A

Short  Local History

of

Ballymun

(No reproduction of this work, in whole or in part, in any format, is allowed without the express permission of the author)

 

Introduction

 

Wandering through Ballymun it is hard to visualise anything of its history before the 1960’s.  There are one or two buildings remaining and perhaps the odd road, marking a boundary between landholdings. Yet Ballymun is situated between the three ancient villages of Santry, Glasnevin and Finglas.  By examining historical documents it is possible to build up a picture of life in Ballymun before the building of the Dublin Corporation housing estate. The aim of this short historical geography is to present a taste of the sources available for the study of the history of Ballymun before the 1960’s and to reconstruct a view of Ballymun presented in these documents.

 

Geography

 

Geographically, the original landscape in Ballymun was boring.  The soil cover consists mostly heavy clay, and in some places, sands and silts underlain in places by carboniferous limestone which is 350 million years in age.  There are traces of Boulder Clay deposited during the last glaciation which ended about 12,000 years ago.  However the constructtionof the estate disturbed much of the soil cover so that in places, the original soil cover was removed, and in others it was buried by excavated soil.  Rainfall levels in Ballymun have been increasing since the 1960’s. In 1962, 654.2 mm of rain were recorded, while in 1998, 832.4 mm of rainfall were recorded.

 

Rivers

 

The surface of the land was relatively flat and sloped gently from the North East at what is now Poppintree to the South West.  The drop in altitude between Poppintree and The Library on Ballymun road is between 25 and 30 metres.  The significance of this slope is that Ballymun is the location of the sources of numerous streams and rivers, most notably the Wad River.  The fact that Ballymun is the source of these streams means that the water table was always close to the surface and therefore the landscape surrounding the rivers was and remains marshy due to the gentle slope.  The area between streams was relatively well drained soils.  The Wad River rises in Poppintree at the road between the housing estate and the IDA industrial estate. When the Poppintree estate was built, the construction of the houses was constrained by the presence of these branches of the Wad River.  This River flows down through Ballymun and along the southern end of Poppintree Park before flowing off along Ballymun Road to the Tolka River.  Also flowing through Poppintree Park is the Claremont Stream which joins the Wad River.  Both of these streams have been culverted, that is, made to flow through articficial concrete channels.  Due to the culverts, these rivers cannot expand naturally during flood periods and therefore flood in places where there is bare land. If you ever played soccer on Poppintree Park in the rain you will be very familiar with this.

 

On the other side of Ballymun, in Coultry and Shangan, there are more streams however these are also branches of the Wad River.  Two of the branches of the Wad flow around and enclose Coultry Park.  In deed, the 8 storey flats on Coultry Road mark out the banks of one of these branches.  Since Ballymun is the location of the sources of these streams, any construction on the lands there must provide for adequate drainage in order to prevent flooding at a later date.  Residents in Sillogue and Balcurris Gardens know this only too well.  During winter or whenever there is a few hours rainfall, the drains cannot cope with the amount of water they receive.  The Wad river, into which rain water drains, backs-up in the drainage pipes (which are inadequate) and flooding occurs around the drainage shores.  In addition to this, the construction of the houses in the 1960’s resulted in localised subsidence that occurred later and so rain tends to gather in ‘hollows’ around some of the houses.

 

 

Naturally, very little is left of the original landscape.  However Santry Woods provides a good model of the natural condition of the landscape.  It contains the some of the same soils, it has a river (for the moment) and numerous trees (although many of these were planted in the 18^th and 19^th centuries.  Why not visit it.

 

Pre-History

 

There is little evidence to suggest major settlement in the area of Ballymun in the Neolithic period (New Stone Age).  However there are some historical monuments and these are recorded in the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR).  There are a number of enclosures which are either overgrown or buried (as at Balcurris and Ard na Meala).  More than likely these are pre-Christian or early Christian age enclosures.  These enclosures were circular farmsteads in which a house would have stood and which may have been surrounded by a wooden fence or palisade.  Any development at the location of these monuments is required by law to be excavated prior to construction.

 

Gaelic Period

 

Before the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in Ireland in 1169, Ireland was divided into a series of landholdings called tuaths.  Each tuath was held by a Gaelic family or sept.  The area of Ballymun was held by the Gaelenga sept.  Nothing remains of this sept except perhaps the possibility of a connection with St. Pappin after whom the Church of Ireland church of St. Pappan in Santry Village is named.  It is known that this was an early monastic site prior to the arrival of the Anglo-Normans.  The presence of the important nearby monastic settlement of St. Mobhi in Glasnevin indicates that the area between the two villages was home to a community.

