Douglas () is a suburb, with a village core, in

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Douglas is also the name of the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

Roman Catholic parish In the Catholic Church, a parish () is a stable community of the faithful within a particular church, whose pastoral care has been entrusted to a parish priest (Latin: ''parochus''), under the authority of the diocesan bishop. It is the lowest ecc ...

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

parish and

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in which it is contained. Originally a separate village, the growth of both the village and the city has meant Douglas has become incorporated into the city over time. The 2017 Mackinnon Report proposed that Douglas and surrounding residential areas be moved to within an extended Cork City Council boundary, ending the division of Douglas between the city and county administrative areas. Douglas, along with

Rochestown Rochestown is a primarily residential area in Cork City, Ireland. Originally a somewhat rural area in County Cork, housing developments in the 20th and 21st centuries have connected the area to Douglas, Cork, Douglas and nearby suburbs. The area ...

, Grange and Frankfield, formally moved into the city council area on 31 May 2019, following the 2019 local elections.

History

Prehistory

There are a number of extant or proposed prehistoric sites in Douglas and the surrounding area, including a

shell midden A midden is an old landfill, dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bone, bones, feces, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, Lithic flake, lithics (especially debitage), and other Artifact (archaeology), ...

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

souterrain ''Souterrain'' (from French ', meaning "subterrain", is a name given by archaeologists to a type of underground structure associated mainly with the European Atlantic Iron Age. These structures appear to have been brought northwards from Gaul d ...

s, and 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 ...

. Further evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area includes the finding of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

decorated beaten gold disc in the townland of Castletreasure; although reputed to be related to the ruined castle of the same name, it has actually been dated to 2500-2000 BC.

Origins (13th-17th century)

The first known mention of Douglas is in an inquisition on the lands of Gerald de Prendergast in 1251, and in a 1291 taxation document which records the lands as being an

appurtenance An appurtenance is something subordinate to or belonging to another larger, principal entity, that is, an adjunct, satellite, or accessory that generally accompanies something else.Bauvier. It is alternately listed as "Duffelglasse" and "Duglasse" in 1302 and 1306, respectively, as part of the parish of Carrigaline. In the year 1603, it became one of the liberties of Cork City. In 1615, parochial records mention the chapel of Douglas being laid waste, reportedly due to theft of the foundation stones, and in a 1700 entry of the same records it is mentioned that the ruined chapel in question had been the church of Carrigaline parish for a century prior to the construction of a new church in Carrigaline itself. By the mid-seventeenth century, it had a population of 308 people (of whom 33 were English) and consisted of a number of large farms.

Urbanisation and the linen industry

The area began to develop as an urban settlement in the early eighteenth century with the opening of the "Douglas factory" in 1726, reported in August 1755 to be the property of "Messrs. Perry, Carleton and Co.", with 100 looms initially operational. The mills produced sail-cloth and supplied sails to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, amongst other clients. The industry was established by

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

weavers and textile workers, such as the Besnards, who acquired the Mills by 1783 and in 1801 installed the first powered spindles in Ireland, along with skilled workers from

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In addition to the mill workers, employees included over 1,000 spinners working from their houses, and hacklers, bleachers and labourers tasked with preparing raw material in Douglas village. Grange Road - geograph

Further

textile mills Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

opened in the nineteenth century, including an additional Besnard-owned

scutching Scutching is a step in the Processing of Cotton, processing of cotton or the dressing of flax or hemp in preparation for spinning (textiles), spinning. The scutching process separates the impurities from the raw material, such as the Cotton gin, ...

mill (Ravensdale, 1806), Lane's Corn and Hemp Mills (now Douglas Community Park, 1845), O’Brien's Brothers (St Patrick's Woollen Mills, 1882), Donnybrook Mills (Wallis & Pollock Flax Mills, 1866; re-opened as Morroghs' Woolen Mills, 1889/1890) and Conroy's Rope and Twine Mills (now Galway's Lane, 1892). Most of the mills ceased to operate in the early twentieth century, although St Patrick's Woollen Mills and Donnybrook Mills continued to operate until the 1970s. Some of the houses built for the mill workers are still in existence, including a

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

of houses near the junction of the Grange Road and Donnybrook Hill. Other large businesses of the time included an Osiery beside Conroy's Mills, two large brick manufacturers which straddled the nearby estuary, the Ravensdale Flour Mill, and the Woodville Flour Mill which was situated south of the Rochestown train station and produced sea biscuits and ship bread.

