Raheny () is a northern suburb of Dublin, Ireland, halfway from the city centre to Howth. It is centred on a historic settlement, first documented in 570 AD (Mervyn Archdall). The district shares Dublin's two largest municipal parks, Saint Anne's Park and Bull Island with its 4.5 km beach, with neighbouring Clontarf, and is crossed by several small watercourses.
The coastal hamlet grew rapidly in the 20th century and is now a mid-density, chiefly residential, Northside suburb with a village core. It is home to a range of retail and banking outlets, multiple sports groups including two golf courses, several schools and churches, Dublin's second-busiest library and a Garda station.
Raheny is also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Coolock.Placenames Database of Ireland – Raheny civil parish
Location and access Raheny runs from the coast inland, with its centre about from Dublin city centre and from Dublin Airport. It is administered by Dublin City Council. The county boundary with Fingal lies close by, where Raheny meets Kilbarrack. Nearby areas include Killester, Clontarf, Artane, Kilbarrack, Coolock and Donaghmede, and the skyline is dominated by Howth Head. Raheny is bisected by the Howth Road (R105) and the R809 (from Bull Island via in turn Watermill Road, Main Street, Station Road) and is also accessed from the Malahide Road (R107), the coastal James Larkin Road (R807) and the R104 (including the Oscar Traynor Road and Kilbarrack Road).
Raheny railway station, opened on 25 May 1844, overlooking the village centre, serves the DART suburban railway system and the Dublin-Belfast main line, and parts of Raheny are served by other DART stations, Harmonstown and Kilbarrack, on the same line. Raheny is also served by Dublin Bus (routes H1, H2 and H3) and has a taxi rank.
Much of the district is situated on gently rising ground, with a bluff overlooking Bull Island at Maywood and Bettyglen, and further rises from the village centre to the station and then to Belmont or Mount Olive, a hill which once featured a windmill. Opposite and beyond Belmont was once an area of sunken land with limestone quarries but this was landfilled, much of it with urban refuse, and then partly levelled and converted into a city park, Edenmore Park, in the late 1960s.
Historical features
Ráth (ringfort) Within Raheny lies the remains of a large ringfort (or ráth) from which the area gets its name. The ráth extends under the centre of the modern village, from beside the Santry River, including some marshy ground, to the Roman Catholic church, Windsor Motors, the Scout Den and the two St. Assam's Churches. Some excavations were carried out in the 1970s, giving an idea of its size (probably c. 110m across) and structure. The old church and graveyard complex behind the village plaza may reflect a remnant of the rath, as does some embankment behind the Scout Den.
During the 19th century, significant changes to the village, especially the centre, occurred, as a result of work on the Howth Road by the Telford Engineering Company; prior to this, the road entered the village at the bottom of the central hill, turning sharply coastwards at the top of Main Street. Works to straighten the road resulted in a reduction of the old ringfort.
Religious sites
The ruined St. Assam's Church, dating from a 1712 reconstruction of a 1609 building, is believed to be the successor to early religious settlement. The later St. Assam's Church, opposite it, was built from 1859, in the period when Roman Catholics regained the right to have their own churches and opened in 1864.
Raheny was also the site of two holy wells. The first of these, St. Ann's Well, gave its name to St. Anne's Park. The site of this well is still visible under a stone cupola by the boating lake in the park, but it has been dry for several decades, despite efforts by municipal authorities to restart it. The second well, dedicated to the patron saint of the area, St. Assam, lay in the field which now holds the Church of Our Lady Mother of Divine Grace. When last recorded, it was marked by a depression in the ground but was later, in the 20th century, covered over, and its waters diverted into the Santry River.
The "Celtic-style" cross on display in the village (now on the main plaza but previously placed in other locations, including at the junctions of Main Street and Watermill Lane, and of Watermill Land and Howth Road) is a memorial to Marie Elizabeth Hayes, an early female medical graduate and 19th-century medical missionary from the area to India, paid for by locals in the area in which the doctor worked.
Raheny Heritage Trail and guides In 1992, the Raheny Heritage Society published a walking guide, the Raheny Heritage Trail, which included a general introduction to the area and its history, and a map, and this was reprinted, with only minor changes, in 2000. Large panels describing highlights of the area's historical and natural sights in English and Irish, and with maps of the central village area, stand either side of the central crossroads. In 2006 the Raheny Business Association placed blue informational plaques, with wording coordinated with the Raheny Heritage Society, on or near 15 historical buildings.
Raheny-on-the-Strand There was, at least by the 18th century, a hamlet, a "second Raheny", Lower Raheny or Raheny-on-the-Strand, in the area of Black Bush and by the coastal point known as the "Whip of the Water" - where the Howth Road on its then route, and Fox Stream, met the sea. There was a beach road here, later washed away, then succeeded by the tram line to Howth. The current coastal road, the James Larkin Road, is a later construction.