 

The Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland not only on the invitation of Dermot MacMurrough but also with the purpose of reorganising the church in Ireland.  Until the twelveth century the church in Ireland was organised on the basis of monastic centres or monasteries. The rest of Europe developed a parochial organisation with a network of small parishes. 

 

Anglo Norman Period

 

The first task the Anglo-Normans undertook in reorganising Ireland was to divide Ireland into Baronies.  Ballymun is situated in the Barony of Coolock.  One or more Baronies were then granted by the Henry II to his favourite knights.  Coolock was among the lands granted to Hugh de Lacy. 

 

Baronies were then divided into parishes and each was assigned a parish church.  Ballymun was in the Parish of Santry.  Baronies were also sub-divided into smaller holdings by the lords or knights to whom they had been granted.  In rare cases, a whole parish was granted to a single individual.  This happened in the case of Santry which was given to Adam de Phepoe (an analysis of a Latin text with this name would seem to suggest that this name has been incorrectly translated in the past however the name is generally recognised by Irish medieval historians).

 

Parishes were often further sub-divided as landholders leased out land from which they could earn rents. This further subdivision led to the development of a townland network.  Ironically, the map of townlands shows that Ballymun is not in Ballymun!  Rather the housing estate of Ballymun was built in the townlands of Stormanstown, Balbutcher and Balcurris.  The townland of Ballymun is north of the estate and contains Geraldstown House. Coultry, Shangan and Sandyhill are further north again.

 

Generally, as lands were leased by the Anglo-Normans, the name of the area changed.  Irish placenames referred to natural features or local habitats such as a grove of trees or a hill.  The Anglo-Normans however gave personal names to their lands.  Hence Ballymun is either Munn’s Town (Anglo-Norman, except no trace of this person remains) or Town of the Shrubland (Irish and more likely the correct name).

 

Map of the Townlands in Ballymun Click Here

                                                           

                       

Land Deeds

 

The earliest references to Ballymun are contained in the collection of Domville Papers held in the National Library Manuscript Department.  The deeds date from 1306.  The deeds contain details of leases of the lands of Santry to various individuals although in some cases the deeds are fragmented.  The leases were sold for a period of years the most common of which was 31 years.  However often leases were sold for a period of the life of the leaseholder or lives of him and his heirs. 

 

Occasionally leases were renegotiated before the expiry date.  In many cases the deeds carried conditions such as requiring the tenant to build a house.  In the eighteenth century deeds particularly required the planting of trees.  The effects of this can still be seen to day in Santry Woods where many of the trees planted in the eighteenth century still remain.  As the population of Santry Parish increased, so too did the demand for land.  This allowed the landlord to further subdivide his holding and increase rents.  This is evident in the subdivision of Stormanstown. 

 

The earliest deed contained in the Domville Papers is dated 1306.  This deed is actually a will in which some of the lands of Santry were willed to members of the Phepoe (or Seypole depending on translation) family. The forth line contains the name ‘John ffeypolbe de Balymon’.

 

List of Deeds in the Domville Papers

DATE	TOWNLAND	LEASE NAME	TERM  years	ACRES	RENT p/a        £
1375
1586	Ballymun
1629	Stormanstown Balbutcher
1676	Balcurris	Peter Fox1		160	80
1702	Ballymun	Cambell2
1702	Stormanstown	R. Lighe	99	100	95
1708	Stormanstown	R. Lindon3
1736	Coultry		1
1740	Coultry	William Cooper
1753	Stormanstown	Warren	31	5	11
1754	Stormanstown	John Kelso	3 lives	49	112
1757	Coultry	Henry Dillon	31	97	96
1759	Stormanstown	Corbally	31	65	150
1769	Coultry	Henry Dillon	20	99	96
1775	Stormanstown	R. Allen Thomas Brown4	61	21
1790	Coultry	Thomas Lynch	30	66	188
1790	Stormanstown (part)	Corbally	31	67	185
1803	Coultry	T. Linehan	lives	66	227
1810	Balbutcher	M. Cahill	3 lives	25	75 (e)
1810	Balbutcher	C. Caghlan	lives	35	184
1811	Balbutcher	Daniel Monks	3 lives	52	260
1811	Stormanstown	Barret	Lives	31	280
1812	Balbutcher	James Tully	3 lives	25	75 (e)
1818	Balbutcher	James Tully	3 live	26	134
1842	Stormanstown	W. Suchinleck	Lives	82	247
1845	Lands @ Santry lane	A. Coghlan		140	347
1853	Stormanstown	Barret5
1872	Stormanstown	Patrick Delany6		82

 

 

1.        Peter Fox, Farmer.  Lease required him to build ‘a house 40 feet long and built of Lime, stone and timber from fruit trees’.

