Tallaght

The documented history of Tallaght dates back to early Christendom in Ireland but the many archaeological sites in the area suggest the presence of Bronze Age and perhaps even earlier settlers in the area.

With the foundation of the monastery of Tallaght by St. Maelruain in 769 AD, there is a more reliable record of the area's early history. The monastery was a centre of learning and piety, particularly associated with the Céli Dé spiritual reform movement. It was such an important institution that it and the monastery at Finglas were known as the "two eyes of Ireland".[10] St. Aengus, an Ulsterman, was one of the most illustrious of the Céli Dé and devoted himself to the religious life. Wherever he went, he was accompanied by a band of followers who distracted him from his devotions. He secretly travelled to the monastery at Tallaght where he was not known and enrolled as a lay brother. He remained unknown for many years until his identity was discovered by Maeilruain. They may have written the Martyrology of Tallaght together, and St Aengus also wrote a calendar of saints known as the Félire Óengusso ("Martyrology of Aengus"). St. Maelruain died on 7 July 792 and was buried in Tallaght. The influence of the monastery continued after his death, as can be judged by the fact that, in 806, the monks of Tallaght were able to prevent the holding of the Tailteann Games, because of some infringement of their rights.

In 811 A.D., the monastery was devastated by the Vikings but the destruction was not permanent and the annals of the monastery continued to be recorded for several following centuries. After the Anglo-Norman invasion in 1179, Tallaght and its appurtenances were confirmed to the Diocese of Dublin and became the property of the Archbishop. The complete disappearance of every trace of what must have been an extensive and well organised monastic settlement can only be accounted for by the subsequent history of the place, the erection and demolition of defensive walls and castles, and the incessant warfare and destruction that lasted for hundreds of years.

Throughout the greater part of the 13th century a state of comparative peace existed at Tallaght, but subsequently the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles, in what would become County Wicklow, took offensive action and were joined by many of the Archbishop's tenants. As a result of this the land was not tilled, the pastures were not stocked and the holdings were deserted. In 1310 the bailiffs of Tallaght got a royal grant to enclose the town. No trace of these defensive walls survive and there is no evidence of their exact location, except, perhaps, for the name of the Watergate Bridge which spans the Dodder on the Oldbawn Road. The continuation of such raids prompted the construction, in 1324, of Tallaght Castle, and it was finished some time before 1349. Tallaght had become an important defensive site on the edge of the Pale. A century later the castle was reported to be in need of repair.

The 17th and 18th centuries brought many changes to Tallaght. Many mills were built along the Dodder and this brought new prosperity to the broad area, which saw the building of many houses.

When Archbishop Hoadley replaced Archbishop King in 1729 he found the castle in ruins, and had it demolished, building himself a palace at a cost of £2,500. By 1821 the palace too had fallen into ruin and an Act of Parliament was passed which stated that it was unfit for habitation. The following year it was sold to Major Palmer, Inspector General of Prisons, who pulled the palace down and used the materials to build his mansion, Tallaght House, as well as a schoolhouse and several cottages. Parts of Tallaght House, including one tower, were incorporated into St Joseph's Retreat House, situated in the grounds of St Mary's Priory; the rest was demolished. That tower contains a spiral staircase and was originally four storeys high but is now reduced internally to two. Attached to the castle was a long building which was used in the archbishop's time as a brewery and later as a granary and stables. When the Dominicans came, it was converted into a chapel and was used as such until 1883, when the new church dedicated to Fr Tom Burke (now the older part of the parish church) was built.

The Dominicans came to Tallaght in 1855/6 and soon established a priory that was also a seminary for the formation of Dominicans in Ireland and on missions in Trinidad and Tobago, South America, Australia, India, and elsewhere. The cramped accommodation of Tallaght house was replaced by the austere priory in phases of 1864, 1903 and again in 1957. The work that goes on in these buildings is various: St Joseph's retreat house, the Tallaght parish, St Catherine's counselling centre, at least two publishing enterprises, individual writing and international research in several domains.

The grounds of the Priory, the old palace gardens, still retain older features such as the Archbishop's bathhouse, the Friar's Walk and "St. Maelruain's Tree", a Persian walnut of the eighteenth century.

