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Clongriffin Cluain Ghrífín | |
|---|---|
Housing estate (suburban) | |
 Clongriffin | |
  Clongriffin Location in Ireland | |
| Coordinates:53°24′05″N6°09′12″W / 53.4013°N 6.153447°W /53.4013; -6.153447 | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | Dublin |
| Local authority | Dublin City Council |
Clongriffin (Irish:Cluain Ghrífín[1]) is a community in northernDonaghmede,[2] on the northern fringe ofDublin,Ireland. The settlement was based on a master plan vision from major developer Gannon Homes, with significant investment in transport infrastructure and also community and recreational amenities. Development slowed during the downturn in the economy, although activity renewed in recent years, with planning permission secured for a hotel and a range of additional homes including a 16-storey apartment block with residential lounges and roof gardens.[citation needed].
The name Clongriffin is a modern invention, aconcatenation of "clon", theanglicisation ofcluain (theIrish language word for meadow), andgriffin. A griffin, griffon, or gryphon (the Irish of which isghrífín) is a mythical beast and may be an element in the name of the adjacent district,Balgriffin.
Allegedly, architect David Wright gave Clongriffin its name while working on its development.[3]
Clongriffin is 2 km (1.24 mi) inland fromBaldoyle Bay and 10 km (6.21 mi) northeast ofDublin city centre, in northern Donaghmede, at the northern edge of Dublin's suburbs, in the jurisdiction ofDublin City Council. The development lies within thetownland of Grange, in thecivil parish ofBaldoyle, from which Donaghmede was largely formed.
Clongriffin is in theDublin Postal District Dublin 13, and in the constituency ofDublin Bay North, having been previously in Dublin North-East.
The lands of Baldoyle, on which Clongriffin, and most of Donaghmede as a whole, are situated, formed part of a large tract ofhighmediaevalmonasticgrange farmland, sometimes called the "Grange of Baldoyle." A reminder of this is the small church now called "Grange Abbey" to the south of Clongriffin. In 1166, the lands were assigned toAll Saints Priory, on whose siteTrinity College Dublin was later built, byDiarmait Mac Murchada,King of Leinster.[4]
In 1369,parliament was held in the small church, called by Sir William de Windsor.[5]
In the late1530s, at the beginning of theTudor conquest of Ireland, the entire settlement was invaded and seized at the behest ofKing Henry VIII of England, who in 1538 bestowed it on theCorporation of Dublin.
Until 2003, most of the lands on which Clongriffin is being built were farmland. In July of the same yearDublin City Council granted planning permission for a mixed-use development to be called "Clongriffin at Grange Road, Donaghmede"[2] now forming part of the Northern Fringe Development (from Clongriffin toBelmayne).[6]
Management plans were completed in 2004 and the development, comprising houses and apartments, started in 2005 and was planned to have educational, retail and service facilities, including a multi-screen cinema. Clongriffin was part of theNorthern Fringe Development (along withBelmayne inBalgriffin and estates on the former Baldoyle Racecourse and in northern Coolock) and was approved by the local authorities to provide new accommodation for Dublin ongreen belt land, and was to complete the development of north Donaghmede. Clongriffin's early component developments comprised Grange Lodge, Beau Park, Station Point and Marrsfield.[7] Nearby, but across the main Donaghmede-Portmarnock road, was the Priory Hall development.
For further history and general notes, see also theDonaghmede andBaldoyle articles.
No area of the estate has yet been taken in charge byDublin City Council and the council maintains that it has made no commitment in this respect.[2] Nevertheless, the council, working with a private management company, perform refuse collection. However, the local community have been told thatIrish Rail requested that Dublin City Council take Main Street in charge before the opening of the railway station.[8]
In early 2008, it was alleged that the mineralpyrite was found in the stone hardcore used in the construction of some homes in various housing estates in north Dublin, including Beaupark in Clongriffin.[9] Pyrite remediation of affected ground level dwellings is underway[10] after a settlement was reached in March 2011 in a Commercial Court case. Menolly Homes[11] and The Lagan Group[12] accepted responsibility for the defective infill used, and have set up atrust fund to cover costs for remediation of all homes affected by pyrite in Clongriffin.[13] Remediation began in May 2011.
Development stalled in the late 2000s, owing to such factors as the downturn in theIrish economy, developer financial problems, and reduced demand. As a result, some areas of Clongriffin remained enclosed by construction hoarding for years. In the meantime, Dublin City Council formulated a Local Area Plan for Clongriffin and Belmayne (the North Fringe)[14] as part of the Dublin City Development Plan 2011–2017,[15] and provision continued in the new City Development Plan.
The developer stayed engaged with the community during the hiatus. In 2017, development resumed, and Clongriffin is now undergoing a second phase of development to enhance amenities and construct further housing.
Clongriffin is reached by Hole in the Wall Road from its junction withGrange Road and theN32 road, the latter in turn connecting toMalahide Road, and theM1 andM50 motorways. In addition, Go Car have vehicles located in Clongriffin Town Square.
