Portmarnock

Infobox Irish Place
name = Portmarnock | crest

motto =
map

pin coords = left: 73px; top: 65px
north coord = 53.4217
west coord = 6.1372
irish grid = O238432
area =
elevation = sea level
province = Leinster
county = Fingal (Dublin)
town pop = 8,376 | rural pop =
census yr = 2002
web =
|

Portmarnock ("Port Mearnóg" in Irish) is a small suburban village with extensive housing estates to the north and west, north of the city of Dublin in the part of County Dublin now known as County Fingal, Ireland.

Today Portmarnock's village is a single main street, with shops, one of the two local Roman Catholic churches and other facilities. Further north along the same road are the two local hotels and some small office buildings.

Location

Portmarnock lies on the coast and, owing to its proximity to Dublin city, is a form of dormitory village km to mi | 15 | abbr=yes | precision=0 north-northeast of the city centre. In the 2002 census the population was 8,376, although this shows a decrease to 7,973 in the preliminary 2006 census statistics.

Portmarnock is situated between Malahide and Baldoyle, along the northern commuter railway line out of Dublin (also the Dublin-Belfast line); Portmarnock railway station opened on 25 May 1844, [cite web | title=Portmarnock station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | accessdate=2007-09-03] is now on the DART network. [See rail transport in Ireland for more.] Portmarnock, on the Baldoyle to Malahide coast road, is served by Dublin Bus routes 102, 105, 32A, 42 and 142.

At sea, Portmarnock could be said to border Sutton and perhaps Howth in the form of Ireland's Eye.

Portmarnock lies in the Dublin North Dail constituency, with a change to Dublin North East due in early 2008.

Name

The district's name derives from the Irish word "port" – meaning port – and Saint Marnoch or Mernoc, said to have arrived in what is now Portmarnock in the 5th century AD.

History

The area had been settled in Neolithic times, with a number of remains of activity in the area still evident today, such as flints and other tools having been excavated at the northern fringe of Portmarnock. Further, the remains of a ring fort are visible from the air at the south of the town. The son of Queen Maedhbh of Connaught - Maine - is also said to have been buried locally.

Portmarnock Strand

Like many of Dublin's coastal settlements, it is home to a Napoleonic Martello tower.

Portmarnock is famous for its world class golf course which formally opened on December 26 1894, while another links course, opened in the 1990s, was designed by German golfer Bernhard Langer. That golf course and its accompanying hotel are built around the former home of the Jameson distilling family. Anne Jameson's son was Guglielmo Marconi (she married Giuseppe Marconi), who invented the wireless and carried out the first transatlantic morse code transmission in 1902 from Nova Scotia, Canada to England.

Portmarnock's beach was the starting point for two aviation firsts. On 23 June 1930 Australian aviator Charles Kingsford Smith and his crew took off in the Southern Cross on the first westbound transatlantic flight (to Newfoundland, Canada). The first "solo" westbound transatlantic flight also began from Portmarnock beach as on 18 August 1932 Jim Mollison, a British pilot, took a de Havilland Puss Moth from Portmarnock to Pennfield, New Brunswick, also in Canada.

Portmarnock's beach areas are popular with wind surfers and kite surfers.

Portmarnock's beach is nicknamed The Velvet Strand due to the beautiful smooth sand along the beach.

Education

*There are in all two primary schools - St. Marnock's and St. Helen's - and also a post-primary school, Portmarnock Community School.

port

*There are several active sports clubs, such as Portmarnock Tennis Club, Portmarnock A.F.C., Seaview Celtic F.C., Portmarnock Albion F.C. and the Portmarnock Sport & Leisure Club which encompasses 16 sporting activities.
*"Naomh Mearnóg" is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club.

ee also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland

External links

* [http://www.psac.net Portmarnock Sub-Aqua Club]
* [http://www.geocities.com/pslctennis Portmarnock Tennis Club]
* [http://www.seaviewcelticfc.com Seaview Celtic FC]
* [http://www.naomhmearnog.ie Naomh Mearnog GAA]
* [http://www.portmarnockwaves.com Histoy Portmarnockwaves]
* [http://www.cso.ie/census/documents/2006PreliminaryReport.pdf 2006 Census]
* [http://www.helens.ie St Helens S.N.S]
* [http://www.portmarnockafc.com Portmarnock A.F.C.]
* [http://www.portmarnockcommunityschool.ie Portmarnock Community School]

References