The old constabulary barracks on the main street was the scene of the engagement known as the 'Battle of Tallaght', which occurred during the Fenian Rising on 5 March 1867. On that night the Fenians moved out to assemble at the appointed place on Tallaght Hill. The large number of armed men alarmed the police in Tallaght who sent a warning to the nearest barracks. There were fourteen constables and a head constable under Sub-inspector Burke at Tallaght, and they took up a position outside the barracks where they commanded the roads from both Greenhills and Templeogue. The first body of armed men came from Greenhills and, when they came under police fire, retreated. Next, a party came from Templeogue, and were also dispersed. In 1936 a skeleton, sword-bayonet and water bottle were found in a hollow tree stump near Terenure. It is thought that these were the remains of one of the Fenians who had taken refuge there after the Battle of Tallaght and either died of his wounds or was frozen to death.

In 1888 the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway opened and it passed through Tallaght Village. This provided a new means of transporting goods and also brought day-trippers from the city.

Arena Buildings

While no plan was formally adopted, Tallaght was laid out as a new town, as set out in the 1967 Myles Wright masterplan for Greater Dublin (this proposed four self-contained "new towns" - at Tallaght, Clondalkin, Lucan and Blanchardstown - around Dublin, all of which were, at that time, villages surrounded by extensive open lands, with some small settlements). Many of the social and cultural proposals in this plan were ignored by the Dublin local authorities, and contrary to planners' suggestions, Tallaght and the other "new towns" were not provided with adequate facilities. Characterised by the same problems associated with poorly planned fringe areas of many European cities, during the 1970s and 1980s Tallaght became synonymous with suburban mismanagement.

While it was absorbed into the larger suburban area of Dublin (including being included in the postal district Dublin 24 in the 1980s), Tallaght has developed a distinctive identity, arising largely from its rapid growth during recent decades, and now has an active local arts, cultural, sports, and economic scene.

Tallaght's Civic Square contains the seat of the local authority, County Hall, a modern and well-equipped library facility, a theatre building and a "cutting edge" 4-storey arts centre named "Rua Red" (which opened on 5 February 2009). This facility offers activities in the areas of music, dancing, art, drama and literature.[11] Along with other local libraries and arts groups, it also has another theatre building and a homegrown youth theatre company. It is also the home to the Tallaght Swim Team, Tallaght Rugby Club, the National Basketball Arena, Shamrock Rovers F.C., and several martial arts schools and Gaelic Athletic Association clubs.

• 769: Saint Maelruain's monastery founded.
• 792: AI792.1 Kl. Mael Rúain, bishop of Tamlachta, [rested].
• 811: Saint Maelruain's monastery devastated by the Vikings.
• 824: "Tamlachta of Mael Ruain plundered by the community of Cell Dara.
• 1179: Tallaght and its hinterland, previously within the Diocese of Glendalough, confirmed as holdings of the Archdiocese of Dublin.
• 1310: bailiffs of Tallaght given royal grant to enclose the town.
• 1324: Building of Tallaght Castle commences.
• 1331-1332; Tallaght Castle plundered by O'Toole of Imaile.
• 1378: Mathew, son of Redmond de Bermingham, takes up station at Tallaght Castle to resist the O'Byrnes.
• 1540: O'Tooles invade, and devastate Tallaght Castle and surrounding manors.
• 1635: Old Bawn House built.
• 1729: Tallaght Castle demolished; Archbishop's Palace built by Archbishop Hoadley.
• 1822: Archbishop's Palace demolished by Major Palmer, who then builds Tallaght House.
• 1829: Modern Church of Ireland parish created.
• 1856: Tallaght House is sold to the Dominicans.
• 1864: Saint Mary's Priory built.
• 1867: Battle of Tallaght fought in March.[12] July 2, 1882 Tom Bourke O.P. dies.
• 1883: New Priory Church built.
• 1888: The Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway commences operation, passing through Tallaght village.
• 1903: New wing built at the Priory, connecting Priory and church
• 1955: New retreat house built at the Priory, enclosing Tallaght House.
• 1955: Michael Cardinal Browne buried in Tallaght Dominican church
• 1984: Public library, at Castletymon, opened in June.
• 1987: Alan Dukes outlines the Tallaght Strategy to the Tallaght Chamber of Commerce.
• 1990: The Square shopping centre opens.
• 1992: Institute of Technology, Tallaght opens.
• 1994: South Dublin County Council comes into existence, with new headquarters at Tallaght; Tallaght Youth Theatre is founded; Tallaght’s second public library, situated beside the South Dublin County Council offices, opened in December.
• 1995: Tallaght Theatre built in Kilnamanagh.
• 1997: Tallaght Theatre is officially opened, on the Greenhill's Rd, Behind the Cuckoo's Nest Pub.
• 1998: Tallaght Hospital opens.
• 1999: Civic Theatre opens adjacent to County Council headquarters in Tallaght centre.
• 2004: The Red Line of the Luas light rail system opens, connecting central Tallaght to Heuston Station and Connolly Station in Dublin City.
• 2008: Extensive rebuilding of Tallaght's main library is completed; the first attempt to design a flag specifically for Tallaght results in An Bratach Fulaingt (The Suffering Flag), created as part of a Tallaght Youth Theatre project on citizenship.
• 2009: The County Arts Centre, Rua Red, is opened; completion of Tallaght Stadium; An Bratach Fulaingt is utilised in a performance by Tallaght Youth Theatre at the Rua Red Arts Centre.
• 2010: On March 1, the RPA held a special meeting in Belgard Heights Community Centre to reveal the Metro West schematic; the first 4 stops of which were planned for Tallaght (Tallaght East, Colberts Fort, Kilnamanagh and Newlands).
• 2011: On September 15, Shamrock Rovers hosted Rubin Kazan in what was the first UEFA Europa League group stage game to contain an Irish team. This game took place in the Tallaght Stadium which would host 2 more games in the group stage.[13]
• 2017: An Bhratach Aontacht Thamlachta (The Unity Flag of Tallaght) is adopted by Tallaght Historical Society and Tallaght Community Council as an unofficial flag for the entire Tallaght area and is flown publicly from a flag pole at the Priory in Tallaght village during Tallafest on June 24.