Suburban development

Douglas developed as a suburban area throughout the later eighteenth century and the nineteenth century, and was noted for the high concentration of ' big houses'. The popularity of the area among the nobility was such that elevated prices were commanded for the surrounding lands, and as a result, the acreage of the estates was lower than average. The oldest house was believed to have been Ronayne's Court, built in 1627 by Morris Ronayne; although the house was demolished in 1969, the original inscribed fireplace was moved to Blackrock Castle. The nearby Montfieldstown House was reputed to be the inspiration for Havisham House of

Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the great ...

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by English author Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. The novel is a bildungsroman and depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip. It is Dickens' second novel, after ''Dav ...

, having been abandoned following a ruined wedding. Bloomfield House was connected to a notorious libel case between the prominent Cork Pike and Beamish families, in which the judge, who ruled in favour of Pike in ''Pike v Beamish'', was given the house upon announcement of the verdict by the mother of the plaintiff. Windsor House was occupied by Lord Bandon, Sir Abraham Sutton and the

Kiltegan Fathers St. Patrick's Missionary Society (Latin ''Societas Sancti Patritii pro Missionibus ad Exteros''; also known as the Kiltegan Fathers) is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men composed of missionary priests. Its headquar ...

, before being redeveloped as the Rochestown Park Hotel. Ballybrack House was occupied by the Lane family, also of Vernon Mount, and is the birthplace of art dealer

Sir Hugh Lane Sir Hugh Percy Lane (9 November 1875 – 7 May 1915) was an Irish art dealer, collector and gallery director. He is best known for establishing Dublin's Municipal Gallery of Modern Art (the first known public gallery of modern art in the ...

. It received frequent visits from

Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Anglo-Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrot ...

, a close relation of the family. High Court, built in 1720 and later known as Westgrove, was the birthplace of playwright and

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christians, Christian monks and nun ...

director Lennox Robinson. Grange House was home of the Conron family, descended from

Sir Christopher Hatton Sir Christopher Hatton (12 December 1540 – 20 November 1591) was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England. He was one of the judges who found Mary, Queen of Scots guilty of treason. Early ...

, for over 300 years. Douglas Hall, one of the few remaining examples of a slate-fronted house in Ireland, was home to Rev. Dr. Francis Moylan,

Bishop of Cork The Bishop of Cork was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the city of Cork in Ireland. The title is now united with other bishoprics. In the Church of Ireland it is held by the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and in the Roman ...

, who was made a

freeman Freeman, free men, Freeman's or Freemans may refer to: Places United States * Freeman, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Illinois, an unincorporated community * Freeman, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Freeman, South Dako ...

for his rhetorical opposition to the French invasion at

Bantry Bay Bantry Bay () is a bay located in County Cork, Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately 3-to-4 km (1.8-to-2.5 miles) wide at the head and wide at the entrance. Geograp ...

during the

1798 Rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 (; Ulster-Scots: ''The Turn out'', ''The Hurries'', 1798 Rebellion) was a popular insurrection against the British Crown in what was then the separate, but subordinate, Kingdom of Ireland. The main organising force ...

Vernon Mount Vernon Mount (sometimes Vernon Mount House or Mount Vernon) is a ruined Georgian manor house in Cork, Ireland. It was built between the 1780s and early 1790s to designs attributed to Abraham Hargrave. Originally built for the merchant Hayes fam ...

