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Quaintest village in Co. Dublin?

  • 31-07-2015 11:48PM
    #1
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,535 ✭✭✭


    For the whole county as understood by most of us and the GAA, what's the quaintest village?

    I just drove through Séipéal Iosóid/Chapelizod/Iseult's Chapel village earlier today and it's up there at the top despite the derelict buildings which are finally being refurbished. If you keep driving you come to cottages on both sides of the road for most of the way up Knockmaroon Hill towards Castleknock, before taking a left down into the Strawberry Beds with one of Dublin's most quaint pubs on the right-hand side, the Anglers' Rest.

    Not many people know it but Chapelizod is the source for one of the great romantic tales of medieval Europe, the legend of Tristan & Iseult, which Wagner made into a famous opera named Tristan und Isolde. In the grounds of the current Church of Ireland lies the remains of Isolde's chapel and it is here that Tristan is reputed to have asked her for her hand in marriage. There is also a sign marking Tristan & Isolde House in the village today.

    It hasn't changed that much since the 1890s, and if they do the remaining derelict buildings up well it could be really classy (with the pedestrian gate to the Phoenix Park on one side, and the weirs of the river Liffey on the other). I've often wondered why the house prices have never been higher there or why the derelict buildings have been undeveloped for so long. Anybody know?



    Sandymount around the green is also timeless, and Cabinteely village itself is nice and well kept. That small bit of Irishtown around Clarke's Pub and St Matthew's Church of Ireland is also quaint. The thatch cottages in Rush, Skerries and other places across north Dublin give the region more character and tradition.

    What other villages would you put into a top 10?


«1

Comments

  • #2
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators, Paid Member Posts: 27,467 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Considering it's on a busy main road, I think whoever smartens up Raheny village does a great job.


  • #3
    efb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 35,514 ✭✭✭✭efb


    Stepaside village is nice


  • #4
    Yellowblackbird
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 603 ✭✭✭Yellowblackbird


    Oldtown. (there's even a phil lynott song about it)


  • #5
    bren2002
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 1,239 ✭✭✭bren2002


    You can't ignore Dalkey on a list like this


  • #6
    quadrifoglio verde
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,669 ✭✭✭quadrifoglio verde


    I love skerries, especially the community feel to it


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  • #7
    Mantis Toboggan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 19,564 ✭✭✭✭Mantis Toboggan


    Only ever there a few times but loved Dalkey

    Free Palestine 🇵🇸



  • #8
    Ben D Bus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,228 ✭✭✭Ben D Bus


    I live on the edge of Chapelizod (OK, Ballyfermot :) )

    But Sandymount Green is one of my favourite spots.


  • #9
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,560 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    "Quaint" is a term I hate, it surfaces a lot on tripadvisor where the Americans seem to think we all live in Darby O' Gill type places.


  • #10
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,535 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    byhookorbycrook wrote: »
    "Quaint" is a term I hate, it surfaces a lot on tripadvisor where the Americans seem to think we all live in Darby O' Gill type places.

    hehe. For "quaint" then read picturesque, charming, idyllic, pleasantly old-fashioned, old-fashioned, or old-world. ;)

    Lucan village is also quaint, with several protected buildings and two rivers running through it.


  • #11
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,560 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    <
    Cranky auld one.


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  • #12
    ProudDUB
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,569 ✭✭✭✭ProudDUB


    spurious wrote: »
    Considering it's on a busy main road, I think whoever smartens up Raheny village does a great job.

    There is a special place in heave,n for who ever organizes, plants, waters and most importantly pays for the massive floral planters and hanging baskets in Raheny. They are truly spectacular. If it is private individuals, then fair play. If it's the Corpo, how come no where else looks as good?


  • #13
    feargale
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,639 ✭✭✭feargale


    gaiscioch wrote: »
    There is also a sign marking Tristan & Isolde House in the village today.

    Why is the house named Tristan & Isolde House?


  • #14
    Cienciano
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 14,197 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    Driving through Chapelizod always makes me think I'm down in Cork or somewhere miles away from Dublin.
    But Dalkey is a really nice spot, I reckon if I went there in January it would be sunny. Always seems to be great weather when I go there for some reason.


  • #15
    arybvtcw0eolkf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,608 ✭✭✭✭arybvtcw0eolkf


    Finglas village is quaint.

    Find the right pub there and you're bound to come across a collection of traditional, well traveled folk.


