originally opened in January 1835[2] and continues to this day.
Amenities
Sandymount Green is a triangular park located next to the village. The houses along the south side of the green are part of what once was Sandymount Castle and the roads behind this bear the name. There are some shops, restaurants and cafés around the green.
The Strand
Sandymount Strand is situated next to the village and suburb of Sandymount in Dublin. The large strand, which is part of the South Bull, (a mirror to the North Bull sandbank, which grew into North Bull Island) is a major component of the south side of Dublin Bay. The strand runs from this point to Merrion Gates.
Sandymount Strand is a popular place for locals to take a walk. People and cars have been occasionally trapped by the incoming tide.
The Baths
The Merrion Promenade Pier and Baths Co. built Sandymount swimming baths in 1883. The baths measured approximately 40 by 40 metres, with a 75-metre pier added in 1884. The pier featured a bandstand half way along it and summer concerts were regularly held there for many years. By 1920, the pier had deteriorated so much that it had to be demolished. The concrete baths section, which resembles a small harbour, remains; the baths still remain in Sandymount but they have been vandalised with graffiti and are mainly visited by tourists.
Sandymount Martello Tower
About half way along the strand is a Martello tower, part of a system of defences built to warn of an invasion by Napoleon. The Tower was a popular cafe back in the 1960s. An attempt to turn the tower into a restaurant led to the installation of a large window with roller blinds on the seaward side of the tower. The restaurant never opened, leaving the tower with the modified window, and landscaped exterior abandoned on the strand. A paying automated public toilet is adjacent.
Education
Scoil Mhuire is a public Girls' Primary School on Gilford Road and Star of the Sea Boys' School is on Leahy's Terrace. Marian College is located on the boundary with Ballsbridge, and the former Sandymount High School and Roslyn Park are within walking distance of the village.
Sport
There are many sports clubs in the vicinity of Sandymount.
Rugby, tennis, cricket, soccer, lawn bowling and hockey are popular in Railway Union Club (including Claremont Tennis Club). A well known fitness company, also has a gymnasium, swimming pool, and sports ground in Sandymount.
Other sports clubs in Sandymount include Pembroke Hockey Club, Pembroke Cricket Club, Monkstown Football Club (rugby), and YMCA.
Clanna Gael Fontenoy GAA Club are located at the northern end of Sandymount Strand. Gaelic football and hurling are played there.
Religion
The Church of Ireland Church of St John of the Evangelist is located at the top of St John's Road. The Catholic church in Sandymount is dedicated to Our Lady Star of the Sea and is near the north end of Sandymount Road. Christ Church, on Sandymount Green, is a united Methodist and Presbyterian church, which appoints a minister from either denomination alternately and Mount Tabor nursing home shares the grounds of the church.
The area is also home to a house of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa.
People
The following people were born in Sandymount:
- John S. Beckett, musician, composer and conductor
- Anna Fox, philosopher, literary genius
- Valentin Iremonger, poet and diplomat
- Niall Lavery, cricketer
- Annie P. Smithson, novelist
- W.B. Yeats, poet
The following live or have lived in Sandymount:
- Gay Byrne, RTÉ broadcaster
- Risteárd Cooper, actor & Comedian.
- Ron Delany, olympic 1500m Gold medal winner
- Bryan Dobson, newscaster
- Matthew Elderfield, head of Financial Regulation at the Central Bank of Ireland[3]
- Katriona Fox, poet and film director
- Mary Harney, former member of the Progressive Democrats
- Shay Healy, writer & broadcaster
- Seamus Heaney, poet
- Kevin Humphreys, TD
- Brinsley MacNamara, author, lived on Gilford Drive, Sandymount
- T.P. McKenna, actor (1929-2011)
- Peter Murphy, radio and television broadcaster (1923-2011)
- Noel Purcell, actor (1900-1985)
- Ruairi Quinn, TD
- Carl Waters, philanthropist
Literary references
Sandymount Strand is the most famous beach in Irish fiction, James Joyce based two episodes of his epic novel Ulysses here:
On the morning of Bloomsday, in the Proteus episode, Stephen Dedalus wanders "into eternity" on the strand; later the same day, Leopold Bloom sits on a rock and watches while young Gertie lifts her skirt as Bloom pleasures himself. It was this incident in the Nausicaa episode which led to the banning of the book in the USA for alleged obscenity.
In long lassoes from the Cock lake the water flowed full, covering greengoldenly lagoons of sand, rising, flowing - Ulysses, James Joyce.
See also
External links
- History of Sandymount baths' pier
- Sandymount railway station
- Official page on Christ Church, Sandymount
References
- ^ a b c The Poolbeg Lighthouse and the South Wall Extension, Irishtown, Sandymount, Beggardbush and Baggotrath, Chapter II from Weston St. John Joyces' 1920 work The Neighbourhood of Dublin
- ^ "Sandymount Halt" (PDF). Railscot - Irish Railways. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ^ Valentine's Day (2011-01-06). "PROFILE - Irish, Business". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2012-02-13.