Walkinstown () is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland, six kilometres southwest of the city centre. It is surrounded by Drimnagh to the north, Crumlin to the east, Greenhills to the south, and Ballymount, Bluebell, and Clondalkin to the west. Its postal code is Dublin 12.
It consists mainly of privately owned housing, with some social housing remaining in the Dublin City Council area between the Walkinstown and Long Mile Roads and Ballymount Lower. It was built as an estate of starter homes after World War II.
Walkinstown has a library, residents' association, sports ground, community centre, schools, pubs, church, and local shops. Light industry, warehousing, car dealerships, and commercial outlet stores are concentrated along the Long Mile Road in the western sector of the suburb. The national census of 2022 recorded a population of 7,422 people for all electoral divisions labelled as Walkinstown.
Name and History
The name of the area is a corruption of Wilkinstown – named after Wilkins, a tenant farmer who lived in the area in the 15th century. The Irish name for the area is .
Walkinstown as a suburb was a 20th-century creation. The area was a dairy farm until house building began in the 1930s and ended in the 1970s when most of the land was built on. A Catholic church and primary and secondary schools were built in the 1950s.
One of the most iconic moments from Ireland's unexpected success in Italia 90, the 1990 FIFA World Cup, took place at Walkinstown roundabout on 25 June 1990. That afternoon, after Ireland beat Romania on penalties to make it through to the quarter finals of the competition, crowds emerged from the nearby public houses of the Kestrel and Cherry Tree and invaded the roundabout to celebrate the win. Amateur footage of the joyous scenes at the junction became synonymous with Ireland's success that year and epitomised the sense of hope prevailing throughout the country at the time. In July 2020, ten days after Ireland's Italia 90 football manager Jack Charlton passed away, fans gathered at the roundabout to recreate the moment and pay their respects. Put 'Em Under Pressure, the official song of the Republic of Ireland national football team's 1990 campaign, (which features soundbites of Charlton) was played at 12:30pm that day synchronised with all radio stations nationally to remember the man who had led Ireland to their first-ever major tournament at Euro '88, as well as two World Cups in Italy (1990) and USA (1994).
Location and extent
There is some ambiguity as to the full extent of the suburb, with some claiming Walkinstown includes Greenhills, as well as one of three parts of Ballymount.
Greenhills was previously linked to Walkinstown in the Catholic Church structure to make up the Parish of Walkinstown and Greenhills, at a time when Greenhills did not have its own local church. This combined parish ceased to exist when Greenhills acquired its own parish church in 1971. Greenhills is generally regarded now as a separate and distinct suburb, with its own identity and full range of services.
The distinction between Ballymount and Walkinstown is not so well defined. Given that Ballymount has a less clear identity, many consider it to form part of Walkinstown. The area itself is primarily given over to light industry with much less residential housing than its nearest neighbour, Walkinstown. Most residential housing which exists directly borders on the Ballymount Road which itself is often listed as being in Walkinstown. Residents of Ballymount do not have their own services and so rely on Walkinstown for schools, church and commercial centres.
Amenities
Walkinstown Public Library is a branch of Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive on Percy French Road. The local post office is in the supermarket on Walkinstown Road. Walkinstown Credit Union, which is affiliated to the Irish League of Credit Unions, has an office on Walkinstown Green.
The local Catholic Church, Our Lady of the Assumption on Kilnamanagh Road, is one of the largest buildings in the suburb. It forms part of a concentration of religious and educational services with a girls' school, Our Lady of the Assumption, beside the church and a boys' school, Drimnagh Castle CBS, across the Long Mile Road. Both schools provide primary and secondary education.
Walkinstown Park on Walkinstown Avenue is run by Dublin City Council. It has three football pitches and two Gaelic Athletic Association pitches. There is a tennis court, and a stream at the rear of the park.
The premises of the Walkinstown Association, which provides services to people with intellectual disabilities, is on the Long Mile Road beside the Halfway House public house.