Heritage

Check out our suggested itinerary for 48 hours exploring the delights of Skerries, Balbriggan and Dublin 15. With something for everyone to enjoy we're sure you'll discover a new experience.
 

Discover the abbey that’s not an abbey, the dog’s head carvings and the woman who was maid, wife and widow in one day!

The fourth annual Fingal Festival of History was launched by the Mayor of Fingal Cllr. David Healy on Thursday 3 September. 

Fingal County Council is delighted to announce the publication of Partnership & Participation: Community Archaeology in Ireland edited by Fingal Heritage Officer Christine Baker. The beautifully illustrated publication showcases 20 projects giving an insight into the breath of activity taking place across the country under the banner of community archaeology.

In March 2020 An Post gave every household free postcards for posting to family and friends across the country to help them stay connected during lockdown. With social media etc. sending postcards had gone out of fashion.

So a lesser known research  site to while away an afternoon is TARA or the Trinity Access to Research Archive http://www.tara.tcd.ie/ TARA is an open access repository with restricted access only in unavoidable instances, e.g. where publisher copyright restrictions prevail. One of the many collections is that of Prof. Edwin C. Rae was Professor of the History of Art at the University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana.

Hundreds of sites in Fingal are both archaeological monuments and protected structures. Take Brazil house (as the archaeologist’s recorded it) or Brazeel House (according to the architects).  This was the former residence of the Bolton family, many of whom had distinguished legal careers, including Sir Richard Bolton, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, in the reign of Charles the First.

Fingal has an ancient and varied maritime history from Viking raids and the medieval havens of Howth where the pague arrived, to the pirates of Lambay and the smugglers of Rush and Loughshinny. By the later fourteenth century the mouth of the Liffey had silted up and merchandise had to be landed elsewhere along the coast.

Saturday the 16th May is National Drawing day which brings to mind the importance of illustrations, drawings and paintings of our heritage sites that have survived through the ages. In the 18th century the fashion for drawing antiquities was exemplified by Gabriel Beranger whose paintings of his Rambles thro’ the County of Dublin in 1770s beautifully recorded now long gone castles and monuments in Fingal.

Mary Ellen (Molly) Adrien was born on 25 September 1873. She is remembered as one of Fingal’s ‘Revolutionary women’. Molly joined Cumann na mBan after its establishment in April 1914 and is said to have been instrumental in forming the Lusk branch. On Easter Sunday 1916, Cumman na mBan were ordered to assemble at Black Church Phisboro, an order countermanded and were sent away to await recall. However Molly remained in the city and was chosen to bring the order to rise from Pearse to the leader of Irish Volunteers Joseph Lawless and then to Thomas Ashe Commandant of the North County Brigade.