Local Landmarks
There are few local historic landmarks within the area of Walkinstown, unlike the neighbouring suburbs of Crumlin and Drimnagh which can boast much longer histories. One of the oldest buildings in the immediate vicinity is Drimnagh Castle, located on the Drimnagh side of the Long Mile Road. The Halfway House pub is the oldest public house in the area, predating all of the housing developments that went to make up the suburb. This pub, which used to be a Coachhouse, situated halfway between Dublin and Tallaght, retains the outward appearance of the country pub, although the interior was recently modernised.
The layout of the suburb is such that "nests" of smaller roads run off the main roads, usually with green open spaces as focal points. The dominant style of the area is that of a mid-20th century Dublin housing development. The most distinctive buildings of the Walkinstown area are that of the local Catholic church and schools, built in a sturdy style of the 1950s with grey brick and green copper roofing and impressive stained glass windows, made by local craftsmen.
One of the key features of the area is the Walkinstown Roundabout, also known as Walkinstown Cross, one of the largest, and most accident-prone roundabouts in the Dublin area. This major junction serves seven major local roads - Walkinstown Road towards Drimnagh, Bunting Road towards Crumlin, Cromwellsfort Road towards Kimmage and Crumlin, and St Peter's Road towards Greenhills and Templeogue, Greenhills Road towards Tallaght, Ballymount Road towards Ballymount and the M50 and Walkinstown Avenue towards Ballyfermot,
An area of Walkinstown north of Cromwellsfort Road is known as the Musical Roads. Roads in this area are named after prominent figures of Irish music - examples include the tenor Count John McCormack and composers Michael William Balfe, Percy French and Edward Bunting.
The Superquinn supermarket on Walkinstown Road was once the site of Walkinstown House, a distinctive country house and the family home of the Flanagan family, including the infamous "The Bird Flanagan", a well-known Dublin character and infamous practical joker of the early 20th century. It is said that The Long Mile Road was named after a mile long horse race along this route won by the Bird Flanagan. However it was later argued that it was a long mile.
Read more about this topic: Walkinstown
Famous quotes containing the words local and/or landmarks:
“Civility, which is a disposition to accommodate and oblige others, is essentially the same in every country; but good breeding, as it is called, which is the manner of exerting that disposition, is different in almost every country, and merely local; and every man of sense imitates and conforms to that local good breeding of the place which he is at.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)