Ballybough
Ballybough is an inner city district of northeast Dublin city, Ireland. Adjacent areas include the North Strand and Clonliffe.
Location
Ballybough is an inner city district of northeast Dublin. Neighbouring districts include Drumcondra to the north, Fairview to the east, North Strand to the southeast and Phibsborough to the west. Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, is a prominent local landmark in the area where Ballybough meets Drumcondra.History
Mud Island
The first urban settlement was founded by three MacDonnell brothers who fled Ulster during the Ulster Plantations in 1605. They sought refuge in 'Mud Island' or 'Críonán/Críonach' in Ballybough as few people lived there at the time, and reigned as 'kings' of the area, a nickname which is honoured in 'Kings' Avenue' off Ballybough Road. A village of mud house was established on the island that lay off the sloblands along the estuary of the Liffey, and is thought to have been accessible by foot at low tide. The Irish Builder described Mud Island as being "between the Royal Canal and the River Tolka on the north and sound and being bounded east and west by the North Strand and Ballybough Road; but we think we may with some degree of truth affirm it received its name from its low marsh situation, and from being at one time at no distant date under the influence of the sea.Mud Island was one of the poorer parts of Ballybough. Its inhabitants lived in badly-constructed mud huts and the area was at the mercy of the sea at high tide.
The present-day area which was encompassed by Mud Island includes: Newcomen Avenue, Clonmore Road, Charleville Avenue, Bayview Avenue, Kings' Avenue, Nottingham Street, and parts of Spring Garden, Ballybough Road, and North Strand. Mud Island was marked on Campbell's map of 1811 and Duncan's map of 1821 but neither map shows it as an actual island.
The MacDonnell's of Ulster were the principal family on the island and by the late eighteenth century, the MacDonnell was recognised as 'The King of Mud Island'. The islanders elected the king, who was often but not always a member of the extended MacDonnell family. Two of the more famous of these monarchs were Art Granger and 'Grid Iron' MacDonnell. Eventually, the inhabitants of the island became the proprietors of the land they lived on through 'squatters' title'.
The Irish Times ran a series of articles in 1911 on Mud Island involving interviews with descendants of the MacDonnells and other long-established families in the area, which documented tales of robbers, smugglers, and highwaymen who found refuge on Mud Island. Reports of robbery and the apprehension of smugglers in the area can be found in contemporary newspapers as well:
The Irish Builder, in 1870, noted the changes which had taken place on Mud Island as follows: "civilisation is here though sanitary perfection is yet distant...and the post-master general forgets to remember the classic name by which Spring Garden was formerly known".
James Clarence Mangan used the pseudonym 'Peter Puff Secundus, Mud Island, near the bog' to identify with the area. Here the authorities designated an area of burial known colloquially as 'the Suicide Plot' from which Bram Stoker derived the idea of the cross for his novel Dracula, the cross being the junction of Clonliffe Road and Ballybough Road.
Mud Island eventually disappeared due to land reclamation.
It is believed that the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 was fought in the vicinity of Ballybough Bridge. Later, during the rebellion of 1534–35, Silken Thomas and his followers battled with English forces at Ballybough Bridge and many of the English were slaughtered. During the United Irishman Rebellion of 1798 many inhabitants of Ballybough and the surrounding areas were arrested on suspicion of being dissenters. Watty Cox, editor of The Union Star was a resident of Ballybough was given amnesty by the Crown for passing on information concerning the United Irishmen.
Development of the O'Connell Street area, then known as The Mall, by the Gardiner family attracted industry to the area, aided by its proximity to Dublin Port, the Tolka, and the Royal Canal. Industries established in the area included Delamaine pottery works, Chebsey's glass factory, Carrothers & Wilson's iron works, McKenny's Vitriol Works, Dublin Whiskey Distillery, Finlater's Brewery, and Hutton's coachbuilders.