, which was built for a wealthy merchant family in the late 18th century, was occupied by Sir Henry Browne Hayes, who was sentenced to

penal servitude Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...

after attempting to abduct an heiress for forced marriage. Other prominent Big Houses included Ravenscourt House, Old Court, Norwood Court, Ballybrack House, Donnybrook House, Montpelier House, Grange Erin, Castletreasure House, Bellvue House, Tramore House (home of the philanthropic Reeves family), and Maryborough House (now the Maryborough House Hotel, with an earlier late-17th century lodge). Douglas was made a separate

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish sometime before 1768. St Columba's (Roman Catholic) church was built in 1814 by the Rev. Thomas Barry, according to local legend using the stones of the ruined castle of Castletreasure. A Douglas "Chapel of Ease" to the

parish of Carrigaline was established on 17 September 1786, with the establishment of a full separate parish in February 1875. In 1855, the Protestant population of the parish was reported as having been 310, with 150 children attending the parish school. The 1785 church was rebuilt and reconsecrated on 27 August 1875 as St Luke's Church, however, following the death of the resident canon

Samuel Hayman Samuel Hayman (27 July 1818 – 15 December 1886) was a Church of Ireland minister, and an antiquarian. Life Hayman was the eldest son of Matthew Hayman of South Abbey, Youghal, County Cork, and his wife Helen, third daughter of Arundel Hill of Do ...

in 1886, as well as the principal architect, the church remained without a spire until 1889, with the church bell and tower clock donated by Mary Reeves of Tramore House, with the stipulation that the clock face towards her front door. Notable parishioners interred at St Luke's include the poet

Richard Alfred Milliken Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and i ...

, the librarian Richard Caulfield and the entrepreneur

John Arnott Sir John Arnott, 1st Baronet JP (26 July 1814 – 28 March 1898) was a British-Irish entrepreneur and a major figure in the commercial and political spheres of late-19th century Cork. He was also founder of the Arnotts department chain. Ba ...

; in addition, a plaque was erected in the memory of art collector

, deceased in the sinking of the

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...

. The nearby parish of St Finbar's opened a chapel of ease in Frankfield in 1838, later known as the Holy Trinity, on ground donated by Samuel Lane. An additional graveyard, located on Carr's Hill, was opened in 1848 on land donated by the Master of the

Workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...

, George Carr, to deal with the increase in deaths from the Great Famine. In 1898, the

Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company operated a passenger tramway service in Cork (city), Cork between 1898 and 1931. History Origins The Cork Electric Tramways and Lighting Company was a subsidiary of British Thomson-Houston, a ma ...

built a route from Cork city centre to Douglas. This operated until 1932 when it was replaced by a bus service.

Later developments (20th-21st century)

In the second half of the twentieth century, Douglas underwent major changes as it became a full-fledged

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

of Cork. New housing was built and the area between Douglas and Cork City became built-up. Schools, shopping centres and other amenities developed to serve this new population. Douglas Community School was built in the late 1960s, and the original Douglas Shopping Centre was completed in 1971. This shopping centre underwent a significant redevelopment at the turn of the 21st century. A second shopping centre, Douglas Court Shopping Centre, was built in the late 1980s and a 5-screen

multiplex Multiplex may refer to: Science and technology * Multiplex communication, combining many signals into one transmission circuit or channel ** Multiplex (television), a group of digital television or radio channels that are combined for broadcast * ...

cinema (since demolished) was also built. Several hotels, including the Rochestown Park Hotel and Maryborough House Hotel, were also developed. Following the release of the MacKinnon Report in 2017, covering a possible extension of Cork city's boundary, it was proposed that the Douglas area (including Douglas, Frankfield,

Grange Grange may refer to: Buildings * Grange House, Scotland, built in 1564, and demolished in 1906 * Grange Estate, Pennsylvania, built in 1682 * The Grange (Toronto), Toronto, Ontario, built in 1817 * Monastic grange, a farming estate belonging to ...

and Donnybrook) would be moved to the administrative area of

Cork City Council Cork City Council () is the local authority of the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Before 1 January 2002, the council was known as Cork Corporation. The council is responsible for ho ...

. This proposal would move all of Douglas to the city, ending the division of the area between the city and county councils. The boundary change (incorporating parts of Ballincollig, Douglas, Glanmire, and Rochestown within the city boundary) occurred in late May 2019.

