Crumlin, Dublin

Crumlin covers the area from the River Poddle near the KCR (Kimmage Cross Roads) to Sundrive Road and Crumlin Cross at The Submarine Bar to Crumlin's village core and the Drimnagh Road, to Bunting Road, Crumlin Road then along the Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge to Sally's Bridge. It is situated near to the city centre, on the Southside of Dublin city. Neighbouring areas include Walkinstown, Perrystown, Drimnagh, Terenure, and Kimmage. Crumlin is contained within postal district Dublin 12.

Crumlin gets its name from the crooked valley known as Lansdowne Valley. The valley was formed by glacial erosion in the distant past and is now bisected by the River Camac. The valley is situated in front of Drimnagh and is largely made up of good-quality houses with plentiful recreational parkland.

During the medieval period, Dublin was surrounded by manorial settlements comprising church, graveyard, manor house, motte and bailey, farms and cottages. These settlements grew into a network of villages around Dublin creating stability and continuity of location. Crumlin Village developed as an Anglo-Norman settlement soon after the Norman Conquest in 1170, (although the circular configuration of the old graveyard of Saint Mary’s in the village suggests pre-Norman associations), and has survived through the centuries to become the village of today. The Old Saint Mary's Church stands on the site of a 12th-century church of the same dedication, and a succession of churches occupied the site down through the centuries to the present day.

In 1193, King John (the then Prince of Moreton) gave the Crumlin church to form one prebend in the collegiate church of Saint Patrick. When the main body of the present old church was rebuilt in 1817, the old tower of a much earlier origin was preserved.

Crumlin, along with Saggart, Newcastle, Lyons and Esker (Lucan) was constituted a royal manor by King John sometime before the end of his reign in 1216. The English noble families of the time had strong links with Ireland, particularly in Leinster. For example, William Fitz John of Harptree[1] was a lord of some significance in Somerset and likely to have served in Ireland under King John. At the beginning of the reign of King Henry III, Fitz John acquired the custody of the lands of William de Carew and held the royal manor of Crumlin, although he did not establish family roots in Ireland.[2][3]

As the church was the nucleus of life on the manor in medieval times, we may with confidence place the centre of Crumlin’s medieval settlement in the area of Crumlin Village. This has been confirmed by recent archaeological excavations in the area of Saint Mary’sand the site of the former motte and earthworks on which the new St. Mary's Church was built.

St. Mary's Church, Crumlin Village, Dublin - South East View.

Some of the local amenities in Crumlin, such as Pearse College on Clogher Road and Ceannt park, are named after some of the 1916 Rebels who had a training camp in nearby Kimmage at Sundrive crossroads.

Crumlin is home to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, the largest children's hospital in the country.[4] A number of roads are named after some of Ulster's towns and various Irish towns associated with pagan or religious sites/towns. There's a statue of the warrior Cúchulainn situated opposite St. Mary's Church at the junction with Bunting Road. The statue is for Oisín, he was a Kildare man who played hurling in the Crumlin area. Cúchulainn, his father, was from the Cooley mountains around Louth, South Armagh where the Cooley Road in Drimnagh gets its name and is described as a partially wooded landscape, the crooked glen being one of its main features. Today this valley can be seen behind Drimnagh Castle.

Schools serving the area include Loreto College, Rosary College, Scoil Úna Naofa (previously St. Agnes NS), Marist National School, St. Kevin's College, and Scoil Íosagáin.

Dublin Bus routes which serve the Crumlin area include route numbers 9, 17, 18, 27, 56A, 77A, 83, 83A, 122, 123, 150, and 151.

GAA clubs in the area include Crumlin GAA (based in Pearse Park, with its clubrooms in O'Toole Park), Kevin's GAA (based in Dolphin Park) and Templeogue Synge Street GAA (based in Dolphin Park, with clubrooms in Bushy Park). St James Gaels, another GAA club in the area, play their home games at the Iveagh Grounds. Guinness Rugby Football Club is also based at the Iveagh Grounds.

Local Association football (soccer) clubs include Crumlin United F.C., St James's Gate F.C., and Lourdes Celtic FC. The latter is junior football team from the Sundrive area, which plays in the Leinster Junior Leagues. Damien Duff and Andy Reid formerly played for the club.

Crumlin Boxing Club is based in Windmill road and produced Dean Byrne. Crumlin Bowling Club is based on St.Mary's Road, and was originally part of the Imperial Tobacco Company from 1926 to 1947.

Main Stage Wrestling Academy, based on Sundrive Road, is a professional wrestling school.

When the RTÉ drama Fair City launched in 1989, exterior shots were filmed in the Crumlin-Drimnagh area for the first three seasons of the programme (1989–93) until season four launched in 1994, the year the set in RTÉ, Donnybrook was completed.

In 1994, replicas of the exterior of the houses used in the series were constructed in the Donnybrook studios. It is still filmed there to this day.

Notable people who have lived in or been associated with the area include:

• Brendan Behan, writer, moved from Dublin City Centre, and lived at 70 Kildare Road which is marked with a plaque in his honour
• Mary Fleming, suffragette and sandwich maker
• Christy Brown, author, painter and poet, was born in Crumlin
• Dean Byrne, light welterweight boxer, was born in Crumlin
• Gabriel Byrne, actor, was born in Crumlin[5]
• Paddy Casey, singer/songwriter, is from Cashel Road in Crumlin
• Martin Cahill, Dublin underworld figure, lived in Crumlin
• Gemma Craven, actress, is from Crumlin
• Joseph Deane, politician, judge, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and owner of the Crumlin estate was born in Crumlin
• Martin Duffy, filmmaker and author was from Leighlin Road, Crumlin
• Richie Egan, professional musician is from Crumlin
• Seamus Elliott, cyclist, stage winner in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana and won a stage in Tour de France, holding the yellow jersey for two days
• Henry Mitchell Jones, recipient of the Victoria Cross
• Liam Lawlor, high profile and controversial Irish TD, was born in Crumlin
• Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy, lived on Leighlin Road and Rutland Avenue, Crumlin
• Paul McGrath, footballer who grew up in Crumlin
• Conor McGregor, mixed martial artist and former UFC champion
• Noel Pearson, theatrical and film producer, is from Crumlin
• Fintan O'Toole, journalist and Irish Times assistant editor, grew up in Crumlin
• Andy Reid, former professional footballer who grew up on Clogher Road
• Eamonn Rogers, former professional footballer
• Rick O'Shea, RTE broadcaster, grew up in Crumlin[6]

• List of towns and villages in Ireland