Castleknock

Castleknock (Caisleán Cnucha in Irish meaning Castle of the Hill or Cnucha's Castle(1)) is a village with some affluent residential suburbs at the edge of County Fingal and located 8 km west of the centre of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. The village is located just inside the city's M50 motorway ring road, bordered to the west by the village of Blanchardstown and to the east by the Phoenix Park. The Royal Canal and the Dublin – Sligo railway line pass through the area. Castleknock is in the Dublin 15 postal area and the Dublin West electoral constituency. St. Brigid is the patron saint.

Amenities

Castleknock lays claim to the largest tennis facility in Ireland, which was home to tennis for the 2004 Special Olympics. Golf is catered for by the municipal course at Elm Green on the edge of the village as well as by two private clubs in the Porterstown area. The local association football club Castleknock Celtic FC boasts over 600 playing members whilst rugby union is played at Coolmine RFC. Castleknock is also home to local GAA club, Castleknock Hurling and Football Club.

A fine example of a Harry Clarke work can be found in St. Brigid's Church of Ireland, Castleknock. Saint Brigid's Church is the most prominent building in the village located beside the well known and popular public house 'Myos'. There is also a more recently constructed Catholic church nearby. Also to be found is the Castleknock Village Centre shopping precinct which houses a variety of small local businesses and restaurants. Public transport in Castleknock is served by Dublin Bus, Urbus and a commuter train station on the Western Suburban Maynooth line.

Schools

The village is also the location of Castleknock College, a Dublin secondary school for boys, which was boarding only until 1987, following which day pupils were admitted. The other significant secondary schools in the locality are Castleknock Community College in nearby Carpenterstown whose pupils are mixed and the girls' Mount Sackville Convent in Chapelizod. There are two primary schools, both of which are unsurprisingly called St. Brigid's.

Some noted citizens of Castleknock include actor Colin Farrell, Olympic athlete Eamon Coghlan, and Irish Government Minister Brian Lenihan, Jr.

History

Castleknock has a long, significant and interesting history. Much of this can be discovered through the history of Castleknock Castle.

This article is licenced under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Castleknock".

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