Residential areas

From the late 19th and into the 20th century, there was an expansion of

residential area A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

s in the Douglas catchment. Housing developments (mostly private, with some

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

) were built in Grange, Frankfield, Donnybrook, Maryborough, Rochestown, Mount Oval and along the two main roads connecting Douglas to the city centre, the Douglas Road and the South Douglas Road. Donnybrook, for example, is south of Douglas village, and has a small supermarket, snooker club, football club (

College Corinthians College Corinthians A.F.C. is an List of association football clubs in the Republic of Ireland, Irish association football club based in Douglas, Cork. Their senior men's team play in the Munster Senior League Senior Premier Division. They also ...

) and forested walkway (at Ballybrack Woods) which serve as amenities for the residential developments in the Donnybrook Hill area. Grange and Frankfield (encompassed by Frankfield/Grange parish) lie to the west of Douglas village, and are mainly residential areas served by retail outlets (including SuperValu and

Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...

), schools (like Scoil Nioclais primary school) and other services (including an office of Douglas credit union). The residential development at Mount Oval has a bar, Spar, and a pharmacy.

Amenities

Amenities and green-spaces in the area include Douglas Community Park (a 5-acre park close to the centre of Douglas which includes a playground), and Ballybrack Woods (a wooded area south of Douglas village which is known locally as 'Mangala'). Douglas has two golf facilities, Douglas Golf Club at Maryborough Hill and a driving range at Frankfield Golf Club. Following calls to build a pedestrian and cycle trail through the woods around

, with a bridge over the South Ring Road to Tramore Valley Park, a new pedestrian and cycle bridge was opened in November 2023. There is a

Scouting Ireland Scouting Ireland () 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 people between the ages of 6 ...

group based at the John Slye Scout Hall in Douglas.

Shopping and business

The village centre of Douglas has two principal commercial streets, East Douglas Street and West Douglas Street, which are situated approximately 300m apart. Retail activity is also centred around two shopping centres, Douglas Court Shopping Centre and Douglas Village Shopping Centre. "Douglas Court" (anchored by

Dunnes Stores Dunnes Stores is an Irish multinational retail chain that primarily sells food, clothes and household wares. It was founded by Ben Dunne (businessman, born 1908), Ben Dunne in 1944. In addition to its main customer base in Ireland, the chain al ...

) was built in the early-1990s, and "Douglas Village" (anchored by

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

and

TK Maxx TK Maxx is a discount clothing and homewares retailer, founded in 1994. It is currently based in Watford, England. It is owned by American retailer TJ Maxx, who could not trade under the initials "TJ" in the United Kingdom due to the British d ...

) was originally developed in the mid-1970s and was the second shopping centre ever built in Ireland. Douglas was formerly the site of the headquarters of Cork and Limerick Savings Bank. However, this bank was merged into Trustee Savings Bank in 1992. The former headquarters was initially still used for regional administration, but this function was transferred to a new building in Cork Airport Business Park. A

farmers market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

is held every Saturday morning outside the Douglas Village Shopping Centre entrance.

Demographics

In the 2011 census, the percentage of Irish nationals living in Douglas was 88.8%. UK nationals accounted for 1.7%; Polish nationals 3.2%; Lithuanians 0.6%; other EU nationals 2.1%; other nationals 2.9%; and 0.7% did not state their nationality. In the 2016 census, 78.6% of residents of the Douglas

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

identified as

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, 8% were members of other religions, 12% had no religion and less than 1% did not state a religion. In the same census, 86.2% of electoral division residents identified as white Irish, 8.3% were other whites, 1% were black, 1.7% Asian or Asian Irish, 1.4% were of other ethnicities, and 1% did not state an ethnicity.

Sport

GAA

GAA clubs in the area include the

Douglas GAA Douglas Hurling and Football Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Douglas, Cork, Ireland. The club is affiliated to the Seandún Board and fields teams in Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. History Located in the suburb of Dougla ...

and

Nemo Rangers Nemo Rangers Hurling and Football Club is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Ballinlough, Cork, Ireland. The club is affiliated to the Seandún Board and fields teams in Gaelic football, hurling and camogie. History Nemo Rangers Hurling & ...

hurling and football clubs. Nemo Rangers were historically associated with Turners Cross, but moved to a new location in the Trabeg area of Douglas in the 1990s. In the 2004, 2007 and 2012 under-10 (u10)

Community Games The Community Games, known for sponsorship reasons as the Cairn Community Games, is an Irish independent voluntary organisation and national governing body which seeks to provide opportunities for children and young people to participate in a ran ...

