Castleknock (civil parish)

Castleknock is a civil parish in the ancient barony of Castleknock. The townland of Castleknock itself is the location of the eponymous "Cnucha's Castle" - Castleknock Castle. The town with the biggest population in the parish is Blanchardstown. Abbotstown Demense was the principal seat in the civil parish. Along with other civil parishes in Ireland, its use as a unit of local administrative unit was gradually replaced by the creation of Electoral Divisions in the Local Government (Ireland) Act of 1898.

History

Like all civil parishes in Ireland, this civil parish is derived from, and co-extensive with, a pre-existing parish of the Church of Ireland.

In 1773, an Act of the Privy Council united the parish with the curacies of Clonsilla and Mulhuddart. In 1837, Lewis reported in his directory that the living (of the ecclesiastical parish) was a vicarage in the Diocese of Dublin which was: "... endowed with a portion of the great tithes, and united to the prebend of Castleknock and the rectory of Clonsillagh and curacy of Mullahidart, with cure of souls: it is in the patronage of the Bishop.".[1] The two churches noted by Lewis in the vicarial union, one at Castleknock, the other at Clonsilla, are extant and in use by the Church of Ireland community. The former was rebuilt by a loan of £1000 from the Board of First Fruits and large subscriptions, in 1810. In 1831, the population of the parish, including Blanchardstown was 4251 people of which 3409 were Catholic.[2]

Location and composition

Castleknock Castle

Castleknock Railway Station

Royal Canal at Castleknock

The core of the parish is centred on the townland and village of the same name. The townland at the northern extremity is Huntstown, not to be confused with Huntstown and Littlepace in the neighbouring parish of Clonsilla.To the south, it is bounded by the River Liffey and Chapelizod. To the west, it is bounded by the townland of Annefield. To the east lies the 8th lock of the Royal Canal and the Cabra Gate of the Phoenix Park.

Populated places

St Bridgets
Church of Ireland, Castleknock

Our Lady Mother of the Church
Catholic Church, Castleknock

Populated places in the civil parish include: Blanchardstown, Castleknock, Ashtown, Cabra, Corduff, Laurel Lodge.

Townlands

Annfield townland

Ragwell at Diswellstown

The Diswellstown stream in the glen near Sandpit cottages and Knockmaroon demesne

Within the civil parish of Castleknock, there are 22 townlands per the table below. For convenience, the table groups the townlands by their location in one of the modern local authority areas. Some townlands, however, straddle both areas.

Modern Local Authority Area	Name in Irish	Name in English	Acres
Dublin City	Baile an Ásaigh	Ashtown (partly)	278
	Baile Pheiléid	Pelletstown	259
	An Chabrach	Cabra	457
	Caisleán Cnucha (cuid de Pháirc an Fhionnuisce)	Castleknock (part of Phoenix Park) (partly)	1020 (787)
Fingal	Baile an Aba	Abbotstown[4 1]	101
	Baile an Ásaigh	Ashtown (partly)[4 2]	278
	Baile an Chairpintéaraigh	Carpenterstown[4 3]	166
	Baile an Déanaigh	Deanestown[4 4]	173
	Baile an Diosualaigh	Diswellstown[4 5]	418
	Baile an Huntaigh	Huntstown[4 6]	299
	Baile an Phóirtéaraigh	Porterstown[4 7]	219
	Baile Bhlainséir	Blanchardstown[4 8]	454
	Baile Mhistéil	Mitchelstown[4 9]	154
	Baile Scriobail	Scribblestown[4 10]	272
	Baile Sheáin	Johnstown[4 11]	67
	An Chabrach	Cabra	457
	Caisleán Cnucha (cuid de Pháirc an Fhionnuisce)	Castleknock (part of Phoenix Park) (partly)	1020 (787)
	Ceapach	Cappoge or Cappagh	698
	Cnoc na gCaorach	Sheephill	349
	An Chorr Dhubh	Corduff	353
	Dún Sinche	Dunsink	423
	Páirc Anna	Annfield	19
	Snugborough	Snugborough	53
	Steach Gob	Astagob	93

References

From "Placenames Database of Ireland". Logainm. Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 15 March 2020.

1. "Abbotstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
2. "Ashtown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
3. "Carpenterstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
4. "Deanestown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
5. "Diswellstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
6. "Huntstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
7. "Porterstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
8. "Blanchardstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
9. "Mitchelstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
10. "Scribblestown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
11. "Johnstown | logainm.ie". logainm.ie. Retrieved 26 March 2016.

Other sources

1. Lewis, "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland", 1837
2. The History of the County of Dublin, John D'Alton, 1838