Donnybrook

Donnybrook Domhnach Broc
Location
Coordinates: 53°19′00″N 6°13′00″W / 53.316667°N 6.216667°W / 53.316667; -6.216667
Irish grid reference O169318
Statistics
Province:	Leinster
County:	County Dublin
Postcode district(s):	Dublin 4
Population ()
Website: www.donnybrook.biz/

Donnybrook

Kiely's pub in Donnybrook

Donnybrook (Irish Domhnach Broc, meaning The Church of [Saint] Broc) is a district of Dublin, Ireland. It is situated on the southside of the city, in the Dublin 4 postal district, and is home to the Irish state broadcaster RTÉ. It was once part of the Pembroke Township. Its neighbouring suburbs are Ballsbridge, Sandymount, Ranelagh and Clonskeagh.

Donnybrook was once the location of Donnybrook Fair, a fair held from the time of King John onwards, that gave rise to the term a donnybrook, meaning a brawl or fracas. Donnybrook is also the traditional home of rugby union in Leinster.

History

Donnybrook was once the location of Donnybrook Fair, a fair held from the time of King John onwards, which became notorious for drunkenness and violent disorder. This gave rise to the term a donnybrook, meaning a brawl or fracas. The fair was banned in 1855 and there is little trace of the village's disreputable past; the only reminder of its raucous history is a supermarket called Donnybrook Fair on the main street. Parts of the lands on which Donnybrook Fair took place are occupied by Donnybrook Rugby Ground and Herbert Park.

Donnybrook is now^[when?] one of the most affluent suburbs of Dublin,^{[citation needed]} though it contains a wide variety of housing, both social and privately-owned.

Geography

The River Dodder runs through Donnybrook. It is popular with amateur fishermen and boasts a multitude of wildlife.

Education

Donnybrook is home to the all-girls' Muckross Park College.

People

Writers

• Patrick Kavanagh
• Anthony Trollope
• Flann O'Brien aka Myles na gCopaleen aka Brian O'Nolan, lived on Belmont Avenue
• Benedict Kiely
• Padraic Colum
• Brendan Behan
• Denis Johnston and his wife, the actress/ director Shelah Richards

Others

• Jack B. Yeats
• Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton
• John Boyd Dunlop (pneumatic tyre inventor)
• Guglielmo Marconi (wireless radio - lived in Montrose House, a family home of his mother's family the Jamesons of whiskey fame, now on the grounds of the state broadcaster RTÉ)
• Eamon de Valera (President of Ireland)
• Pádraig Pearse (a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising)
• The O'Rahilly (also a senior figure in the 1916 Easter Rising)
• Michael Collins (freedom-fighter killed during the Irish Civil War in 1922)
• Peter Quinn (musician)
• George E. H. McElroy (WWI fighter ace RFC/RAF)
• Garret FitzGerald (former Taoiseach of Ireland)
• Albert Reynolds (former Taoiseach of Ireland)
• Shane MacGowan (singer/lyricist for the Pogues)

Sports

Donnybrook is the traditional home of rugby union in Leinster. The headquarters of the Irish Rugby Football Union Leinster Branch is located opposite Donnybrook Stadium, where the professional Leinster team played their home games until recently. Kiely's pub in Donnybrook village is a traditional social point for rugby fans.^{[citation needed]}

Rugby clubs Bective Rangers and Old Wesley have their home ground in Donnybrook Stadium. During the school year secondary schools such as Blackrock, Clongowes, Belvedere, St. Michaels and much more play rugby in Donnybrook Stadium. Juniors 13-16 and Seniors 16-18.

There are several tennis clubs in Donnybrook, Donnybrook LTC (Lawn Tennis Club), St.Marys LTC, and Bective LTC.

Belmont Football Club has its home ground in Herbert Park.

Merrion Cricket Club is located in Donnybrook, off Anglesea Road and backing on to the Dodder.

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

• Donnybrook Parish (Sacred Heart Church) Web Site
• Donnybrook Website

References

• Dictionary.com/Word of the Day Archive/donnybrook — etymology of the noun
• Dublins Famous People and Where They Lived by John Cowell
• A Literary Guide To Dublin by Vivien Igoe

Coordinates: 53°19′N 6°13′W / 53.317°N 6.217°W / 53.317; -6.217