Lucan, Dublin

Template:Infobox Place Ireland Lucan (Irish: Leamhcán, meaning 'place of elms') is a suburban town to the west of Dublin city, Ireland, in the administrative county of South Dublin, and is situated some 13 km from the city centre.

Location

The town lies at the confluence of the River Liffey and the River Griffeen, its tributary.

The picturesque old town retains character, despite hosting ever-expanding areas of new housing that are essentially overspill developments for nearby Dublin. These new areas lead east from the town towards the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre and southeast towards Clondalkin.

History

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1821	1,162	—
1831	1,229	+5.8%
1841	562	−54.3%
1851	578	+2.8%
1861	552	−4.5%
1871	523	−5.3%
1881	691	+32.1%
1891	843	+22.0%
1901	972	+15.3%
1911	919	−5.5%
1926	849	−7.6%
1936	867	+2.1%
1946	1,029	+18.7%
1951	1,297	+26.0%
1956	1,594	+22.9%
1961	1,657	+4.0%
1966	2,100	+26.7%
1971	4,245	+102.1%
1981	11,763	+177.1%
1986	12,259	+4.2%
1991	13,931	+13.6%
1996	19,821	+42.3%
2002	33,272	+67.9%
2006	37,424	+12.5%

In the Irish language, 'Leamhcáin' is translated to 'Lucan', meaning 'Place of the Elm Trees'. The name probably comes from a people that travelled by river, as Lucan is the first place that Elm trees are encountered if travelling inland from the Liffey.

There is evidence of pre-historic settlement around Vesey Park, though not much archaeological investigation has been carried out in the area.

There is a suggestion that an ancient road that linked into the Tara network ran through what is now modern Lucan village, continuing up the hill towards Esker Cemetery.

When Oliver Cromwell came to Ireland, Lucan was a thriving village of 120 inhabitants.

Patrick Sarsfield, the Irish Jacobite leader, was born in Lucan and was granted the title Earl of Lucan by King James II.

Currently on the site of Sarsfield's castle beside the town is Lucan House, built around 1770 by Rt. Hon. Agmondisham Vesey, who had married into the Sarsfield family. The circular ground floor dining room is said to have been an inspiration for the Oval Office of the White House. The decorative plasterwork was carried out by Michael Stapleton. Over the years, the house passed out of the Vesey family and since 1947, has been the residence of the Italian ambassador to Ireland. In the grounds of the house is the spa, the waters of which attracted people to the town in previous times.

The influence of the Sarsfield and Vesey families on Lucan is still apparent in the locality. For example, the local Gaelic Athletic Association club is Lucan Sarsfields and a pub in the town bears the name 'The Vesey Arms' aka Kenny's.

The discovery of a sulphurous spa in Lucan in 1758 brought the district into prominence, and it became a mecca for weekend parties from Dublin and the surrounding countryside. A ballroom was erected and subsequently a hotel.

Most of the structures in Lucan Villiage were constructed as part of a large redevelopment of the town around 1815.

Transport and Access

Old Lucan village is located north of the N4/M4 national primary west/northwest motorway. The southern townlands of Lucan are located close to the N7/M7 national primary south/southwest motorway. The village is approximately 5K west of the M50 Dublin ring road. An outer-orbital distributor called the Outer Ring Road, designated as R136 , from the N4 (Woodies) interchange to the N81 Tallaght Bypass was completed in 2008. It is proposed that this will be eventually extended north to Blanchardstown.

Lucan is located between two major national/commuter railway lines. The original Lucan North (Leixlip) Station on the north/northwest line and Lucan South station on the south/southwest line were closed in 1941 and 1947 respectively. The green field development of the Lucan townlands as a major residential area was predicated on the prime location between the motorways and railways. Adamstown railway station has recently re-opened to serve the area. It is located south of Finnstown, Lucan. This station will also service significant further developments planned to the south of Adamstown townlands and the south/southwest commuter line.

A new Luas line for the town is planned under Transport 21. The town is to be included the Metro West line.

Dublin Bus provides several bus services to the area, including the 25/A/X, the 66/A/B/X, and the 67/A/X. Feeder routes such as the 239 from Liffey Valley shopping centre to Blanchardstown via the north of the town along the Strawberry Beds also run. Dublin Bus provides Nitelink services with the 25N serving south Lucan and the 66N serving Lucan village. Some independent bus operators also serve Lucan.

There is a private airport, Weston Airport, located to the west of Lucan near the Dublin/Kildare border. This expanding facility conducts pilot training and serves privately owned light aircraft and helicopters. It new terminal is located south of the M4 to the east of the Dublin Celbridge Road and Kildare border.

Culture and identity

Lucan is generally considered in two parts - old Lucan, and new Lucan. Old Lucan consists of the main town of Lucan, containing smaller roads and shops, resting in the Liffey Valley. New Lucan is considered to be the majority of the newer housing developments, built South of the main town, out of the valley, and stretching as far as Clondalkin.

Lucan has undergone enormous change since the early-1990s. It is road after road of identical houses occupied by the new aspiring middle classes, or "decklanders", as economist David McWilliams terms them. After the building of the M50 motorway and N4 interchange, and the staggering increase in house prices and jobs during the Celtic Tiger era of the 1990s, Lucan quickly became one of the more reasonably priced areas in the south Dublin area. Given its easy access to Dublin City and relatively modest house prices compared to older more established areas in closer proximity to Dublin City many thousands of homes were built in a matter of years. Building development is still ongoing on a large, albeit reduced scale today. Where once it was considered as a completely separate satellite town of Dublin, Lucan is now perceived as part of the Dublin urban area (although the M50 motorway ensures that the two do not physically merge with each other), and it is the first town one meets when leaving Dublin on the N4.

