Terenure Explained

Terenure
Settlement Type:Suburb
Pushpin Map:Ireland#Dublin
Pushpin Label Position:left
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Dublin
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Ireland
Subdivision Type1:Province
Subdivision Name1:Leinster
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Dublin
Subdivision Type3:Council
Subdivision Name3:Dublin City Council
Subdivision Type4:Dáil Éireann
Subdivision Name4:Dublin Bay South
Subdivision Type5:European Parliament
Subdivision Name5:Dublin
Unit Pref:Metric
Population As Of:2022
Population Blank1 Title:Electoral division(s)
Population Blank1:17972
Population Footnotes:[1]
Population Density Km2:auto
Timezone1:WET
Utc Offset1:+0
Timezone1 Dst:IST (WEST)
Utc Offset1 Dst:-1
Coordinates:53.3099°N -6.2835°W
Elevation M:54
Blank Name:Irish Grid Reference

Terenure,[2] called Roundtown from around 1800-1870, is a middle class[3] suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It is located in the city's D6 and D6W postal districts. The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Terenure was 17,972 as of the 2022 census.[1]

Location

Terenure lies primarily in the administrative area of Dublin City Council but with parts falling in South Dublin.[4] It is located south of Harold's Cross and north of Rathfarnham, and also borders the suburbs of Templeogue, Rathgar, Kimmage and Perrystown.

History

The earliest references to the area include a 12th century record of a grant (ref Grant CCA-DCc-ChAnt/C/1206 stored in the Canterbury Cathedral Archives), by which Henry II of England granted the lands of Terenure and Kimmage (Cheming) in Rathfarnham to Walter the goldsmith ('aurifauber') in 1175. It has not been established how the lands reverted to the crown within 40 years.

Terenure, Drimnagh and Kimmage, then well to the south of the city of Dublin, were granted to the Barnewell family by King John in 1215.[5] The Barnewells gave some of the land to St John the Baptist Hospital outside Newgate, and Cromwell confiscated the remainder from them.

Later, Terenure passed through the hands of various owners. In the seventeenth century, the main landowners were the Deane family, whose most notable member was Joseph Deane, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer; his estates later passed to the Bourne family. Fortfield House was built around 1785 by a later Chief Baron, Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore. It was later owned by John Hatchell, the Attorney General for Ireland and passed by inheritance to the Perrin family. It was demolished in 1934.[6]

On 2 January 1941, during World War II, the German Luftwaffe bombed Terenure, injuring seven people and destroying two houses.[7]

Education

Schools within the Terenure area include St. Joseph's BNS, Presentation Primary School,[8] Presentation College[9] (was Presentation secondary school; renamed in 2004), Terenure College and Our Lady's Secondary school.[10]

Religion

The Catholic parish church of St. Joseph in Terenure contains a stained glass window by Harry Clarke. St. Joseph's school is on the church grounds.

Along with Rathgar and the area around Portobello, Terenure has traditionally been the home of much of Dublin's Jewish population. Terenure Synagogue, Dublin's main synagogue (Orthodox), is on Rathfarnham Road.[11]

Transport

The area, known as Roundtown until,[12] was within the scope of the Dublin, Rathmines, Rathfarnham and Rathcoole Railway Act 1864 that provided for the "making of railways from the City of Dublin to Rathmines, Rathgar, Roundtown, Rathfarnham, and Rathcoole".[13]

Terenure Cross (also known as "Vaughan's Corner") was at one time a terminus for the Dublin tramways, and is mentioned in James Joyce's novel Ulysses (Episode 7, 'Aeolus'). There were three tram depots in Terenure at one time, the main tram depot for the number 15 Dublin United Transport Company (DUTC) trams on Terenure Road East, another DUTC depot for number 16 trams on Rathfarnham Road, and the terminus of the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway on Templeogue Road.

The modern tram system, the Luas, does not serve Terenure, but the bus routes serving it still include routes numbered 15, 15a and 16.[14] These bus route numbers were originally allocated based on historic tram route numbers.