, Douglas won the Cork Community Games, the Munster Community Games and the all-Ireland Community Games.

Association football

Local

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

clubs include Tramore Athletic F.C., Grangevale AFC,

and Douglas Hall AFC.

Golf

There are also local golf (and pitch and putt) clubs, including Douglas Golf Club, Frankfield Golf Club and Douglas Pitch and Putt Club.

Rugby union

Douglas has representation in

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and Douglas RFC was founded in 1902 as one of the earliest Cork rugby clubs. While this original club drew members from the workforce of St Patrick's Woollen Mills in Douglas (which closed in the 1970s), the club in its current form was founded in 1979.

Other sports

Other sports clubs include tennis (Douglas Tennis Club), basketball (Fr. Mathews Basketball Club), gymnastics (Douglas Gymnastics Club), martial arts (at Elite Fitness Centre), cricket and hockey clubs (

Cork Harlequins Cork Harlequins Hockey and Cricket Club is a multi-sports club based in Cork City in Ireland. The club was founded in 1925. Although Harlequins is best known for its field hockey and cricket teams, during its history the club has also organised ...

and Church of Ireland Hockey Club).

Transport

Road

The N40 passes through Douglas, but it is not possible to join the N40 from Douglas to travel in an eastbound direction, and westbound traffic may not exit the N40 at Douglas. Additional access is available via the N28 from nearby

. Douglas is served by a number of R-standard roads, including the R609 (which links to the N28 at Maryborough), R610 (

Passage West Passage West (locally known as "Passage"; ) is a port town in County Cork, Ireland, situated on the west bank of Cork Harbour, some 10 km south-east of Cork (city), Cork city. Passage West was designated a conservation area in the 2003 Co ...

to Cork city centre), R851 (Cork city centre to the N27), and R853 (to Ballinlough).

Bus

Bus services are provided by

Bus Éireann Bus Éireann (; "Irish Bus") is a state-owned bus and coach operator providing services throughout Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with the exception of Dublin, where bus services are provided by sister company Dublin Bus. It is a subsidiary of C ...

, and the routes which pass through Douglas include numbers 206 (

to the city centre), 207 ( Donnybrook to Ballyvolane), 216 ( Monkstown to

Cork University Hospital Cork University Hospital () is a large university teaching hospital in Wilton, Cork in Ireland. Its academic partner is University College Cork and serves as one of two major trauma centers for Ireland: the other is Mater Misericordiae University ...

), 219 (

Munster Technological University Munster Technological University (MTU; ) is a public technological university consisting of six campuses located in Cork and Kerry. The university was established in January 2021, the result of a merger between two institutes of technology, ...

Bishopstown Campus to Mahon), 220 ( Ovens - Grange Manor to

Carrigaline Carrigaline (; ) is a town and civil parish in County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, situated on the River Owenabue. Located about south of Cork (city), Cork city, and with a population of 18,239 people, it is one of the largest commuter ...

and Camden Fort), and 223 ( Cork City Centre to

Haulbowline Haulbowline (; ) is an island in Cork Harbour off the coast of Ireland. The world's first yacht club was founded on Haulbowline in 1720. The western side of the island is the main naval base and headquarters for the Irish Naval Service, with t ...

Rail

The nearest active railway station is

Cork Kent railway station Kent Station () is an Iarnród Éireann railway station in Cork, Ireland. Originally opened in 1893, the station operates as a hub for Intercity services to Dublin and Tralee and commuter services to Mallow, Cobh and Midleton. In 2016, Kent St ...