With the large population increases came jobs and high-profile retail developments, but traffic congestion has become a major problem. The N4 is considered one of the most congested roads in the city; particularly where it meets the M50, as traffic regularly stretches back for up to 5 kilometres at rush hour. Upgrade schemes are currently under construction for both the N4 and N4/M50 interchange to help remedy these problems.

Education

Lucan has a number of schools, including an Educate Together primary school, Lucan Community College Esker (Leaving Cert. Applied available), Scoil Áine & St. Thomas's Primary schools (Esker, mixed VEC school), Coláiste Phádraig (a Christian Brothers school), St. Joseph's Girls school, Coláiste Cois Life also known as CCL,there are two Irsih speaking primary schools (mixed), Gaelscoil Eiscir Riada and Gaelscoil Naomh Pádraig, St. Mary's Boys National School, St. Mary's Girls Primary School, St. Andrew's (mixed) National School and Archbishop Ryan National School (mixed primary). Many students living in Lucan attend Confey College in Leixlip.

Media

In February 1967 the Lucan Newsletter was first published. The Lucan Newsletter is a journal of local events for the area with the function being to provide a platform for the various organisations of the area to publish news of their forthcoming activities and to report on their meetings. The journal is produced and published weekly by volunteers.

Liffey Sound Communications Co-operative Society Limited, a not-for-profit, runs Liffey Sound FM which is Lucans community radio station. Liffey Sound FM is another local media source run entirely by volunteers. The station has been broadcasting since July 2006.

Other local media sources include weekly newspapers the Liffey Champion which is a local newspaper for the Lucan area of South Dublin and North Kildare, The Echo which is published in Lucan as the Lucan Echo and the Lucan Gazette.

Employment

The area is primarily a residential one, though employment does exist. One of the major employers within the region is the Liffey Valley Centre in North Clondalkin, though there are a number of other businesses in the area. There are major businesses in the nearby areas of southwest Dublin such as Citywest and Tallaght. Intel and Hewlett-Packard are also major employers, located nearby in Leixlip, Co. Kildare, with further employment close by in Blanchardstown, in Fingal, such as eBay's European operations.

Shopping

A number of local shopping centres exist in Lucan, including one at Hillcrest, whose main tenant is Tesco, and another on the Newcastle road, which has Superquinn as well as several other shops, including a McDonald's restaurant.

Lucan Village is also a notable shopping area with several pubs and specialist shops including a computer store.

The Liffey Valley Shopping Centre opened in 1998 and is the major shopping centre for the broader area. The Blanchardstown Centre is another major retail development with relatively easy access. The area has a strong local retail sector, but Dublin city centre remains popular as a shopping destination as well.

A retail park exists at an N4 junction, where Woodies DIY, D.I.D Electrical and various other stores are found.

Sport

Lucan has a Gaelic football team, Lucan Sarsfields, one of the upcoming clubs in Dublin with two county representatives on the football team and four on the hurling team. They won the u/21 Dublin Football Championship and a Minor double of Football and Hurling in 2005.

Several football teams also play in the area, such as Hillcrest F.C., Beech Park, Esker Celtic and Lucan United.

In January 2008, Lucan Boxing Club reformed after a few years break.The club was very successful in its first season back winning the Dublin Junior Club of the Year for the 2008/2009 season. The club currently trains in its own gym in Haydens Lane on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings. The club made history on Sunday 13 December 2009 when it staged the first ever all female amateur boxing show in Ireland. On April 24 and 25 2010 Lucan Boxing Club hosted the inaugural 'Irish Multi-Counties' tournament. With over 30 clubs competing from around Ireland and 110 bouts it was one of the biggest amateur boxing shows ever staged in the country.

Lucan Tae Kwon-Do school - http://www.lucantkd.com has been in the area since 1992 and has recently moved to the Adamstown Educate Together National School. The school is run by 7th Degree Black Belt Instructor Master Val Douglas.

The Dublin Dragons American Football Team are based in Lucan. Dublin Dragons AFC

Lucan Harriers Athletic Club are also based here. Infamous Lucan duo Jedward were once at the core of Lucan Harriors Athletic Club.

A skatepark was opened in 2007, after a lengthy campaign begun in the late 1980s by local skaters but finally built after a 4 year concerted campaign by people from surrounding areas.

Lucan Chess Club meets every Thursday. See http://www.lucanchessclub.org for details.

Music

Lucan has its very own Concert Band, Lucan concert band which has been in existence since 1983. The band caters for wind instruments, from trumpet, clarinet, flute and trombone to bass, euphonium, percussion, bassoon and saxophone. In 2008 Lucan concert band celebrated its 25th Anniversary.

Notes and references

• Note on population: Lucan was officially considered as part of Dublin City from the 1996 census onward, meaning that the census does not list the town's population as a whole, but it is arrived at by adding the Lucan areas (Lucan-Esker, Lucan Heights and Lucan-St Helen's) to provide an overall population. It is also important to note that for planning purposes Lucan and Clondalkin are often considered as a single entity.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

People

• James Gandon, Georgian architect
• Paul Gogarty, Irish politician
• Liam Lawlor, Irish politician
• Paul Noonan, musician with Bell X1
• Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic Explorer
• Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan
• John and Edward Grimes, X Factor Contestants, series 6

External links

• Lucan St. Patrick's Day Parade
• Lucan United football club
• South Dublin County History
• South Dublin County Images
• Lucan Concert Band