Many residents of the area saw action in the 1916 Easter Rising and several plaques in the area commemorate this. Military engagements took place at Newcomen and Annesley Bridges, and the Irish Citizen Army seized a factory at Annesley Bridge and held it for a day.
Further military action occurred in the area during the War of Independence. The RIC Barracks on Fairview Strand was attacked, and the 2nd Battalion of the IRA fought English forces at Ballybough Bridge. One of the most-remembered atrocities of the war, Bloody Sunday, took place in Croke Park. One of the final incidents of the conflict took place on Bayview Avenue when the IRA engaged British soldiers during a raid. Parts of Ballybough were damaged during the Bombing of Dublin in World War II.
During the land reclamation project of the 19th century, Mud Island was also known, interchangeably, as Friend's Field or French Field, before it became known by its current name. The village of Ballybough traces its origins to a series of small dwellings known as Ballybough Cottages, which were later demolished to make way for the Dublin Corporation housing project known as Ballybough House.
Architecture and landmarks
The local Roman Catholic church, Saint Agatha's, was built between 1878 and 1908.Bridges
Luke Kelly Bridge
The crossing of the River Tolka in Ballybough has been there for centuries. Ballybough Bridge was originally a wooden structure built in 1313 by John Le Decer, three times Provost, or Mayor of Dublin, and shortly after its construction was destroyed by floods. The bridge is mentioned in The Riding of the Franchises in 1488: "to Balliboght, and by the gate of Balliboght to the water of the Tulkan by the bridge of Balliboght, and over the water and so by the water southwards".The bridge can be seen on Thomas Phillip's map of 1685 as a six-arched structure, and on Greenvile Collins map of 1686 as being "on the road to Baldoile". The assumption that the Battle of Clontarf was focused around Ballybough Bridge is based on the battle being sometimes referred to as the Battle of the Fishing Weir, which was located close to the present-day bridge.
In 1534 Silken Thomas rebelled after hearing that his uncle had been executed by King Henry VIII of England. During the rebellion an engagement took place "between the insurgents and the forces of the Crown at Ballybough Bridge resulting in a great slaughter of Englishmen there and in Clontarf".
In 1937 the ancient bridge was replaced by a reinforced concrete structure which was renamed Luke Kelly Bridge in 1985, the year following the Dublin singer's death.
Annesley Bridge
crosses the River Tolka near Ballybough. An act of Parliament, the Dublin to Malahide Road Act 1792, was passed giving powers to city officials to borrow money to improve the neighbourhood of Ballybough Bridge. Its official title was 'An Act for enabling the Trustees for making, widening, and repairing the road from Dublin to Malahide, and the other Roads leading to Dublin over Ballybough Bridge pursuant to several Acts of Parliament, more effectually to carry the said Acts into Execution".
As well as recommending that the land eastward of Ballybough Bridge, between the North Lotts and the Weir Wall on North Strand, the act of Parliament allowed for the construction of a new road "nearly in a direct line from the Strand Road leading from His Majesty's Custom House". In order to make the new road between the city of Dublin and the north of the county it was stated in the Act that it was "necessary to build, erect, and make a new bridge and causeway, eastward of Ballybough Bridge aforesaid". This bridge is Annesley Bridge which was constructed 1793–1797. The causeway referred to is the short portion of the North Strand Road going from Annesley Place to the bridge and Annesley Bridge Road which leads into Fairview.
During the reign of George III of England, several acts were passed regarding the control of this new thoroughfare. Trustees were appointed with powers to erect turnpikes and levy tolls for the maintenance of the road. Toll gates were constructed at the northern end of Annesley Bridge at the junction of what is now Annesley Bridge Road and Fairview Strand; more toll gates were on the north side of Ballybough Bridge; and a third set of toll gates stood at the junction of North Strand Road and the North Circular Road and the southern end of Ballybough. The toll was based on how far one had to travel and at least one penny. They proved unpopular but remained in place until the Dublin and other Roads Turnpikes Abolition Act 1855.