Clongriffin railway station is situated along theDublin–Belfast railway line betweenHowth Junction andPortmarnock railway station, and is served byDublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) and passed byInterCity (Iarnród Éireann) trains towards Belfast. Access to aPark and Ride underground car park, with 400 spaces, is located on Clongriffin's Main Street.[16]
Dublin Bus provides the number 15 service which is one of Dublin's 24H "cross town" routes.[17] It serves from Station Square, Clongriffin to Palmerston Park,Rathmines via Malahide Road,Dublin Connolly railway station,Nassau Street, Dublin,Saint Stephen's Green,Rathmines,Rathgar,Terenure, and Ballycullen.
A late-night bus is provided by the 29N Nitelink service[18] fromD'Olier Street to Baldoyle Road, stopping on Grange Road approximately one kilometre from Clongriffin's Main Street.
Clongriffin has a gym, medical centre, pharmacy, chiropractor, barber, small supermarket (a larger store was planned but did not materialize) andoff-license, a chip shop and Italian and Chinese restaurants, a barber. There are retail units available to let.
Existing shopping facilities nearby (between one and three kilometres away) include small shopping plazas atBaldoyle and Clare Hall, and the largerDonaghmede Shopping Centre, andClarehall Shopping Centre on Malahide Road.
Several pedestrian, running, and cycle routes meet at Station Square. From here, there is a passage toFather Collins Park and beyond the civic steps[clarification needed] to Dublin coastal walkways and Baldoyle Bay, the estuary of two rivers and a noted wetland, which was declared anature reserve in 1988.
There is a walking route with access across the railway lines to Baldoyle Bay.
The redevelopedFather Collins Park, running to the northern edge of Donaghmede, and adjacent to Clongriffin, was officially reopened in May 2009 and is Ireland's first wind-powered and "self-sustainable"[clarification needed] public park.[19] The park has since won a number of awards such as The Sustainability Award 2010, Best Public Space 2010, and Best Public Park & Best Environmentally Friendly Initiative for 2010.[20] It was short listed by theEuropean Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 2011.
Five 50 kilowattwind turbines provide power for the projection of water from its central lake, public lighting, maintenance depots, and sports club changing rooms. The 54acre (26hectare) park includes some naturalwoodland. There is a peripheral running/cycling track, six playing pitches and six fitness stations. There are also a promenade, concert amphitheatre, and picnic areas with outdoor chess or draughts boards, two playgrounds and a skate park.
Clongriffin has acrèche called The Learning Circle.
While the development has no schools of its own, two new primary schools lie to the west of Clongriffin in theBelmayne development inBalgriffin, another constituenthousing estate of the North Fringe.[clarification needed] One of them, St. Francis of Assisi school, is under the patronage of the Roman Catholic Church and the other is anEducate Together (multi-denominational and co-educational) school. The next nearest school complex is a set of primary schools mid-Donaghmede and there are other primary and secondary schools nearby, in other localities of Donaghmede and in Baldoyle.
The Holy Trinity Church[21] serves the Roman Catholic parishioners of Donaghmede-Clongriffin-Balgriffin Parish, created in 1974, as Donaghmede (Holy Trinity) Parish.[citation needed]
St Doulagh's Church,Balgriffin servesChurch of Ireland parishioners[22] and has been used for services since theTudor conquest of Ireland.[citation needed]
The only religious facility actually within the Clongriffin development is a small Islamic Centre. There were plans to build the largest mosque in Ireland there, part of a €40 million development also to involve a cultural centre, conference centre, primary school, secondary school, fitness centre and eight apartments and landscaped gardens. The mosque would cater for up to 3,000 people. The latest report from Gannon Homes says that the construction of the mosque will not go ahead due to lack of funding and the land will be used for residential development as originally planned.[23][24][25] On 8 July 2016 Dublin City Council gave planning permission for a housing development marketed as 'Belltree' under the planning application number 2601/16. This replaced the previous permission for a mosque and cultural centre provide under planning number 3325/12. The Belltree development has commenced and units were still on sale as of early 2019.
Clongriffin is adjacent to Baldoyle Bay, with the estuaries of the Sluice River andMayne River, and wetlands, all of which are protected by theNational Parks and Wildlife Service.[26] Declared aStatutoryNature Reserve in 1988,[27] the inner estuarine part of theestuary andwetlands of Baldoyle Bay are protected as aSpecial Area of Conservation (SAC).[28] Under theRamsar Convention, the wetlands have been designated as of international importance. They support several habitats that are listed on the EUHabitats Directive.[29]
There was until the late 1990s a stream running west and northwest from the southeastern corner of Father Collins Park (where Main Street now passes) to Stapolin and into the Grange Stream tributary of the Mayne River. This stream is no longer visible.
The open lands of Clongriffin and Father Collins Park hostmigrating birds, including Arctic and African-Eurasian migratory birds. The internationally important population ofbrent geese which frequent the broad area around Baldoyle Bay is of particular interest.[30][31]