2.        Sale of  Stormanstown by Dr. Leslie to Campbell of Ballymun and Sillock.

3.        Assignment of lease of house and lands of Stormanstown from R. Lighe to R, Lindon.

4.        Deed of Annuity for the value of £1000 for the house and lands of Stormanstown costing £100 per annum.

5.        Surrender of lease.

6.        Surrender of lease.

(e)  Tenants evicted.

 

 

Character

 

In the 14^th Century, the lands of Ballymun were flat, well drained and fertile.  While centuries of agriculture eventually took its toll on the soil, the land was well suited to agriculture and commanded good rents during Anglo-Norman period.  The presence of mills at Santry, Finglas and Glasnevin indicated that the area surrounding the villages were highly productive.  This is in keeping with the character of agriculture in Ireland during the Anglo-Norman period.  Cereals, especially wheat was grown and cattle rearing was also practised.  The cost of living was low and while peace lasted, people enjoyed a standard of living comparable to other European countries.  This situation continued until the seventeenth century when even areas inside The Pale experienced the turmoil of the 1641 Rebellion and the Cromwellian invasion.

 

Surveys

 

After the Domville papers, the next information available on Ballymun comes from the land surveys of the seventeenth century.  A rebellion by Irish and Old English Catholics in1641 was suppressed by Oliver Cromwell.  To do this Oliver Cromwell needed money and so he offered land in Ireland to investors in the war against the rebels and to soldiers instead of wages.  However, in order to redistribute the land, a survey of the land had to be conducted.

 

The first survey was called the Down Survey and was carried out by Sir William Petty.  This involved ‘mapping down’ the land. The Down Survey for the Parish of Santry shows only the townlands of Coultry with 88 acres and Ballymun with 181 acres. The Down Survey also shows the presence of a house with a chimney.

 

Another more accurate survey of the amount of land in Ireland was carried out.  This was called the Civil Survey and involved a commission interviewing local inhabitants about the lands and buildings of an area.  The entry for Santry includes the townlands of Ballymun, Stormanstown, Coultry, Balcurris, Balbutcher and Sillogue.  Poppintree, which belonged to the Parish of Finglas, was not recorded and perhaps did not exist at the time.

 

The Civil Survey of 1654 recorded the owners of the land, the number of acres and whether it was suitable for arable or pasture farming, and the value of the land.  Various observations were also made regarding the right of ownership of the landholder and whether there were any buildings on the land.  The townlands that make up Ballymun contained 660 acres which included 610 acres of arable land.  Such a large quantity of arable land is evidence of the ability of the land to produce crops at that time.  This was reflected in the value of the land.  In the townlands of Ballymun, the average value was £2 per acre.  This compares with the average of 5 shillings per acre for Ireland as a whole.

 

There were more buildings recorded in the Civil Survey than in the Down Survey.

 

Thatched houses           3                      Cabins                          ‘some’

Tiled houses                 1                      Orchards                      2

Cottages                       5 approx.         Gardens                       2 

	Name Townland   Land Uses (acres)   Total Value in     Arable Pasture Meadow   1654 £'s James Barnewall Coultry 60 16 4 80 50   Ballymun 174   6 180 100 Sir James Barry Sillogue 96 2 2 100 50   Balcurris 140 10 10 160 80   Stormanstown 140     140 100                 Total 610 28 22 660 380

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Graph of Land Use Click Here

 

 

1659 Census

 

The 1659 Census records the number of people resident in the area in 1659.  However this ‘census’ is really a hearth money return, that is, a list of people paying a tax on the number of fireplaces in their homes.  This means that only the named householders were enumerated.  Historians have estimated that multiplying the number of people recorded by 2.5 gives a more accurate indication of the number of residents at the time.  This would indicate that there was 345 people living in Ballymun at the time of the census.  The 60% of the population was made up of Irish people and the remainder were English people.  The population density in 1659 was approximately 1.91 persons per acre.

 

18^th Century Estate

 

The eighteenth century was a time of peace and prosperity in Ireland.  The peace that existed allowed landlords to accumulate vast wealth and to display this wealth by their ‘improving’ nature.  Estates were fitted out with a landlord demesne (pronounced ‘demain’), vast areas of land surrounded by a wall containing a large mansion, an ornamental garden and large areas of forest plantations.  Agriculturists promoted the breeding of animals and the application of fertilisers to increase agricultural yields. These qualities were passed on by the landlord to their tenants, and were even written into the leases to land. The Barry family built Santry Court, a large mansion and one of the finest in Ireland.  The mansion remained intact until after World War II throughout which it was occupied by the Irish Army.  Unfortunately it was gutted by a fire and never repaired.

