Ballyfermot
Ballyfermot is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is located west of the city centre, south of Phoenix Park. It is bordered by Chapelizod on the north, by Bluebell on the south, by Inchicore and Kilmainham on the east, and by Palmerstown and Cherry Orchard on the west. The River Liffey lies to the north, and the Grand Canal, now a recreational waterway, lies to the south of Ballyfermot. Ballyfermot lies within the postal district Dublin 10.
Ballyfermot is also a civil parish in the historical barony of Uppercross.
Toponymy
The place name Ballyfermot—rendered in Irish Baile Formaid and sometimes Baile Thormaid—is derived from the Middle Irish baile, and the Old Norse personal name Þormundr. It is also referred to colloquially by Dubliners as Ballyer for short.History
The 12th century saw the Cambro-Normans expand west across the Irish Sea from Pembroke in Wales into Leinster. After the Treaty of Windsor in 1175, through feudal land grants and intermarriage, the Cambro Norman knights came into possession of land in south and west Dublin, along with the local Irish chieftain who supported them, Mac Giolla Mocolmog. Family names associated with the area at this time included Mac Giolla Mocolmog, O'Cathasaidhe, Fitzwilliam, Le Gros, O'Dualainghe, Tyrrell, O'Hennessy, O'Morchain, Dillon, O'Kelly, De Barneval, and Newcomyn.In 1307, the manor of Ballyfermot was held by William Fitzwilliam and his wife Avice, who leased part of it to Thomas Cantock, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. The land passed from the Fitzwilliams to their relatives, the Clahulls from Dundrum, and later to the Barnawalls of Drimnagh Castle.
Ballyfermot Castle was constructed on the site of a Norman motte and baily. Located northwest of the intersection of Le Fanu and Raheen Roads, it was the centre of the Upper and Lower Ballyfermot townships. Built in stone by Wolfram De Barneval in the fourteenth century, it was a stronghold against the O'Byrne and O'Toole families. These native Gaelic families had been discommoded from their original lands near Naas.
The castle was inherited by Robert Newcomen, who enhanced it and held it into the mid-seventeenth century. Its political importance subsequently declined with the Newcomens, culminating with the suicide of Thomas Gleadowe-Newcomen in 1825. It later housed a school. The castle defence wing to the south and east is reputed to have been destroyed by fire. Ballyfermot House, known locally as 'the tiled house', was built by the Verveer family. In his A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Samuel Lewis places a Captain Lampier and his wife Bridget as living there in 1834. It stood to the north of the castle's aquaculture pond. Built in the early eighteenth century, the house had a slated façade in the Dutch style.
The nineteenth century newspaper publisher and writer Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, proprietor of the Dublin Evening Mail, lived in nearby Chapelizod when not in residence his city townhouse at Merrion Square. Ballyfermot and Chapelizod feature in his novel The House by the Churchyard and some of his other works. This large Georgian house still adjoins Church Lane next to St. Laurence's parish churchyard in Chapelizod. The eighteenth-century church, alongside the original medieval bell tower, is still in use. It serves the united parish of Ballyfermot, Palmerstown, and Chapelizod in the Church of Ireland. Le Fanu Road is named after him, as is Le Fanu Park, referred to locally as The Lawns. Le Fanu was a mentor of the writer Bram Stoker author of Dracula, who did the theatre reviews for his newspaper The Dublin Evening Mail.
A short distance from the castle site at the south-east end of Le Fanu Park is a mound which covers the ruins and churchyard of the rectory church of St Laurence. It is believed to have roots in Celtic Christianity, perhaps a minor branch of the Tallaght Maelruain or Kilnamanagh monasteries. It was connected to the Knights of St John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham in the 13th century. The churchyard ruins survived into the 1960s. This church served Ballyfermot and the surrounding townlands into the late 17th century.
Other manor houses of note include Johnstown House, Colepark House, Sarsfield House, Sevenoaks, Floraville, Auburn Villa and Gallanstown House. The Ballyfermot townlands were transferred from the Barony of Newcastle to the Barony of Uppercross in the late nineteenth century, under the Local Government Act 1898.
