Baldoyle

Baldoyle (Baile Dúill in Irish) is a small coastal village in Fingal, Ireland, immediately northeast of the City of Dublin. The name means "Doyle's town", from the personal name Doyle which itself derives from dubh-ghaill meaning "dark stranger", the name given by the Gaels to the Danes to distinguish them from the Norwegians or "fair strangers" (finn-ghaill) who first settled in Ireland in 841-842). (See: Irish Names of Places, Vol. I., p.350, and Mervyn Archdall's Monasticon Hibernicum, edited by Cardinal Moran; Vol.11., p.21, note).

For most of the 20th century, Baldoyle was famed for its racecourse, which was one of three in the greater metropolitan area. Over the last 4 years Baldoyle has been the centre for the development of a large house building programme, with the Racecourse being sold to the developers.

Among it's residents are the retired members of the Congregation of the Irish Christian Brothers whose retirement home is located in the town.

A description of Baldoyle from Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1837:

The village is pleasantly situated on an inlet or creek of the Irish Sea, to the north of the low isthmus that connect Howth, with the mainland: it comprises about 200 houses, and is much frequented in summer for sea-bathing. Some of the inhabitants are engaged in the fishery, which at the commencement of the present century employed nine wherries belonging to this place, averaging seven or eight men each; at present nearly 100 men are so, engaged. Sir W. de Windsor, lord-justice of Ireland, held a parliament here in 1369. The creek is formed between the mainland and the long tract of sand on the north of Howth, at the point of which, near that port, a white buoy is placed; it is fit only for small craft. The manor was granted to the priory of All Saints, Dublin, by Diarmit, the son of Murchard, King of Leinster, who founded that house in 1166.

External links

*Fingal - Baldoyle, Portmarnock, Malahide and St. Doolagh's
*Birdwatch Ireland
*Street map of Baldoyle
*Informative Website
*Sub-Aqua Club