Knocklyon () is a suburb of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

in county of South Dublin, within the old

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, Ireland. Unlike many Dublin suburbs, Knocklyon was not developed around a village; rather it largely comprises modern housing built between the village of

Templeogue Templeogue () is a southwestern suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It lies between the River Poddle and River Dodder, and is about halfway from Dublin's centre to the mountains to the south. Geography Location The centre of Templeogue is from b ...

and the former hamlet, now a suburb in its own right, of

Firhouse Firhouse () is an outer suburb of Dublin, in the county of South Dublin, in the south of the traditional County Dublin in Ireland. It developed from a rural village by the River Dodder, with a second settlement, Upper Fir-house, nearby.Dublin, 1 ...

. A number of old cottages and farmhouses along Knocklyon Road attest to the area's rural past.

Etymology

The area has been known historically in 14th-century scrolls as ''Cnoclín'', literally 'flax mountain'. Until recently, roadsigns in Knocklyon had an incorrect "reverse anglicised" translation, giving ''Lyon's hill'' or ''Cnoc Liamhna'', so for example, the Irish-language wording on signs for Knocklyon Road showed ''Bóthar Chnoc Liamhna''. The local authority have updated their translation based on recommendations from the commissioned update on Irish placenames.

Location

Knocklyon is located among the southwestern suburbs of the city, in the foothills of the

Dublin Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: ''Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in the Republic of Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. ...

and south of the line of the

River Dodder The River Dodder ( ga, An Dothra) is one of the three main rivers in Dublin, Ireland, the others being the Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the Tolka. Course and system The Dodder rises on the northern slopes of Ki ...

. It is bordered to the east and south by

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Counci ...

, to the north by

, and to the west by

and

Ballycullen Ballycullen (Irish: ''Baile Uí Chuillinn'') is a townland and suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Ballycullen is a townland in the civil parish of Tallaght, located in Dublin 16 and Dublin 24. The Ballycullen Road is the historical divide between Dubli ...

. The M50 motorway divides Knocklyon, with most of the suburb lying east of the motorway.

Housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

s to the east include Idrone, Knocklyon Avenue, Beverly, Dargle Wood, Coolamber, Knockcullen, Lansdowne, Delaford, Knockaire, Orlagh, Scholarstown Park, Woodfield and Templeroan. To the west of the M50 are estates such as Castlefield, Glenlyon, Monalea, Glenvara and Woodstown. The western and eastern portions of the suburb are linked by the Firhouse Road, by the flyover at Junction 12 of the M50 motorway, and by a footbridge close to where the Old Knocklyon Road formerly met Ballycullen Road.

Population

The population figure cannot be isolated from published census data as Knocklyon is composed of Firhouse-Knocklyon

electoral division An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

(ED) (population 39,602 in 2011), plus fractions of Ballyboden ED (57,085) and Firhouse-Ballycullen ED (77,773), not divided and published distinctly.

Amenities

Knocklyon Shopping Centre contains a supermarket and other retail outlets. There are also two shopping areas in the Orlagh and Woodstown estates. Both are anchored by a supermarket and have a number of fast food takeaway shops, as well as beauty salons and childcare centres. There is also a local

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

. A division of the St. John Ambulance was established in 2010 which provides first aid training in the community. Knocklyon has a number of open spaces within its residential estates and along the

, including the home ground and playing pitches for both a

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

club ( Ballyboden St. Enda's GAA) and a football club, Knocklyon United Football Club.

Schools

Saint Colmcille's National School, Knocklyon

St. Colmcille's national school opened in September 1976. The school is the largest primary school in Ireland and one of the largest primary schools in Europe and educates 1,600 students and employs 80 teachers, 23 special needs assistants, and 11 ancillary staff. Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna is an

Irish language Irish ( Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was ...

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

that was established in September 1996 with 36 pupils. The school now teaches 234 children. St. Colmcille's Community School (formerly Knocklyon Community School) has 700 secondary students and opened in September 2000. Prior to the construction of Knocklyon Community School the area was (and to some extent still is) served by Templeogue College,

Terenure College Terenure College is a Carmelite-run secondary school located in the suburb of Terenure, Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1860 and had an associated primary school until 2017. It is one of the "big six" Leinster Schools Rugby-playin ...

, Sancta Maria College, Saint Mac Dara's, Firhouse Community School , Our Lady's Secondary School and Coláiste Éanna C.B.S.

Religion

The Catholic Parish of Knocklyon was established in October 1974 under the patronage of

Saint Colmcille Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is tod ...

. It is run for the Dublin Archdiocese by the Carmelite Order. The parish church opened in April 1980, with the Iona Pastoral Centre formally opened in 2000. Anglican

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

Knocklyon residents are members of the Rathfarnham Church of Ireland. The Knocklyon Church of Christ is an autonomous Christian congregation on Knocklyon Road, near Gaelscoil Chnoc Liamhna.

Transport

Knocklyon is served by

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus ( ga, Bus Átha Cliath) is a State-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 138 million passengers in 2019. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Córas Iompair Éireann. ...

routes 15,15b, 49, 65b, 75 and 175.

Sport and leisure

The

(GAA) is represented in Knocklyon by Ballyboden St. Enda's GAA Club.

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

is organised by Knocklyon United F.C. The local Brothers Pearse Athletics Club was founded in 1956. There is a branch of

Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland ( ga, Gasóga na hÉireann) is one of the largest youth movements on the island of Ireland, a voluntary educational movement for young people with over 45,000 members, including over 11,000 adult volunteers . Of the 750,000 peo ...

and the South Dublin Model Railway Club, which have their own premises.

References

External links

St. Colmcille's Community SchoolKnocklyon Parish
{{Dublin residential areas Towns and villages in South Dublin (county) Places in South Dublin (county)