Ward () is a
civil parish in
Fingal
Fingal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which ...
, Ireland. It is part of the historical
barony of
Castleknock.
The Ward River, the major tributary of the Broadmeadow River, flows through the area, and probably gave the civil parish its name.
Location
The civil parish lies to the north-east of the civil parish of
Mulhuddart, and is bounded to the south-east by the civil parish of
Finglas. Its centre of population, which was originally situated on one of the chief roads to the north of Ireland, has now been by-passed by the
M2 motorway. The River Ward separates Ward from the barony of
Nethercross to the north-east. At the confluence of the Ward and the
River Pinkeen to the north-west, the parish borders
County Meath
County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...
. The old
N2 national road, now the
R135 road, runs through the parish from north to south. Only the townland of Newpark lies to the east of the R135.
Ward is known as the meeting place of the Ward Stag Hunt.{{fact, date=December 2022
History
After the
Norman invasion of Ireland, the lands of la Garde, or the Ward, were possessed by the family of le Bank. Nicholas le Bank was granted extensive property in Ireland by King
Henry II of England. In the first half of the thirteenth century a right of turbary in his "tenement near Finglas" was conveyed by Sir Raymond le Bank to the canons of All Saints. During the first half of the sixteenth century the castle, round which the village sprang up, was occupied by
Richard Delahide, who was a judge. The castle came into the possession of the
barons of Howth.
The Ward was formerly a
chapelry of the parish of
Finglas,
[Lewis p. 674] the chapel was dedicated to St. Brigid, and subordinate to
St. Canice's Church, Finglas.
Townlands
The parish contains seven
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 ...
s of Cherryhound, Irishtown, Killamonan, Newpark, Spricklestown, Ward Lower and Ward Upper.
Ecclesiastical parishes
The nearest
Roman Catholic Church
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 ...
is located at St Margaret's, a
Chapel of Ease of the parish of
Finglas whose main church is St. Canice's.
In the
Church of Ireland, the nearest churches are St Canice's, Finglas or in
Mulhuddart.
References
Civil parishes of the barony of Castleknock