Clondalkin

Clondalkin (Irish: Cluain Dolcáin, meaning 'pasture of Dolcán') is a suburban village in County Dublin, Ireland, approximately 10 km (6 mi) west of Dublin city centre. It is within the administrative jurisdiction of South Dublin.

Clondalkin is also the name of a civil parish and a townland in the ancient barony of Uppercross, and is also used in relation to some local religious parishes.

The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Clondalkin was 47,938 as of the 2022 census.

Neolithic tribes first settled in the area around 7,600 years ago, taking advantage of the site's location on the River Camac, overlooking the River Liffey and the inland pass between the mountains and the river. Evidence of the presence of the Cualann Celtic people (an early tribe possibly the Cauci on Ptolemy's world map) can be found in various mounds and raths.

Clondalkin is believed to have been founded by Saint Cronan Mochua as a monastic settlement on the River Camac over 1,400 years ago (possibly late 6th or early 7th centuries). The round tower was built perhaps two centuries later (c. 790 AD) as part of the monastery. This would make it an unusual tower, as most scholars assume that the main period of their construction was between the start of the 10th century and the end of the 12th century, and that this one was built in the 10th or 11th century. By the 8th century, Saint Fugillus was Bishop of Clondalkin and noted gospel manuscripts were produced – the most famous of these being the Clondalkin Mass Book which is on display in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Clondalkin was sacked by Vikings in 832 AD, and the monastery was burned to the ground. One of the early Norse kings of Dublin, Amlaíb Conung, built a fortress on the site in the middle of the 9th century. In 867, a force led by Cennétig mac Gaíthéne, king of Loígis, burned the fortress at Clondalkin and killed 100 of Amlaíb's followers. The monastery was later restored and, with help from other surrounding monasteries, and influenced the Viking settlers in their conversion to Christianity. The district remained under Norse control until the Viking defeat by Brian Boru at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.

Clondalkin witnessed another historic event during the Norman invasion in 1171 with a battle there between Richard de Clare (Strongbow) and the last High King of Ireland Ruaidhrí Ua Conchabhair.

Clondalkin is a civil parish in the ancient barony of Uppercross. An exclave of the parish, consisting of the single townland of Blundelstown, is located in the neighbouring barony of Newcastle to the west.

Centuries later, Clondalkin was the scene for some fighting in the 1641 Rebellion, when the Gaelic Irish in Ulster, and later in the rest of the kingdom, and the Old English in the Pale of Leinster rebelled against rule from Westminster. (Ireland had its own parliament at this time, but it was severely limited in its powers, e.g. by Poynings' Law.)

Clondalkin Paper Mill was established at the start of the 19th century by Thomas Seery and Son. Having changed ownership over the years, activity peaked during the First World War as the focus moved to war production. Productivity slowed until the mill closed its doors for the last time in 1987. Water to power the mill came from Brittas ponds via Saggart.

A focal point for Clondalkin is the eighth-century round tower, one of the four remaining towers in the historic County Dublin. Acknowledged as one of the oldest in the country, the Clondalkin Round Tower is 25.6 metres high and has its original conical cap. While a heritage centre was opened on the site in 2017, as of December 2024 the tower's visitor centre was reportedly closed 'until further notice'.

Clondalkin is also home to a holy well, St Brigid's Well, which is said to have been used for baptising pagans by Saint Brigid in the 5th century.

Tully's Castle, now protected as a national monument, remains as one of three tower houses in Clondalkin village.

The Clondalkin area had a population of approximately 46,000 as of 2016. Facilities serving the population include several supermarkets, as well as small businesses, restaurants and pubs. There is also a Garda station on Orchard Road in the village.

Clondalkin village has a branch of South Dublin Libraries in a building which used to house a Carnegie Library. A newer library, North Clondalkin Library, opened in 2020. The local Church of Ireland church, St. John's Church, was built in 1789 on the site of a medieval church, and extended in 1854.

In March 2014, Clondalkin became the 51st "Fairtrade town" in Ireland. The occasion was marked with a ceremony in Clonburris National School.

Wheatfield Prison and Cloverhill Prison are both in the area.

Clondalkin is served by public transport to Dublin city centre, to nearby suburbs, and to neighbouring settled areas such as Tallaght.

Dublin Bus provide bus routes including the 13, 60, 68, 69, 151, G2, and L54. There are also other bus routes provided by Go-Ahead Ireland such as the W2 and L51. Many of these run from areas near Clondalkin, such as Rathcoole and Newcastle, into the city centre via Clondalkin, while some of these routes link Clondalkin to other local areas such as Liffey Valley, The Square, Lucan, and Leixlip.

Clondalkin railway station opened on 4 August 1846 and was closed for goods traffic on 9 June 1947. It was reopened during the 1990s for commuter services. Commuter trains are operated by Iarnród Éireann (Irish Rail) and run between Heuston station in Dublin and Kildare Town in County Kildare. A new station, to replace rather than supplement the previous station, has been built at Fonthill, north of Bawnogue. The original Clondalkin station was demolished in 2008 to facilitate a four-line track, allowing express trains to pass through without affecting local services on the Kildare line.

