Saint Margaret's () is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

in the historical barony of

Coolock Coolock () is a large suburban area, centred on a village, on Dublin city's Northside (Dublin), Northside in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Coolock is crossed by the Santry River, a prominent feature in the middle of the district, with a linear ...

in Dublin, Ireland. Rivermeade, a housing estate of 175 homes which is treated as a separate

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

, is located between Saint Margaret's and the Ward River.

Dublin Airport Dublin Airport (Irish language, Irish: ''Aerfort Bhaile Átha Cliath'') is an international airport serving Dublin, Ireland. It is operated by DAA (Irish company), DAA (formerly Dublin Airport Authority). The airport is located in Collinsto ...

is also nearby.

History

One of the earliest documented references to St. Margaret's dates to 1182, when

Pope Lucius III Pope Lucius III (c. 1097 – 25 November 1185), born Ubaldo Allucingoli, reigned from 1 September 1181 to his death in 1185. Born of an aristocratic family of Lucca, prior to being elected pope, he had a long career as a papal diplomat. His pa ...

reportedly confirmed "the town of St. Margarets" to the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

. Other evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a

fulacht fiadh A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight. Radiocarbon d ...

site,

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its gua ...

, and an early 18th century church and graveyard. 16th century records of St. Margaret's Chapel at Dunsoghly, also called Dovemachenor or Donoughmore, indicate that a church existed in the area from at least 1275 AD. Also nearby is the 15th century

Dunsoghly Castle Dunsoghly Castle is a castle and a National Monument located in the civil parish of St. Margarets, in Fingal, Ireland. History The castle was built around 1450 by Sir Thomas Plunket, Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas. It was occupie ...

, the one-time residence of John Plunket, who was

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge i ...

from 1559 until his death in 1582. The graveyard and well at St. Margaret's are also historically associated with the Plunket family and it was reputedly a member of this family who had "St. Margaret's Spa Well .walled in so as to form a bath 6 feet long by 3 feet wide".

Geography

There are 14 townlands within Saint Margaret's civil parish, including Barberstown, Harristown, Newtown, Sandyhill, Shanganhill, and Saint Margaret's. A number of these townlands, such as Shanganhill, overlap with the grounds of Dublin Airport. Rivermeade, a housing development of 175 homes south of the Ward River, is also located in the area. For census purposes, Rivermeade is treated as a

and had a population of 530 people as of the

2016 census Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

. It 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. ...

route 40B. In 2018, the local authority,

Fingal County Council Fingal County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Fhine Gall) is the authority responsible for local government in the county of Fingal, Ireland. It is one of three local authorities that comprised the former Dublin County Council before its abolit ...

, published a statutory Local Area Plan (LAP) covering the area. The LAP envisaged making Rivermeade, and St. Margaret's in general, a "more viable community" and providing a base for local services, with allowance for the addition of up to 275 houses, a commercial centre and a civic space.

Amenities

Local national (primary) schools include St. Margaret's National School (with an enrollment of approximately 90 pupils), and Mary Queen of Ireland National School in Rivermeade (which opened in 1981). The local

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church, which is dedicated to Saint Margaret, is a '

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

' in Finglas parish in the

Archdiocese of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...

Sport

Sports clubs in the area include St Margaret's GAA club (which was founded in 1908) and St. Margaret's Golf Club. As of 2018, Rivermeade F.C. was fielding

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 ...

(soccer) teams in the Athletic Union League.

References

{{Fingal, state=collapsed Civil parishes of County Dublin Townlands of County Dublin