Rathgar
Rathgar (Ráth Garbh in Irish, meaning "Rough Ringfort") is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, lying about 3 kilometres south of the city centre.
Amenities
Rathgar is largely a quiet suburb with good amenities, including primary and secondary schools, nursing homes, child-care and sports facilities, and good public transport to the city centre. The housing stock largely comprises red-brick late Georgian and Victorian era terraces and much of the area lies within an architectural conservation zone. One of the main schools in area is The High School, Dublin, which moved to the area from its original location on Harcourt Street. There's also Stratford College on Zion road, founded in the 1950s by members of the Jewish Community in Dublin[1].
Business
It has a variety of retail outlets as well as a good choice of pubs in the village including the 108 Bar and Comans Bar. Rathgar maintains a nice village feel as it has a bakery, a delicatessen, a butcher, a bike shop and a wine shop all within 20 yards of the main cross. A small scale supermarket 'Superquinn' has been started where an old furniture shop was located and is due to be finished by Summer 2009 subject to planning. Local restaurants include Poppadoms (Indian), Bijou (French Style), Monty's (Nepalese) and TK II (Thai).
Health care
Saint Lukes Hospital, Highfield Road, specialises in cancer treatments. This is currently under threat of closure and many of the local residents are opposed to this. Mount Carmel General and Maternity hospital is at the end of Orwell Road.
Churches
Rathgar has a number of fine architectural features, notably Christ Church Rathgar[2] (part of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland) at the junction of Rathgar Road and Highfield Road in the village centre. The Roman Catholic Church of The Three Patrons (The three patrons referred to are the Patron Saints of Ireland: St Patrick, St. Bridget and St. Columba) on Rathgar Road is known as "The Servants' Church" because in the late 19th and early 20th century it was the place of worship for the large number of servants who worked and lived in the large houses in the area.[3] While externally the church is of little note internally it is noteworthy. Both can be seen in the external links section below. The Church of Ireland Theological College and the Zion Church of Ireland at the junction of Zion and Bushy Park Road are also in Rathgar.
Notable people associated with Rathgar
The suburb's most famous son is James Joyce, who was born in Brighton Square. Mr. Jack Lynch, who was Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland intermittently from 1966 to 1979 had his home at Garville Avenue, Rathgar. Also Bram Stoker, author of Dracula, lived in Rathgar on Orwell Park for a time.
A Georgian house on Kenilworth Square west provided the setting for the film of Maeve Binchy's novel Tara Road.
Eamon de Valera's presidential office was moved to 53, Kenilworth Square in 1921 when his house in Blackrock was raided. It was in this house that Arthur Griffith presented Lloyd George's proposals for the Anglo-Irish Treaty to de Valera four days before the Treaty was signed in London.
Convicted Yugoslav war-criminal Andrija Artukovic is also believed to have spent part of his life in a house in Rathgar after the war due to Ireland's neutrality. [6]
Politics
Rathgar is located in the Dáil Éireann constituency of Dublin South East, whose four current elected representatives are Chris Andrews of Fianna Fail, first elected to Dáil Éireann in 2007; Lucinda Creighton of Fine Gael, first elected in 2007; Ruairi Quinn of the Labour Party, first elected in February 1982; and John Gormley of the Green Party, first elected in 1997.
Nearby suburbs
References
- ^ Stratford College
- ^ Christ Church Rathgar website
- ^ Angela O'Connell, 2004
- ^ Tribute to David Marcus, Irish Times
- ^ Mary C Bromage book De Valera and the March of a Nation
- ^ "Ireland 'welcomed Hitler's henchmen". www.telegraph.co.uk.
Sources
O'Connell, Angela. The Servants' Church: History of the Church of the Three Patrons in the Parish of Rathgar. Dublin: Parish Development and Renewal Core Group, Church of the Three Patrons, 2004. 106p. Class no. 29 L.H. (Dublin) / 129
See also
External links
- Irish Architecture - Buildings of interest in Rathgar
- http://www.christchurchrathgar.org (Christ Church Rathgar, Presbyterian church)
- http://www.dublintourist.com/towns/rathgar/ (Tourist Information)
- http://rathgarresidentsassociation.ie/ (Residents Association)
- http://pix.ie/explore/tag/rathgar (Some pictures of the area)