Tallaght is centred 13 km southwest of Dublin city, near the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains. While there is no formal definition as such, it can be described as beginning southwest of Templeogue, running west towards Saggart, southwest towards the mountain areas of Bohernabreena, Glenasmole and Brittas, southeast towards Firhouse, and to the southern edges of Clondalkin in the northwest and Greenhills in the northeast. It lies outside the M50 Dublin orbital motorway, and in effect forms an irregular circle either side of the N81 Dublin-Blessington road. The suburban villages of Saggart and of Rathcoole lie west of Tallaght, along with the Air Corps aerodrome at Baldonnel. There is also still considerable open land, some still actively farmed, in this direction.

The village core of the district is located north of, and near to, the River Dodder, and several streams flow in the area. The Jobstown Stream[14] or Tallaght Stream[15] (a tributary of the Dodder), approaches from the west, and takes in at least one tributary, the Killinarden Stream from the south, near the N81.[16] The Fettercairn Stream (a tributary of the River Camac), also passes through the northwest fringes of the area, while the Tymon River, the main component of the River Poddle (an historically important Liffey tributary), rises in Cookstown, near Fettercairn.

Luas tram in Tallaght

Tallaght is connected to Dublin city by bus services and by the Red Line of the Luas light rail system, which opened in September 2004. Though the first stop (Tallaght Cross) of the Red Line is called 'Tallaght', most of the 'Red 4' zone (with the exception of the terminus at Saggart) lies within the broader Tallaght area. As of 2013, a single ticket from Red 4 to Central 1 was €2.70.

Tallaght is not well connected to Dublin's other towns and suburbs, as public transport lines predominantly run through the city centre; this has led to high levels of car dependence. However the 75 bus route links Tallaght to Rathfarnham, Ballinteer, Dundrum, Stillorgan, and Dún Laoghaire, while the 76 links Tallaght to Clondalkin, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and Ballyfermot and the 175 connects Tallaght with Citywest, Dundrum and UCD. It is envisioned that the BusConnects project being rolled out over the coming years will establish Tallaght as a public transport hub for surrounding villages and suburbs.[17]

Routes to the city centre include the 27 (via Jobstown and Tymon Park), 49 (The Square, Aylesbury, Oldbawn, Ballycullen and Firhouse), 54a (Kiltipper, Killinarden Heights, The Square, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght Village, Balrothery), 56a (The Square, Springfield, Fettercairn and Kingswood), 65 (The Square, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght Village and Balrothery), 65b (Killinarden Heights, Kiltipper Road, Aylesbury, Old Bawn, Firhouse and Ballycullen) and 77a (Blessington, Killinarden Heights, The Square, Tallaght Hospital, Tallaght Village, Old Bawn, Balrothery and Tymon Park).

A metro rail line, Metro West, was planned to pass through Tallaght but following the global financial crisis the project was shelved. The proposed line was to link Tallaght with the major satellite towns west of Dublin city, including Clondalkin, Lucan, and Blanchardstown. It would join up with Metrolink and continue out to Dublin Airport in Fingal, North County Dublin. The first 4 stops of the proposed Metro West were to be in Tallaght, with the first stop, 'Tallaght East' being situated near Tallaght IT, now the Tallaght Campus of Technological University Dublin.

