Shankill () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, on the southeast of County Dublin, close to the border with County Wicklow. It is in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown and had a population of 14,257 as of the 2016 census. It runs from the coast, between Loughlinstown and Bray, inland towards the foothills of the Dublin Mountains. Shankill borders Rathmichael, as well as Loughlinstown, Killiney, Ballybrack and Bray in County Wicklow. It is part of the civil parish of Rathmichael and contains the formerly separate district of Shanganagh, and in its southern parts, the locality of Crinken.

Etymology

The name Shankill derives from the Irish term "Seanchill," which translates to "old church" or "ancient church." The word "sean" means "old," and "cill" means "church." This name is believed to reference an early Christian monastic settlement or an ancient church that once stood in the area, reflecting Shankill's historical significance as a site of religious and communal activity.

The nearby area of Shanganagh, which means "full of ants" in Irish, includes a major cemetery.

Geography The townland of Shankill was originally located on lands further northwest at Puck's Castle but today the area of Shankill is usually understood to lie towards the coast, while the inland reaches form Rathmichael (historically Shankill was absorbed into Rathmichael civil parish), with an area of around . Carrickgollogan Hill (278m) lies to the west, with the Ballycorus Leadmines to the northwest, and Loughlinstown and Killiney to the north. The town of Bray, County Wicklow lies to the south.

History

Early history Shankill features a number of antiquities, including ráths and cromlechs.

Around 1230, there were forests that were cleared under the orders of the then-owner of Shankill, Archbishop Luke. Courts for serious crimes in the style of assizes were conducted at Shankill during this period. To keep the native Gaelic Irish out, barriers and fortified gates protected parts of the townland. The manor of Shankill was overrun by the native Irish and completely destroyed a century later. In response to these incursions, a large garrison was re-instated. The Irish were restrained from entering and the land was eventually re-let as grazing land.

Middle Ages The Lawless family features prominently in the history of Shankill. In 1408, family members took control of the seigniory of Shanganagh and, by 1480, several branches of the family were residents of Shankill.

Between 1400 and 1600, a number of fortified structures - whose remains can still be seen to this day in Shankill and Rathmichael - were built: Shankill Castle, Shanganagh Castle and a strong house known locally as Puck's Castle. The Walsh family, which came to prominence in the 16th century, built several further defensive structures in Shankill.

From 1640 onwards, the native Irish were subdued in a series of confrontations, leading to greater agricultural use of the lands. Around this time, Shankill was absorbed into the parish of Rathmichael.

The Walshes quit the lands of Shankill primarily due to the Act of Commonwealth which redistributed landowners and tenancies. After this, the Lawless families regained possession for the third time of lands around Shankill. The last Lawless died in 1795, whereupon the lands became the possession of the third Sir William Domvile, resident of nearby Loughlinstown House. The Domvile family had been granted the lands surrounding Loughlinstown under the Restoration.

19th century The Domviles Shankill and Rathmichael were the property of Sir Charles Compton William Domvile (1822–1884). Domvile was known as an uncompromising and ruthless landlord and sought to change the usage of land from the smallholdings that existed at the time of his inheritance of the estate. At this time Shankill was a rural village, but Domvile intended to build grand Georgian-style housing developments, squares and streets to gentrify the area, thereby making it attractive for wealthy Dublin city-based professionals to live in. During Domvile's time, new roads and streets were laid out, as well as water mains which feed a relief tank from Vartry Reservoir, continuing on to Stillorgan reservoir. However, Domvile was an impetuous man and acted unreasonably with his tenants and prospective buyers of estates on his holdings. His personal debts mounted as a result of his financing two large estates at Shankill and Santry, ultimately resulting in his bankruptcy.

The net outcome of Domvile's actions was to halve the population of Shankill and Rathmichael during the 1860s. He evicted over 100 tenants, during a period of grinding poverty, and many were forced to re-negotiate their tenancies at usurious rates. Many of the evicted ended up in the local workhouse, the Rathdown Work Union, which is now the site of Loughlinstown Hospital.

The new Shankill A landowner with holdings adjacent to the Shankill townland, Benjamin Tilly, granted quarter-acre holdings to some of the evicted tenants. Tilly's land straddled the townland border into Shanganagh, and thus the new holdings along the Shanganagh Road became known as 'Tillystown'. In 1871, there were over 60 houses, and around the start of the 20th century, this village became known as Shankill proper.

In 1911, a tract of land to the west of Shankill, known as 'New Vale', was developed as labourers' cottages.

20th and 21st centuries Shankill initially comprised large agricultural tracts broken into smallholdings for tenant farmers, and larger, grander estates with fine country houses, many of which still exist today. Large housing estates have been built on many of these estates. Additional tracts of land were also sold to developers who have built higher-density housing than the larger-plot housing estates constructed in the 1970s.

Local antiquities and features

There are several antiquities in the area, including ruined churches and standing stones. The ruins of several castles and defensive-type structures remain, including Puck's Castle, Shankill Castle, Shanganagh Castle and a Martello Tower.