People

The author James Joyce, who was born nearby at 41 Brighton Square in Rathgar on 2 February 1882, was baptised at St. Joseph's church on 5 February by Rev. John O'Mulloy.[15] His mother, Mary Jane (May) Murray, was born 90 metres from the church at Terenure Cross in 1859 in the pub owned by her father, John Murray, called The Eagle House.[16]

The village was home to actors, writers and musicians including the artist Mary Perrin, who grew up in Fortfield House, Donal McCann and Máirtín Ó Direáin. Broadcaster Mike Murphy, Derek Daly former Formula One driver, comedian Dave Allen, Olympic boxer Mick Dowling, musicians Republic of Loose, Rob Smith, The Coronas and Grammy-winner Susan McKeown all hail from Terenure.

Sport

Terenure is the home of Terenure College RFC, a senior rugby club in Division 1A of the AIB All Ireland League.[17]

Terenure Rangers Football Club provide schoolboy, schoolgirl and adult football for men and women to the surrounding area.[18]

Terenure Sports Club is also in Terenure.[19]

See also

Notes and sources

References

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Census 2022 - F1008 Population by Electoral Divisions in County Dublin, by Birthplace. Central Statistics Office Census 2022 Reports . . August 2023 . 9 September 2023 .
  2. Web site: Tír an Iúir/Terenure . logainm.ie . 29 September 2025 . en.
  3. Web site: Freeman. Michael. Your guide to Terenure: Victorian grandeur around a proper old village centre. 2022-01-27. TheJournal.ie. en.
  4. Web site: Dublin City Council . The Council Explained, Your Area . 5 March 2021 . 25 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210225165005/https://www.dublincity.ie/council/council-explained/your-area . live.
  5. Web site: A History Of Presentation Terenure . live . presterenure.scoilnet.ie . 5 March 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171120215143/https://presterenure.scoilnet.ie/blog/history/ . 20 November 2017.
  6. Web site: 1785 - Fortfield House, Terenure, Dublin . archiseek.com. 16 September 2025 . 29 January 2023 .
  7. News: Quigley. Capt. A.A.. The Day they bombed Dublin. 2 February 2016. The Irish Times. 1 June 1996. 22 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170222124458/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/the-day-they-bombed-dublin-1.54917. live.
  8. Web site: All about Presentation Primary Terenure, Dublin 6W . presterenure.scoilnet.ie.
  9. Web site: Welcome / Fáilte. presentationcollege.ie. 2021-09-26. 2021-01-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20210128084625/http://www.presentationcollege.ie/. live.
  10. Web site: Our Lady's School . olschool.ie . 2021-03-05 . 2021-03-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210304062253/https://olschool.ie/ . live .
  11. Web site: Irish Jewish Community. jewishireland.org. 2021-09-26. 2006-11-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20061117220814/http://www.jewishireland.org/. live.
  12. Web site: A small circle of houses that developed at what is now Terenure Place gave Terenure village its original name of "Roundtown". It was called Roundtown until 1870 . Dublin City Council . dublincity.ie . 29 September 2025 .
  13. Web site: Dublin, Rathmines, Rathfarnham and Rathcoole Railway Act 1864 . legislation.gov.uk. 29 September 2025 .
  14. Dublin Bus . 2005 . Core Route Map . PDF . Transport for Ireland . 5 March 2021 . 9 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210809113508/https://www.dublinbus.ie/Global/Core_routes_interactive_map_October%202019.pdf . live .
  15. James Joyce baptismal certificate, on display in Terenure public library.
  16. http://www.ricorso.net/rx/az-data/authors/j/Joyce_JA/apx/schema/JAJ_family.htm James Joyce: Genealogical Appendix
  17. Web site: AIL Men's Divisions 1A & 1B: Round 1 Previews. irishrugby.ie. 20 September 2024. 31 March 2025.
  18. Web site: Terenure Rangers FC. terenurerangers.com. 2021-09-26. 2021-09-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20210919214716/http://www.terenurerangers.com/. live.
  19. http://www.terenuresportsclub.ie/cym-sports-club/ Terenure Sports Club