Edited by John O’Sullivan and Séamus Cannon, 1987

We transcribe here the list of contents of this most valuable contribution to the recording of the history and heritage of the borough. The sections on Killiney and Ballybrack provide an excellent overview of the built environment in these districts and are suggested reading for anyone with an interest in this topic. We have also included the introduction from the book at the end of this article.

The Natural Environment
CHAPTER ONE
Geology of Dun Laoghaire
James C. Brindley
CHAPTER TWO
Flora and Fauna
Michael Nash
CHAPTER THREE
Booterstown Marsh
David Cabot
CHAPTER FOUR
Killiney Hill Park Nature Trail
Dun Laoghaire Youth Service and Dun Laoghaire Corporation

The Historical Context
CHAPTER FIVE
Pre-Historic and Early Historic Remains
Elizabeth O’Brien
CHAPTER SIX
A Short Ecclesiastical History of Monkstown
Rev. Vincent Quilter, C.C.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Maritime History & Tradition
John De Courcy Ireland
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Railway and the Growth of Dun Laoghaire
Kevin A. Murray
CHAPTER NINE
Primary Education in Kingstown in the 19th Century
Aine Hyland
CHAPTER TEN
The Development of Water Sources
Michael McGovern
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The Evolution of Ballybrack and Killiney
John O’Sullivan
CHAPTER TWELVE
Authors and Famous Residents
Robert Nicholson
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Dun Laoghaire agus an Ghaeilge
Máire Bean Uí Ghógáin
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Recollections of Dun Laoghaire’s Retail Past
Séamus O’Connor

The Built Environment
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Preserving Our Heritage
Peter Pearson
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The Housing Stock of Dun Laoghaire
James Harty
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Building Types in Dun Laoghaire
Peter Pearson
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Of Bricks and Stones
Frank Long
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Outdoor Sculpture in the Borough
Niall O’Neill
CHAPTER TWENTY
Maps: The Graphic Record
Kevin Hurley

Planning, Development and Community Initiatives
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Planning: The Role of the Local Authority
Tom Dowling
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Comparing the Development Plans of 1976 and 1984
John O’Sullivan
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The Preservation of Amenities and the
Compensation Problem: The Case of Rocheshill
P. J. Drudy
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Water on the Doorstep
Jack O’Sullivan
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Dun Laoghaire Harbour: The Erosion of a Public Amenity?
Matthew Byrne
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The Development of the Credit Union Movement
Seamus P. MacEoin
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Co-Operative Housing in the Area
Bernard Thompson

Community Resources
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Dun Laoghaire Corporation’s Community Services
Pat McCarthy
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Adult Education: A Service to You and the Community
Michael Riordan
CHAPTER THIRTY
Dun Laoghaire Youth Service
Peter O’Brien
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
The Growth of Loughlinstown Leisure Centre
Jerry F. Kelly
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Dun Laoghaire’s Public Library Service
Muiris Ó Raghaill

Appendices
APPENDIX I
Occupancy Lists for Selected Houses in Ballybrack
and Killiney from 1850-1950
APPENDIX II
Occupancy Lists for Selected Premises in Lower
and Upper George’s Street from 1860-1960
APPENDIX III
List of Period Houses which have been demolished in the
Dun Laoghaire area within the last twenty years
APPENDIX IV
(a) Some descriptions of Dun Laoghaire in the Nineteenth Century
(b) Dating of Streets in Dun Laoghaire
APPENDIX V
List of those who have held the Office of Cathaoirleach since 1930
APPENDIX VI
(a) Dun Laoghaire Lifeboats
(b) Lightships
APPENDIX VII
(a) Books and pamphlets relating to Dun Laoghaire and its
neighbourhood, available in Dun Laoghaire Library
(b) Local History Files
(c) Audio Tapes
(d) Old Photographs
(e) Old Newspapers
(f) Local History on Microfilm
APPENDIX VIII
Foxrock Local History Club Publications
APPENDIX IX
(a) A Guide to the Maritime Institute Library
(b) Publications of Irish Maritime interest in the
Maritime Institute Library
APPENDIX X
(a) Research Resources in Carysfort College
(b) Sources for the History of Roman Catholic Parishes
of the Dun Laoghaire area

Introduction

Irish people have a strong sense of place, as is evident in everyday conversation, in politics, in sport and in literature. We are accustomed to linking our identity and loyalties to our places of origin, and to projecting this on to others, identifying them in turn by their place of origin. The greatest celebration of place in English literature is James Joyce’s Ulysses, describing in minute detail an ordinary day in the life of ordinary people in Dublin in 1904. To do so was not, in Joyce’s view, to limit the scope of his novel but to extend it. In focusing on the particular incident, time and place, and identifiable individuals, Joyce celebrated the universality of human experience, and Leopold Bloom, a somewhat forlorn advertisement canvasser cast as the hero Ulysses, becomes Everyman with whom we can all identify. It is the sum of the particular experiences of individuals which makes up the story of a community, and focusing on the detail brings to life the fascinating diversity of those experiences. It is a happy coincidence that James Joyce lived in the Borough and made famous the Sandycove Tower, now the Joyce Museum. It is the modest hope of the Blackrock Teachers’ Centre that this book, celebrating the uniqueness of Dun Laoghaire will make the richness and diversity of its past and present accessible to all.

LOCAL STUDIES

This book had its origin in a Local Studies course organised in Dun Laoghaire in July 1983 by the Blackrock Teachers’ Centre. The course was part of the Local Studies project being run in the Centre over the past number of years, the purpose of which is to heighten teachers’ awareness of the environment, and to promote more extensive use of it as an educational resource. More specifically the project has two objectives: (a) Providing teachers with the detailed information and resources for study of their area, and (b) Training them in ways of organising children’s learning outside the formal classroom. The course which gave rise to this book attempted to address these objectives and in the first week of July, the sixty teachers who took part produced seven educational trails. The topics included the maritime tradition, nature study on Killiney hill and on Sandycove beach, early Christian remains in Kill of the Grange, the coming of the railway, the Victorian terrace and Joyce’s Tower. These very specific topics were chosen because they illustrate aspects of the environment and historical development of Dun Laoghaire. They also clearly illustrate, in microcosm, aspects of the environment and historical development of the country as a whole. The more general topics, for instance, could include development of trade and transportation, urban development, early Christian Ireland, Anglo Irish literature, the Napoleonic wars, as well as a wider study of nature and biology. These are topics on the school curriculum, but because they are dealt with in a general way, and from a national or even international perspective, the local environment is frequently overlooked and its richness remains untapped. In addition, an opportunity to enhance the student’s learning is lost in ignoring the opportunity to move from the known to the unknown, from the familiar to the unfamiliar. It is to counteract this “global” approach that the Centre has undertaken the local studies project.