Some houses of architectural note include: Clontra, a coastal Gothic Revival mansion near Corbawn Wood and Quinn's Road; Crinken Castle House, Crinken, and Shanganagh House, a large mansion now surrounded by local authority housing estates. Clontra was built for Dublin barrister James Anthony Lawson QC (later Attorney General of Ireland, Judge of the High Court and Privy Councillor) and designed by the 19th-century architects Sir Thomas Newenham Deane and Benjamin Woodward in their trademark Italian medieval style.

The local library was formerly a courthouse built in the Victorian style of granite and mock Tudor features. There are also some follies such as a mock round tower built of red brick in the Castle Farm Farmyard.

Evidence of local industrial activity include the lead-mine chimney at Ballycorus. Other features include the 'upside down' houses by the Harcourt Street railway line bridge, which was the site of the original post office, and has its guest rooms downstairs, and its kitchen and living room upstairs. Shankill was accessible via the original Kingstown-Bray train line, which is now five metres from the sea in some places. A coastal wall was built from Killiney to Bray to try to stop the erosion, traces of which can still be seen along the beach. The medieval village of Longnon was sited some east of Quinn's Road beach but was obliterated by coastal erosion.

Buildings Ballycorus Leadmines

Site of a lead ore smelter, a mile-long stone flue and a granite chimney on Carrickgollogan hill, which is visible from much of southeast Dublin.

Carnegie Library Tudor-style library, architect R. M. Butler, 1912.An Taisce catalogue of photographs of Irish Carnegie Libraries

Clonasleigh Clonasleigh, a house replaced by Shankill Shopping Centre (since upgraded and re-opened) was lived in by Frederick W. Meredith, once President of the Law Society, in the early 1900s. The name has been retained locally in Clonasleigh, a road with 16 houses, off Corbawn Lane, located close to the original house.

Clontra Gothic mansion designed by Deane and Woodward, 1860, interior murals by John Hungerford Pollen. On of parkland by the coast, adjacent to Corbawn Wood estate.

Dorney Court Originally called Clare Mount, built c. 1832, this fine Victorian house was demolished in 1984. Its site is now that of Shankill Garda Station. The grounds still contain a few Sequoia and Scots Pine trees following the felling of many of them in 1984.

Ferndale House Large estate on several acres, the seat of David Plunket, 1st Baron Rathmore.

Mullinastill House The former mill house is a listed structure and the set for several film scenes.

Puck's Castle

The 'castle', actually a fortified house, was built in the late 16th century. It provided a refuge in 1690 for James II and his army fleeing the Battle of the Boyne. One explanation for its name is that a ghost or puca inhabited the castle. In June 1867 the daughter of a local Englishman disappeared near the castle. Jane Eleanor Sherrard, daughter of Henry and Margaret Sherrard left her nearby home to pick flowers for the dinner table. When she failed to return home that evening the police were notified and a widespread search was conducted. The last confirmed sighting of Jane was by the local postman, who reported to have seen her picking flowers at the foot of the castle's northern wall. To this day the circumstances surrounding her disappearance remain unknown.

Rathmichael Church

Commissioned by Charles Domvile in 1860, and designed by Benjamin Woodward, in the Hiberno-Romanesque style. The Domviles had their own high-backed chairs, behind red velvet curtains.

Shanganagh Bridge (1829)

Located at the junction of Commons Road and Shanganagh Road this bridge bears the worn inscription: "Built 1829 - Robert Day Thomas Bourchier Esq's - Overseers Myles Bready - Mason".

Robert Day, judge and MP, lived in Loughlinstown House. Day had a long career from the 1780s through to the 1830s. He was a member of King's Inns, and also of the Royal Dublin Society. Thomas Bourchier, Deputy Clerk of the Crown in the Irish House of Commons, lived in Killiney Castle, now the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, which is on the same road as Shanganagh Bridge. Bourchier died in 1832.

Shanganagh Castle (1408) Located near Mill Lane, at the northern margins of the area, built in 1408 by the Lawless family and inhabited by their descendants until 1763, the castle was left in ruins by a fire in 1783. Only limited elements remain within the grounds of a later house.

Shanganagh Castle (18th century) Several kilometres from the first Shanganagh Castle, during the late 18th century, a mansion was built on extensive lands running to the border of Shankill with County Wicklow. It was later used as an open prison for juveniles between 1969 and 2002. The site is now being developed by the local authority and Land Development Agency, with over 500 housing units planned, and the castle will be restored and reopened.

Shanganagh House

Later called Shanganagh Park, this Georgian-era mansion was built c. 1823 for William Hopper. Later residents included the Darcy brewing family and racehorse breeder Frank Field. It was compulsorily purchased by Dublin County Council in 1970; it now serves as a pre-school and is surrounded by late 1970s council houses.

Shankill Castle Built by Archbishop Henry de Loundres in 1229; site of the ancient Shankill church. It is one of the oldest surviving structures in the area.

Infrastructure Old Dublin & South East railway line The Dublin and South Eastern Railway ran along the coast, seaward from the modern DART and railway line, connecting Killiney and Bray.

Old Harcourt Street line The former railroad running from Dublin to Bray on an inland route; closed in 1958. The D&SER and Harcourt Street railway line met at Shanganagh Junction.