The dairy and stud farms of Ballyfermot were acquired by the authorities in the 1930s. They were developed into suburban housing estates needed to alleviate the post war housing shortage. This development, along with estates at Drimnagh, Crumlin, Walkinstown and other pockets in the south city, and Cabra, Finglas and Donnycarney along with smaller pockets in the north city provided modern accommodation to facilitate the Dublin City Council public/private housing programs. Initially leased to waiting lists, these homes were sold to their residents, even prior to similar government initiatives in the United Kingdom. The first estate was built in the late 1940s at Ballyfermot Lower. South of Sarsfield House and Ballyfermot Road it was originally called the Sarsfield Estate. The street names reflect this historical theme. Gradually, the adjacent townlands to the south of Ballyfermot Road and north of Grange Cross - Ballyfermot Upper, Blackditch, Cherry Orchard, Raheen and Gallanstown were similarly developed. Johnstown, a townland of Palmerstown, located around Johnstown House south of Chapelizod was developed for residential housing. Now divided along the Drumfin/Glenaulin/Sports Park perimeter, the west portion was retained by Palmerstown, while the east portion became the township/electoral district of Drumfin in Dublin City, and included in postal district Dublin 10.
During the 1970s Ballyfermot suffered from a lack of facilities and opportunities for its residents; however, these conditions have improved over time.
Politics
In local government elections, Ballyfermot is part of the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh Ward. Since the local elections in 2024, the local elected representatives on Dublin City Council are:- Vincent Jackson
- Philip Sutcliffe Snr.
- Hazel de Nortúin
- Ray Cunningham
- Daithí Doolan
Commerce
The area is now a centre of national commercial distribution, with access to the national trunk roads. Ballyfermot is bordered to the north by the N4, to the south by the N7 and to the west by the M50.A number of Irish motor distributors are based in Ballyfermot. They include Toyota, Nissan, General Motors, J. C. Bamford, Harris Assembly and Hilux. They are centred around Kylemore Road, home to companies such as Thornton's Recycling, Britvic Ireland, and FBD Insurance. The industrial estates include Park West and JFK.
There are several hotels surrounding the area, including Aspect Hotel at Park West and Maldron Hotel at Newlands Cross. A community based CCTV monitoring scheme for Ballyfermot was launched in early 2003. This is part of the Department of Justice Town Centre CCTV monitoring initiative.
Transport
and Go-Ahead Ireland serve the area. An hourly commuter train service is offered by Irish Rail, to Heuston station at Kingsbridge. The local station is Cherry Orchard/Park West Station, which is located on the Park West Road on the western perimeter of Ballyfermot. The Luas light rail system also serves Ballyfermot. The south side stop is near the Kylemore and Naas Road intersection. A Luas line to Lucan proposes passing through the centre of Ballyfermot village before going on to serve Liffey Valley and Lucan village.Amenities
Parks
The California Hills Park is the largest recreational space in the area. The name originated as a colloquialism - there were few designated play facilities in the very early days of suburban development and the California Hills was the name used by local movie-going kids who played 'Cowboys and Indians' there. The name later achieved official recognition due to popular usage. The park covers part of the great esker east of Dublin, and overlooks the Liffey Valley from the south. From Le Fanu and Kylemore Roads to the east, it falls to the landscaped valley of a Liffey tributary, the Glenaulin Stream. It runs west toward Glenaulin and Drumfin Roads which adjoin the park as it stretches in a crescent through Palmerstown. The Chapelizod Bypass runs northwest alongside and Kylemore Road joins the motorway near the West County Hotel. California Hills Park has views north over the Strawberry Beds to the Phoenix Park and the Farmleigh clock tower at Castleknock is a prominent landmark. California Hills include's Gales-Drumfinn Avenue Park, known locally as "The Gaels", used for football, golf practice, cross country runs and walks and includes a children's play area. There is an entrance to the park beside the Ballyfermot Leisure Co-Op, near the GAA Sports Park, on Gurteen Road.The Irish National War Memorial, Memorial Gardens and Park, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, are accessible from the Sarsfield Road via East Timor Park.
Other parks located in the area include Le Fanu Park, Glenaulin Sports Park, Markievicz Park and Cherry Orchard Park. Le Fanu Park houses the Ballyfermot Leisure Centre and The Base.
Grand Canal
The Grand Canal was constructed in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It is now a recreational waterway. It passes along the south side of Ballyfermot. Towpath walkways extend continuously to Hazelhatch, County Kildare. A historic bridge crosses the canal near the seventh lock at Killeen.Medical facilities
is a public health facility which has a containment laboratory capable of testing for the deliberate release of Bacillus anthracis.The Ballyfermot Medical Clinic is closed but a new Primary Care and Mental Health Centre has been opened beside Cherry Orchard Hospital. Services include GP, community nursing, physiotherapy, dental, addiction and community welfare. Mental Health facilities include a day hospital, day centre and outpatients clinic. This is run by the HSE.
The Hermitage Medical Clinic is located in close proximity to the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, just off the N4 motorway. The Hermitage Hospital is a 101-bed private facility with specialised medical teams who provide medical, surgical and advanced radiotherapy care to patients. The hospital is privately run. Its principal investors are Sean Mulryan, Larry Goodman, John Flynn and George Duffy GP.