Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within County Dublin. The place grew around the 11th century Killiney Church, and became a popular seaside resort in the 19th century. The area is notable for some famous residents, including two members of U2, and Enya. Killiney is in a civil parish of the same name, in the barony of Rathdown.

Amenities

The village centre of Killiney contains a pub, the Druid's Chair. To the north is a hotel, Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel since 1971, and beyond that a small shopping centre established in the 1970s, and nearer Ballybrack some further retail facilities. Between the hotel and the café are two churches, one Church of Ireland, and one a secondary Catholic church or chapel, open briefly weekly. A Le Chéile Schools Trust school, Holy Child Killiney, is located near the coast.

Killiney Hill Park was opened in 1887 as Victoria Hill, in honour of Queen Victoria's 50 years on the British throne; its lands were once part of the estate of Killiney Castle, now Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel. The park has views of Dublin Bay, Killiney Bay, Bray Head and the mountain of Great Sugar Loaf (506 m), stretching from the Wicklow Mountains right across to Howth Head. The Park's topography is steep, and its highest point, at the obelisk, is 170 metres above sea level. Near one entrance are tea rooms around a 19th-century tower.

Other attractions include Killiney Beach and other beach sections to its north, one with a coffee van, Killiney Golf Club, a Martello Tower, and the ruins of Cill Iníon Léinín, the church around which the original village was based. There is parking for the beaches in two locations, one near the DART station, and a public right-of-way runs from Vico Road across a dedicated bridge over the railway and down to a northern stretch of Killiney Strand and Vico Baths.

The coastal areas of Killiney are often compared to the Bay of Naples in Italy. This comparison is reflected in the names of surrounding roads, like Vico, Sorrento, Monte Alverno, San Elmo and Capri. destroyed by fire in the early 1970s, and Rochestown House, near to the contemporary Killiney Shopping Centre), the convent of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, and Killiney Golf Club, a nine-hole course founded in 1903.

Killiney's population grew substantially in the decades following the Emergency as the urbanisation of Ireland and the suburbanisation of Dublin progressed. The main divisions of the area locals might identify would be Killiney Hill Park (with the hotel and churches), Roche's Hill (locally called Mullins' Hill), Killiney village itself, North Killiney (Cluny Grove, Killiney Road, Ballinclea), and the cluster of roads on the seaward slopes of Killiney Hill - Killiney Hill Road, Marina Road West, Victoria Road, Strathmore Road and Vico Road. Much of the area is developed with two-storey housing, at average densities of 10 to 30 houses per hectare. To the south of Killiney lies the suburban estates of Seafield Court and Bayview, which were constructed in the mid-1980s.

The population, as recorded by the Census of Ireland, peaked in 1996 at approximately 10,800 and has dropped by about 12% since then, as falling average family sizes have outpaced residential construction.

Transport

Bus

The area is served by the 59 bus route operated by Go-Ahead Ireland (previously Dublin Bus) which runs hourly from Killiney Village to Marine Road, Dún Laoghaire. The journey takes 25 minutes.

An Aircoach service starting at Fitzpatrick's Castle Hotel links Killiney with Dublin Airport every hour, 24 hours a day.

Rail

thumb|upright=1.2|[[Killiney railway station delivers passengers right to the beach]]

Killiney railway station, served by the DART, is located on Station Road.

Notable people

Killiney is Dublin's most exclusive residential area. Its notable residents include U2 members Bono and the Edge. Former racing driver Eddie Irvine is also occasionally seen in Killiney. Actor Allen Leech was born in Killiney, as was radio presenter Paddy O'Byrne. Singer Enya lives in Manderley Castle in Killiney. Gardener Alice Lawrenson lived in Killiney in the 1800s.

The 1960s rock band Mellow Candle, originated in Killiney, was formed by students from the Holy Child Convent.

See also

  • List of towns and villages in Ireland
  • Killiney Castle

Sources

  • The History of Killiney Hill Park Dunlaoghaire-Rathdown County Council
  • Carrickmines Castle, the Vale of Shanganagh, Dalkey, Killiney and Ballybrack Hills (Waybackmachine archive link)
  • Pearson, Peter (1998). Between the Mountains and the Sea: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County, Dublin: The O'Brien Press. .

References

  • Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council
  • Killiney railway station
  • Census 2002 of Ireland Population Classified by Religion
  • Census 2006 Preliminary Report
  • Fitzpatrick Castle hotel in Killiney