Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire.
Location and access
Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. Blackrock is bordered by Booterstown, Mount Merrion, Stillorgan, Foxrock, Deansgrange and Monkstown.
Transport
Blackrock has a station on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) line, which is 15 minutes away by train from the city centre. The DART runs on the same track that was built in 1834 for the Dublin and Kingstown Railway. Blackrock railway station, on both the DART and the mainline South Eastern Commuter railway line, opened on 17 December 1834 and is the oldest station in Ireland. Blackrock was formerly served by the Dublin tramways routes 6, 7 and 8 and was the terminus for the former. The tram lines ceased operations on 9 July 1949 and today the nearest tram is the Luas green line with stops at Sandyford and Stillorgan.
Bus services operated by Dublin Bus and Go-Ahead Ireland also serve the area with multiple bus routes. These are routes 4, 7/A/D, 17/C/D, 46E, 84/A, 114 and 7N. The Aircoach services to Dublin Airport from Dalkey and Greystones call at Blackrock en route to the airport.
The Blackrock bypass was built in the late 1980s and officially opened by Councillor Anne Brady on 24 March 1988. The bypass is part of the N31 which joins the harbour at Dún Laoghaire to the national Primary Route network.
History
Blackrock was historically a small fishing village, which began to be developed only in the 19th century, although a settlement at the same location from medieval times is well attested to.
Origin of the name
Blackrock, some hundreds of years ago, was variously called Newtown-at-the Black Rock, Newtown on the Strand by the Black Rock, Newtown Castle Byrne, or simply Newtown, so that "Blackrock" is simply an abbreviation of one of its ancient titles. For example, the town was called Newtown in a 1488 Act of Parliament. The name still survives in Newtown Avenue, and Newtown House. It was thus distinguished from Newtown-in-the-Deer-Park, as the village of Newtown Park was then called, from the circumstance that it was built in the Deer Park belonging to Stillorgan House, or Castle (a quo Newtownpark Avenue).
Blackrock is named after the local geological rock formation to be found in the area of Blackrock Park. Most of it is now buried under the park, but it is said that it is possible to see it just north of the pond. The rock itself is a limestone calp that when wet appears black, thus giving the name Black Rock. For the construction of the railway in 1834, the rock was extensively used for the wall cappings between Williamstown and Blackrock and can also be seen in the walls of the train station at Blackrock. St Mary's Chapel of Ease on St. Mary's Place, nicknamed the Black Church, is constructed using the same Black Rock (limestone calp), although the rock used in its construction is locally sourced to the church.
The Rock Road
The Rock Road, which forms the south-western boundary of the park, is said to form part of one of the oldest roads in the country, having been part of the ancient constructed by the High King of Ireland several centuries before Saint Patrick, and which connected Tara with what is now southern County Dublin and north-east County Wicklow. The road may have facilitated the O'Toole and the O'Byrne clans in their raids on the neighbourhood of Dublin.
In 1787, the Blackrock Road was such a common place for highway robberies that, in an attempt to put an end to these crimes, a local meeting was held at Jennett's Tavern in Blackrock which was chaired by the 4th Viscount Ranelagh. The meeting concluded when one of the outcomes was "Resolved, That we will give a reward of £20 to any person who will apprehend and prosecute to conviction any person guilty of a robbery upon the Blackrock-road, from Dublin to Dunleary, Bullock, Dalkey, Rochestown, Cabinteely, and Loughlinstown". In 1826, Rev. George Wogan, the curate of Donnybrook, was murdered in his house in Spafield Place near Ballsbridge. Later on the evening of his murder, two bandits were apprehended for a highway robbery on the Blackrock Road and confessed to the murder, and were hanged. This illustrates the danger faced by travellers of the Blackrock road at certain times in the past.
Historic houses
Many fine houses of historical and architectural significance were built in the area, some of which are still existing today, while others have been demolished.