Saint Margaret's or St. 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and

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 ...

in the historical barony of Coolock in

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

, 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 is also nearby.

History

One of the earliest documented references to St. Margaret's dates to 1182, when Pope Lucius III reportedly confirmed "the town of St. Margarets" to the

Archbishop of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: ...

. 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 ...

site,

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

, 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, 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 ...

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 located in the area. Rivermeade is treated as a

and had a population of 521 people as of the 2022 census. It is served by

Dublin Bus Dublin Bus () is an Irish State-owned enterprise, state-owned bus operator providing services in Dublin. By far the largest bus operator in the city, it carried 145 million passengers in 2023. It is a subsidiary of CIÉ, Córas Iompair Éireann ...

route 40B. In 2018, the local authority, Fingal County Council, 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

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 ...

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, generally due to trav ...

in Finglas parish in the

Archdiocese of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name from 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 Ire ...

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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

(soccer) teams in the Athletic Union League.

References

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