Luas stop Tallaght bilingual sign

A Luas extension from Belgard to Citywest and Saggart was added to the original Luas system. This is a 4.2 km (2.5 mi) extension, funded by a Public-Private Partnership with property developers, including Davy Hickey Properties. Identified as Line A1, this €150 million spur off the Red Line at Belgard runs to Saggart. Originally intended to be a spur of the proposed Red Line as far as Fortunestown, it was later decided to extend it to Saggart. Construction started on 9 February 2009, with the line completed by early 2011. Passenger services on the 4.2 km light rail link started in early 2011. It serves communities such as Cairnwood, Ambervale, Belgard Green, Fettercairn, Kilmartin, Brookview, Ardmore, Citywest Village and Russell Square.

South Dublin County Council stated in 2003 that the population of Tallaght and environs was just under 73,000.[3] Tallaght is the seat of South Dublin County Council and has no specific local administration. In addition, while there exist two distinct local electoral areas in the form of "Tallaght Central" (based around the historic village core and key modern developments) and "Tallaght South" (the outlying "suburbs" and some rural areas), Tallaght possesses no legal boundary and as a result, it is very difficult to define an official population figure for the area. The population of the village remains modest but the broader area is now one of Ireland's largest population agglomerations. If the entirety of Tallaght and its broadly defined environs were taken into account, then the population would be greater than that of Galway City (75,414), rendering Tallaght the fourth largest area of population in the state. Irish population statistics are calculated from District Electoral Divisions, and these are often combined to estimate "area populations". As of the 2016 census, the total population of the area was 76,119.

[19]

The population of the historic civil parish of Tallaght, including areas such as Templeogue, Ballyroan, and wide areas of mountain as far away as Castlekelly, is 101,059[20]

"Greater Tallaght" comprises Tallaght village and a range of areas that were formerly small settlements (Jobstown, Old Bawn, Kilnamanagh) and rural townlands, all developed in recent decades.

The original village of Tallaght lies west of the Tallaght Bypass (N81). It stretches east-west from Main Road and Main Street to the Abberley Court Hotel at the end of High Street and encompasses the Village Green shopping plaza, Tallaght Courthouse, Westpark, and many shops, restaurants and banks. It also houses Tallaght Youth Service, Tallaght's first newspaper printing house the Tallaght Echo, and (formally) Tallaght Community Arts Centre. The area's Institute of Technology, Saint Mary's Priory, and Saint Maelruain's Church are located in the historic quarter of Tallaght village.

The newer "town centre" lies immediately to the south across the Belgard Road, encompassing Belgard Square, the main shopping complex (known as The Square also known as the Pyramid), the Luas Red Line terminus, Tallaght Hospital (including the National Children's Hospital), County Hall, the Civic Theatre, South Dublin County Library, Rua Red Arts Centre, and several bars, restaurants and hotels.

To the northeast of the village lies the Tymon North / Balrothery area, which comprised rural townlands until the 1970s. This district includes estates such as Bancroft, Balrothery, Glenview, Castle Park, Saint Aongus, Tymon, Bolbrook and Avonbeg. These parts are home to several sporting facilities, including the National Basketball Arena, a fitness centre, two swimming pools, an athletics track, and an astroturf football facility. Tymon Park is watered by the River Poddle and is Ireland's second-largest city park. It borders Greenhills and Templeogue, and it contains extensive sporting grounds, ponds, Coláiste De Hide and one of Ireland's largest playgrounds at the Tymon North entrance.

Old Bawn, formerly a small village in its own right, is immediately south of the village, bordered by Sean Walsh Memorial (also locally called Watergate) Park. To the east of Old Bawn, estates include Home Lawns, Mountain Park, Millbrook Lawns and Seskin View. To the south and southwest of the village lie Ellensborough, Aylesbury, and Killinarden (the latter comprising the residential areas of Deer Park, Cushlawn, Donomore, Killinarden Estate and Knockmore). Beyond these are rural lands, running towards the Wicklow Mountains.

In the northwest is Belgard Green, with Belgard Heights and Kingswood (built 1974) to the north, Kingswood is also sometimes considered as Clondalkin and half holding a D22 postcode. Half of Kingswood is served by Clondalkin Garda Station. Kingswood and Belgard Heights are adjacent to Clondalkin, while Kilnamanagh is situated beside Greenhills and south-west of Walkinstown and Crumlin. Tallaght Theatre is situated along the Greenhills Road.

Virginia Heights and Springfield are close to the area's centre, and further west of the town centre is the former hamlet of Jobstown, now with dense housing estates, and also the recently rural areas of Kiltalown, Brookfield and Fettercairn.