Sandyford
| Sandyford Áth an Ghainimh
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| — Suburb of Dublin — | |
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 Sandyford
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| Coordinates: 53°16′12″N 6°13′30″W / 53.27°N 6.225°WCoordinates: 53°16′12″N 6°13′30″W / 53.27°N 6.225°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown |
| Elevation | 105 m (344 ft) |
| Population (2006)[1] | |
| • Urban | 5,844 |
| Irish Grid Reference | O183263 |
| Website | www.dlrcoco.ie |
Sandyford (Irish: Áth an Ghainimh) is a suburb of Dublin, located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county, Ireland. A major part of Sandyford today is composed of the Sandyford Industrial Estate and related developments.
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[edit] Location and access
Sandyford Village itself lies just south of the M50 motorway, accessed from junction 13. At the heart of the old village is a traditional square, including a monument to the working men of the village, Pater and Ned.[2] The industrial estate is just north of the motorway. The depot for the Luas Green Line is located on the eastern edge of Sandyford Industrial Estate, as are two stops, Stillorgan and the terminus Sandyford.
An Aircoach service links the area with Dublin Airport 24 hours a day, whilst several Dublin Bus routes including the 44 link the area with the city centre.
[edit] Commerce
Sandyford Industrial Estate is one of the largest industrial estates in Dublin. The estate is notable as the location of the works depot of the Luas Green Line. It also contains the Stillorgan halt 500m Northwest of the terminus. The industrial estate has been revamped by the construction of many office and apartment blocks such as the Beacon South Quarter development which consists of the Beacon Hotel and UPMC Beacon Hospital. A shopping centre opened as part of the Beacon South Quarter which has a Dunnes Stores as the anchor tenant. The Sandyford Motor Park is one of the biggest car dealerships in the county, with such car dealers as Mazda, Renault, Jaguar and Saab plus one of the best known used car dealers on the southside of the city. Central Park is another office park in the Sandyford area with companies such as Vodafone Ireland and a new Bewleys Hotel.
An extension of the Luas Green Line was built through the Industrial Estate and Central Park is the first stop on the extended line.
Beacon Tower, completed in 2007, is the tallest building in Sandyford at 15 storeys. Recently Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown published the Sandyford Urban Area Plan which allows for landmark buildings near the Stillorgan reservoir. The landmarks will be between 14 and 32 stories high.
The offices of Microsoft Ireland which employs approximately 1,200 people are located at the estate, this is the EMEA Operations Centre which was located in Ireland since 1985 and carries out a variety of activities including development and translation of Microsoft products.
[edit] Other companies in the Industrial Estate
[edit] Other enterprises in Sandyford
- The Irish Management Institute has its headquarters in a parkland setting in northern Sandyford. The IMI has the most extensive management training facility in Ireland, and has residential capacity. It offers full-time and part-time courses up to degree level, and customised programmes in business management.
- The Irish Mint, a division of the Central Bank of Ireland, which has been in operation since 1976 is located in Sandyford, west of the M50 and north of the village.
[edit] Politics
Sandyford is part of the Dáil Éireann constituency of Dún Laoghaire.
[edit] People
Well known residents of Sandyford include radio personality Ray D'Arcy, singer/songwriter Paul Brady, and retired comedian Hal Roach, while David Kennedy, the former Formula 1 driver and RTÉ and Setanta Sports commentator lived for many years on Sandyford Road. Andy Wilson, former contestant on the popular letters and numbers television game show Countdown and member of the altfolkpoprock band the David Nelligan thing, grew up in the Village, although now resides in Cork city.
Frank Aiken, a founder member of Fianna Fáil lived in Sandyford and a local housing development called Aiken's Village is built on what was his land.
Christopher Ewart-Biggs the British Ambassador to Ireland was killed by the IRA on Murphystown Road in Sandyford while leaving his residence, Glencairn House, on 21 July 1976.
[edit] Sports
Sandyford is home to the Meteors Ladies' Basketball Club. The club was founded in 1965, and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2006.[3]
Naomh Olaf Gaelic Athletic Association Club is located in Sandyford Industrial Estate. It was founded in 1981. The club has teams from under eight up to senior level, and also operate an academy for boys and girls from four through seven years of age.[4]
Sandyford has a cricket team which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009.[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Census 2006 – Volume 1 – Population Classified by Area" (PDF). Central Statistics Office Census 2006 Reports. Central Statistics Office Ireland. April 2007. http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/census2006_volume_1_pop_classified_by_area.pdf. Retrieved 2011-05-07.
- ^ Pater and Ned, 1996, is a bronze sculpture by the Irish sculptor Rowan Gillespie, standing 2.4m tall.
- ^ "Meteors Ladies' Basketball Club". http://meteor.teo.ie.
- ^ "Naomh Olaf GAA". http://www.naomholaf.com/.
- ^ "Sandyford Cricket Club". http://www.sandyfordcc.org/.
[edit] External links
- sandyford.com local website including employment information]
[edit] Luas stops
Sandyford stop is the Luas stop in the area. It was the terminus until the extension to Cherrywood opened in October 2010.
| Preceding station | Luas | Following station | ||
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| Stillorgan | Green Line | Central Park | ||
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