Mills and quay In the 18th century, Raheny had a water mill near the mouth of the Santry River, in ruins by 1757; this gave the name to the lane from the village down to the coastal road, now Watermill Road. There were also two windmills, a rare item on the map of the Dublin area. One of the latter, mapped as "Old Windmill", was situated on the Howth Road, on the slope above the Naniken River, and the other, "The Mill of Raheny", on Belmont hill, where the Capuchin friary now stands. There was also a stone wharf where the lane from the village came down to join the coastal road.
Crescent Cottages
Eight cottages in a crescent formation on Station Road near the junction with the Howth Road are among the oldest buildings in the village, having been built around 1790 by local resident Samuel Dick, then Governor of the Bank of Ireland. The cottages served as residences for men who worked on Mr. Dick's estate. The cottages are informally known as the "Doh-Ray-Mee" cottages due to their resemblance to piano keys. The cottage nearest to the Manhattan pub was once the village post office. The cottages were willed to a trust to support what is now Springdale School, and aside from one sold, with court permission, to fund capital developments, the rent from the cottages contributes to the running of the school.
Name
Several explanations exist for the origin of the name Raheny: one (from Ráth Éanna) is that it means the ringfort of Éanna, an early local chief, another (Ráth Eanaigh) is that the name derives from eanach, an old Irish word for marsh or swamp, or for a passage through a swampy area. Yet another (deriving from Rath Ain Abha) comes from "Noble Fortress of the Sea".Dublin, Cahill, 1922: Authentic Derivations of Place-Names in County Dublin Traced and Explained With the Aid of Real Evidence, MacNamara, M. A. Locally, most use Ráth Éanna while officialdom now tends towards Ráth Eanaigh. Until the mid-20th century, many local residents pronounced the English language name as something more like Rahenny or Rathenny, as it was mapped in the 18th century, or Ratheny.
Although there is a range of similar names (such as Rahanna), the name Raheny is nearly unique in Ireland, occurring in just one other locality, a portion of the rural town of Lusk. This once-significant monastic and civil centre in north County Dublin is not very remote but no connection between the two locales is known.
Natural features In addition to the Santry River (historically Skillings Glas), Raheny is also crossed by the Naniken River (previously parts of it named Ballyhoy after a Raheny townland through which it passes), the Fox Stream and the Blackbanks Stream, all monitored by Dublin City Council. The Santry and the Naniken are shown on many old maps, and one or other of the other two sometimes also appear. The Santry comes from Harristown and Dubber, north of Ballymun, and passes through eastern Santry, and Coolock, then between Harmonstown and Edenmore, to reach central Raheny and then flow on to the sea; it is in the open for most of its course. The Naniken, now culverted for more than half its length, flows from central Santry through Artane, then passes under the railway line in a syphon. Its line is marked by a disused lane from Ennafort to Howth Road, it passes under Ballyhoy Bridge (now hidden under the tarmac of the main road) and comes out of the culvert at the edge of St Anne's Park, and forms a feature through the park. From partway through the park, its course marks the boundary between Raheny and Clontarf. Both the Fox and Blackbanks Streams flow from the limestone area above Station Road (which used to hold caves and quarries), one on either side of the steep Belmont or Mount Olive hill on Station Road; both flow underground. The Fox Stream runs through Walmer lands, under Tuscany Downs, but is today smaller than historically, as some of its flow is diverted by pipe before the railway, into the already larger Blackbanks Stream. According to a chronicle of the ceremony of "Riding the Franchises", the Fox Stream is used to mark the northern boundary of Dublin City.
A major feature is the nearly beach known as Dollymount Strand, on the nature reserve of North Bull Island, which is shared with Clontarf. Parklands include the two largest Dublin municipal parks, North Bull Island itself and Saint Anne's Park (formerly the home of the Guinness family of brewing and later banking fame), which is also shared with Clontarf, as well as Edenmore Park (10.25 hectares, with a pitch and putt course, playground and exercise area, and playing fields), Springdale Road Park (along the Santry River) and many small green areas, such as at Rathmore Park, Maywood Lawn and within the Foxfield housing area.
There are walking and cycling lanes on the seafront (one can walk, or cycle on designated cycleways, from Howth to Dún Laoghaire), and also on North Bull Island and in St. Anne's Park. The Raheny Tidy Village Group, with the support of Dublin City Council, launched a set of three measured walking routes for the Raheny area, the Raheny Way, with a guiding noticeboard placed at Raheny DART Station, and a leaflet available at various locations around the area.
Community organisations and media
A range of residents' associations have been established over time but many have faded as housing areas have matured. One of those still functioning, the St Anne's Residents' Association (SARA), with some allied bodies, operates a community hall, CARA Hall, on All Saints' Drive, while the Grange Woodbine Association has hall facilities on Station Road. One umbrella body, the Raheny Community Council operated for a time in the 1970s, while another, the Federation of Raheny Residents (FoRR), was active from 1981 to 2011. The Federation organised a range of activities, some in conjunction with the Raheny Business Association and some with the local authority and other official bodies, including strategic plans for the village, Neighbourhood Watch arrangements, community awareness weeks, the charitable Mayor of Raheny campaigns, events for older people, the setting up of the Millennium Clock in the middle of the village, and the moving of the Marie Elizabeth Hayes Cross.