, approximately 5 km away. Until 1932, Douglas was served by the Blackpool-Douglas route of the

Religious congregations

As of the 2016 census, 78.6% of the population of the Douglas electoral division identified as

, with St Columbas as the first Catholic parish church in the area, dating to 1814. From the 1960s, with housing developments and population growth in Douglas, overcrowding in St Columbas prompted a decision to build a new Catholic church in the Grange/Frankfield area. This new church (the Church of the Incarnation) was consecrated in 1976, and was a chapel-of-ease to the Douglas parish before being separating into its own parish in 1982. St Patrick's Catholic church serves the Rochestown area, and dates to 1991. Other religious congregations serving the Douglas population include St Lukes Church (

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

) which was consecrated in 1875, the Wesley Chapel (

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

) on the Douglas Road, Douglas

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

congregation (which meets at Douglas Community School), Radical Life church (

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

), the Holy Trinity church (Anglican) in Frankfield which dates to 1838, and the Inspiration House ( RCCG) in Frankfield.

Education

Primary schools A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

serving the area include St Columba's GNS and St Columba's GNS (Catholic girls and boys

national schools In Ireland, a national school () is a type of primary school that is financed directly by the state, but typically administered jointly by the state, a patron body, and local representatives. In national schools, most major policies, such as the ...

respectively), Scoil An Athair Tadhg Ó Murchú (a mixed-gender

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 a ...

), St Luke's National School (a

mixed-gender school) and Scoil Nioclais (a mixed-gender Catholic primary school in Grange). Other nearby schools include Eglantine (a Catholic girls school in Ballinlough) and Rochestown Educate Together National School and Rochestown National School (both mixed-gender schools in

Douglas Community School Douglas Community School, also known as Douglas Com or DCS, is an all boy's community school in Douglas, Cork, Ireland. It was founded as Coláiste Muire by the Presentation Brothers in 1926 as a juniorate (i.e. for lower-cycle secondary s ...

(boys) and Regina Mundi College (girls) are secondary schools in Douglas.

Notable residents

Cillian Murphy Cillian Murphy ( ; born 25 May 1976) is an Irish actor. His works encompass both stage and screen, and his accolades include an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He made his professional debut in Enda Walsh's 1996 pl ...

, film and stage

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

* John Bainbridge, first-class cricketer and

rear-admiral * John Dunlay, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

Jack Gleeson Jack Gleeson (born 20 May 1992) is an Irish actor who is best known for his role as Joffrey Baratheon on the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2014). Following this role, Gleeson took a hiatus from acting, but has since taken p ...

, film and stage

Gerald Goldberg Gerald Yael Goldberg (12 April 1912 – 31 December 2003) was an Irish lawyer and politician who in 1977 became the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork. Goldberg was the son of Lithuanian Jewish refugees; his father was put ashore in Cork with oth ...

, first Jewish Lord Mayor of Cork * Rob Heffernan, Irish Olympian *

Billy O'Callaghan Billy O'Callaghan (born 9 December 1974) is an Irish short fiction writer and novelist. He is best known for his short-story collection ''The Things We Lose, The Things We Leave Behind'', which was awarded the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Award ...

, Irish short story writer and novelist *

Donncha O'Callaghan Donncha O'Callaghan (born 24 March 1979) is an Irish retired rugby union player. He spent most of his career with his home province Munster, spending 17 seasons with the province and winning five major trophies, before finishing his career with ...

, former professional

player *

Ronan O'Gara Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977) is an Irish former rugby union player and current coach. O'Gara played as a fly-half and is Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland's third most-capped player and second highest points scorer. He i ...

, former professional rugby player and coach *

Lennox Robinson Esmé Stuart Lennox Robinson (4 October 1886 – 15 October 1958) was an Irish dramatist, poet and theatre producer and director who was involved with the Abbey Theatre. Life Robinson was born in Westgrove, Douglas, County Cork and raised in ...

, dramatist, poet and director of the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

Chiedozie Ogbene Chiedozie Somkelechukwu Ogbene (born 1 May 1997) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ipswich Town and the Republic of Ireland national team. Ogbene began his career in Ireland with Cork City and Limerick, before tra ...

, football player from Grange

Notes and references

{{Authority control Geography of Cork (city) Towns and villages in County Cork