 

The effect of landlordism on the countryside is evident in estate maps.  These maps were produced by mapmakers influenced by the style of John Rocque.  This French mapmaker produced a series of maps of Ireland in 1756 showing the countryside divided into neat fields after the fashion of enclosures coming into force at the time.  Villages were shown with their buildings and mansion houses were illustrated with their ornamental gardens.  The map of Stormanstown shows this quite clearly. Click Here

 

The eighteenth century also witnessed the promotion of education.  This was indicated partly by The Royal Charter of George II in 1733 establishing the Charter Schools in Ireland.  In Ballymun a Charter School was opened at the old intersection between the back road to the airport and Santry Avenue.  Ballymun House remains largely intact about 200 metres north of this intersection (close to the mobile phone mast and petrol station opposite Sillogue/Naul Park). Click Here

 

Despite the peace of the time Highwaymen were common and because the Swords Road was the main Turnpike Road between Dublin and Dundalk, it was naturally prey to such thieves.  Click Here The vast forestry plantations in Santry Desmesne at the time provided excellent cover and the Ballymun Road provided a quick escape route.  There are accounts however of pitched battles occurring over such highway incidents.

 

Irelands fortunes began to decline after the Act of Union with Great Britain came into force in 1801. This was also the case for the townlands of Ballymun.  Very little changed in the area in 100 years although a new mansion was erected in Stormanstown.  This house was located where Scoil an tSeachtar Loach is now.  Indeed, up until the construction of the Senior Comprehensive School, the cellars remained intact underground.  Throughout the 1970’s, the area behind the schools retained traces of the demesne attached to the house. However it was overgrown and unkempt with a variety of plant life.  However it also contained pools of water in places that showed the area was poorly drained and marsh-like.  A small stream ran along what is now the boundary railing between the Irish school and the end of Sillogue Gardens. 

 

In 1848 the Domville family paid for the construction of a Catholic Chapel in Ballymun in honour of their coachman, James Kelly, who was murdered by one of their family.  The heir to the Domville Estate was out drinking one night in the Palmerstown Inn with his friends.  Later, the drunken heir and another were been driven home in the family coach when the heir poured whiskey over the coachman and set him alight.  Family connections and a great deal of canvassing on the part of the Sir Compton Domville ensured that his son did not hang for the crime.  However he did lose his inheritance and was forced into exile on the continent.  The coachman is entombed to the rear of St. Pappins Church on Ballymun Road.

 

Post Famine

 

The 1901 manuscript census returns indicate that the famine was harsh in Ballymun.  There is a complete absence of males between the ages of 49 years and 55 years.  This is the age group born during the years of the famine.  The female population in this age group also is also remarkably reduced.  However the population of the area recovered quickly as indicated by the population pyramid. Click Here

 

The 1901 census also shows that the area was dominated by agriculture with most heads of households being either farmers or agricultural labourers.  The number and type of agricultural building also indicates that the area had recovered well from the famine, being able to re-establish its population.  Click Here

 

That said however the estate of Santry was much reduced by the sale of land under the Encumbered Estates Act.  This Act of Parliament was designed to assist landlords in clearing their debts in the wake of the famine.

 

The agricultural character of Ballymun remained until the 1960’s and included among its owners the Albert Agricultural College (now the site of DCU).  However there were large areas of forest indicating that much of the land had earlier lost its capacity for agriculture. 

 

1960’s

 

The 1961 census recorded the first net increase in population in Ireland since the famine.  This was particularly evident in Dublin City were population pressure forced people to live in overcrowded tenements.  A series of building collapses forced the government into constructing a large number of housing units to accommodate people. 

 

The scheme for Ballymun was designed as a quick fix solution to the housing problem with little consideration for long-term trends.  Even in Britain at this time, tower blocks were being demolished because they were found to be unsuitable for families.  In Ballymun however, flat units were in great demand with prospective residents sitting interviews to determine their suitability for housing in Ballymun.  On completion, Ballymun was handed over to the Corporation who did not appear to want the responsibility for the administration of the area.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Ballymun did not get the services or amenities one would expect of a suburb of 20,000 people.  It became a transition point for families in search of better accommodation.  Social and economic instability fostered an emerging drug culture.  In the absence of on-going proper maintenace, the poor physical environment compounded the problem.  However it is to the credit of Ballymun people that they banded together in community groups and associations to combat the cycle of disadvantage that had set in by the 1980’s.  This good work continues for the moment.  The future of these groups is uncertain until the regeneration is complete.

 

Residents of Ballymun have learned that a community is built with hard work from the ground up and not created, as architects would sometimes have us believe.  Being a unique place in Ireland, residents have acquired a unique sense of place, and it is this which has crafted the community spirit which exists in Ballymun.

 

As the suburb of Ballymun faces the millennium, and a face lift, the challenge will be to maintain a sense of a united community through a changing sense of place and a changing sense of space within the area.

 

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