Knockboy ( meaning ''Yellow Hill''), commonly referred to as

Ballygunner Ballygunner ( ga, Baile Gunnair), is a civil parish in County Waterford, Ireland. It lies on the southern outskirts of Waterford city. The placename is derived, in part, from the Old Norse masculine personal name ''Gunnarr''. Ballygunner conta ...

(), is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

and formerly a village on the outskirts of

Waterford City "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Originally an independent village, it has become part of Waterford City, due to

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, and now forms part of the city's suburbs. It is within the dual parishes of St. Mary's and St Joseph and St. Benildus.

History

The old village of Knockboy consisted of an old 18th-century church, 19th-century schoolhouse, a row of cottages and a small pub at the base of the hill. In 1948, a new national school was built at the top of the hill. In 1980, the Waterford city boundaries extended, making Knockboy part of the Greater Waterford area. In 1984, the national school was moved to beside the

Ballygunner GAA Ballygunner GAA (nicknamed "The Gunners") is a Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) club located in the parish of St Mary's Ballygunner in Waterford City, Ireland. The are the current All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship title holders. T ...

pitch, the old school buildings being developed into a

Gaelscoil A Gaelscoil (; plural: ''Gaelscoileanna'') is an Irish language-medium school in Ireland: the term refers especially to Irish-medium schools outside the Irish-speaking regions or Gaeltacht. Over 50,000 students attend Gaelscoileanna at primary an ...

. In the early 1990s, the cottages were demolished and new council houses were built at the site. In the 2000s, a new housing estate was built adjoining the original village, in practise making it a suburb of Waterford City. In late 2009, redevelopment of the old church began which involved extending two sides of the church."Construction to begin on St Mary’s Church in Ballygunner"
''The Munster Express'', 16 April 2010. In 2011, the crossroads at the site of ''Gaelscoile Baile Mhic Gonair'' were redeveloped to feature one single crossroad rather than two along with traffic lights.

References

{{reflist Geography of Waterford (city)