Bus Éireann services stop to collect and set down passengers at Newlands Cross, on the N7 road near Clondalkin.

As of 2007, Clondalkin was included on the preferred route for the proposed Dublin Metro West line.

Two local newspapers, the Clondalkin Echo and Clondalkin Gazette, serve the area. The latter is published by Gazette Group Newspapers (part-owned by the Irish Times), and was launched in October 2005.

Clondalkin's oldest sports club is the Round Towers GAA Club, which was founded in December 1884 and is located on Convent Road. A number of club members have represented Dublin in the inter-county competition since the nineteenth century, when Tom Errity won several All-Ireland Senior Football medals in the 1890s. Jim Gavin, also a club member, won an All-Ireland senior medal with Dublin in 1995 and several as a manager in the 2010s.

The local association football team, Clondalkin Celtic F.C., was formed in 1969. It fields teams in the Dublin and District Schoolboys League.

Former association football teams in the area included Moyle Park Past Pupils FC, and Neilstown Rangers (past winners of the FAI Junior Cup). St Francis Boys FC have been at home at John Hyland Park, Baldonnel, close to Clondalkin since relocating from their original home in The Liberties.

Collinstown FC, Liffey Valley Rangers and Clondalkin Celtic F.C. are also emerging soccer clubs in the area.

Rugby union is played at Clondalkin Rugby Club, Kingswood, who were winners of the 2006 Spencer Cup and 2006 Under-18 Premier League. The club was formed in 1973–74 and fields several senior, underage and youth teams.

Bernard Dunne the former WBA Super Bantamweight World Champion is from Neilstown in Clondalkin. Kenny Egan, winner of a silver medal for boxing in the 2008 Olympics, comes from Clondalkin, originally Woodford estate.

Dublin Lions Basketball Club has teams playing in Division 2, 3 and 4 of the Dublin Men Basketball League, teams in Senior 2, 5 and 6 of Dublin Ladies Basketball League. There are also children's teams and an academy for ages 4 to 10. The club is based between Coláiste Bride and Moyle Park College.

The National Baseball Facility in Ireland, O'Malley Field, is located in Corkagh Demesne Park, in southwest Clondalkin. This is the home of the Irish national baseball team.

Clondalkin has primary and secondary schools of different denominations.

Among its primary schools are: St. Ronans, Clonburris National School, Sacred Heart Sruleen National School, St. Joseph's Boys National School, Scoil Íde, Scoil Áine, St John's National School (Church of Ireland), Scoil Mhuire, Talbot S.N.S and Scoil Nano Nagle.

The secondary schools are: Moyle Park College (for boys), Deansrath Community College, Coláiste Bríde (for girls), Collinstown Park Community College and St. Kevin's Community College.

Clondalkin also contains three Gaelscoileanna (Irish-language schools) – Gaelscoil Chluain Dolcáin and Gaelscoil na Camóige at primary level and Coláiste Chilliain at second level.

Community organisations include a unit of Toastmasters International, an Order of Malta branch and several youth groups. There is also a Scout group, affiliated to Scouting Ireland, Boy's and Girl's Brigade companies, and units of the Irish Girl Guides and Brownies. Local drama groups include Clondalkin Drama Group and Clondalkin Youth Theatre (associated with the Irish National Association for Youth Drama).

The village is home to St Joseph's Pipe band, which has won several competitions in Ireland and the UK. The Clondalkin Youth Band, also based locally, was founded in 1986.

The Clondalkin Tidy Towns group was established in 2012. They were awarded the South Dublin County Community Group of the Year 2012 and were also runners-up in the Pride of Place Award for 2012. In June 2023 they were amongst the winners of South Dublin County Council's Mayor's Community Hero Awards.

Áras Chrónáin promotes Irish language and culture (e.g. music and dancing). Muintir Chrónáin have been awarded the main national Glór na nGael awards in 1978 and 1988 and hosted Oireachtas na Gaeilge in 1991.

The idea of designation for Clondalkin as an Irish Language Network region was raised in 2012, based on proposed amendments to the definition of "Gaeltacht", to be "based on linguistic criteria instead of on geographic areas".

Clondalkin is part of the Dáil constituency of Dublin Mid-West. It is mostly within the local electoral area of Clondalkin for elections to South Dublin County Council (along with Rathcoole, Newcastle and Saggart), with parts in the Tallaght Central local electoral area. The Clondalkin local electoral area includes the electoral divisions of Clondalkin-Dunawley, Clondalkin Village, Newcastle, Rathcoole, Saggart, some parts of the electoral division of Clondalkin-Monastery, and sections of the electoral divisions of Clondalkin-Cappaghmore and Clondalkin-Moorfield.

The climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).

• Clondalkin on South Dublin County History website (archived 2007)
• Clondalkin's Gaelscoils/Gaelcholáiste