  • #16
    anncoates
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    Agree with Sandymount, Stepaside and Dalkey. The old centre of Lucan is actually nice too. I like the area of Chapelizod village around the villager pub and heading up toward Knockmaroon hill too. Saggart used to be like stepping back into the country but has been spoiled in recent times by recent building.


  • #17
    Dandelion6
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,405 ✭✭✭Dandelion6


    I love Chapelizod! It's like a little slice of the country in the city.


  • #18
    JohnFalstaff
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 906 ✭✭✭JohnFalstaff


    feargale wrote: »
    Why is the house named Tristan & Isolde House?

    I think it's just a reference to the historical connection between Chapelizod and the Tristan & Isolde tale as outlined in the OP. There's no specific connection with the actual house itself as far as I am aware.

    Nobody has mentioned Sandcove on this list yet. I have been taking the DART out to Sandycove a lot this summer to stretch the legs. I always enjoy walking around the village and down to the forty foot. Howth is another spot I enjoy visiting at the weekends. I headed out there on a Sunday recently and walked up Howth head to where the lighthouse is - great way to spend a day.


  • #19
    Speedsie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 1,362 ✭✭✭Speedsie
    ¡arriba, arriba! ¡andale, andale!


    anncoates wrote: »
    Agree with Sandymount, Stepaside and Dalkey. The old centre of Lucan is actually nice too. I like the area of Chapelizod village around the villager pub and heading up toward Knockmaroon hill too. Saggart used to be like stepping back into the country but has been spoiled in recent times by recent building.

    Like Saggart, Newcastle was very rural & quaint until the developments started around ten years ago.


  • #20
    Teyla Emmagan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,638 ✭✭✭Teyla Emmagan


    Newcastle was never quaint. It has been weird since the 1970s when they built those big semi-ds. The main street was basically a road through a housing estate. I think it's looking a lit better these days. Lots of Christmas lights and flower boxes. Still hardly charming tho.


  • #21
    Speedsie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 1,362 ✭✭✭Speedsie
    ¡arriba, arriba! ¡andale, andale!


    Teyla Emmagan wrote: »
    Newcastle was never quaint. It has been weird since the 1970s when they built those big semi-ds. The main street was basically a road through a housing estate. I think it's looking a lit better these days. Lots of Christmas lights and flower boxes. Still hardly charming tho.

    True enough, I tend to ignore the Village past the Peamount junction... The older part between there & Briany Macs, such a pity nothing has been done to it since the fire, is quiet nice... Love the house chestnuts!!!


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  • #22
    Teyla Emmagan
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,638 ✭✭✭Teyla Emmagan


    Speedsie wrote: »
    True enough, I tend to ignore the Village past the Peamount junction... The older part between there & Briany Macs, such a pity nothing has been done to it since the fire, is quiet nice... Love the house chestnuts!!!

    Yes, very sad to see the Thatch still standing like that. I love that stretch beside the COI church (or whatever it is), it's beautiful. The rest of the village though, not so much, though it has still come on leaps and bounds.


  • #23
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,535 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    Prospect Square, in the old townland of Prospect which gave its name to Prospect Cemetery (Glasnevin Cemetery), has to be among the most quaint squares in Dublin. The fact that Dublin's greatest pub (est. 1833), where you park your bicycles inside the front door, is right on it helps. It's a very calm, peaceful part of the city.

    d61acb5cf3_l.jpg





    This small square, and De Courcy square next to it, are deemed by the City Council to be an ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION AREA
    ( ACA ): Prospect Square / De Courcy Square and Environs     (a detailed history of the area and its buildings; the entire area was essentially created as a result of the cemetery being opened in 1832 when Prospect Square became the original entrance to the cemetery.)


  • #24
    JupiterKid
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 14,649 ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Chapelizod is really beautiful. It definitely has a semi- rural feel to it, nestled in the Liffey Valley with the Phoenix Park beside it.

    Lucan village is pretty too. Sandymount, Howth, Dalkey and Glasnevin. Dundrum has quite a bit of charm too.


  • #25
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,535 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    Although a few apartment blocks have been built on it in recent years another lovely old ruralesque part of the city is Kilmainham Lane, from the Patriot Inn down the hill alongside the wall of the Knights' Hospitallers/IMMA:

    Meander down it with this Google Streetview.


  • #26
    tricky D
    Closed Accounts Posts: 9,698 ✭✭✭tricky D


    Sssshhh. Just don't tell any one about The Royal Oak on Kilmainham Lane which is one of the quaintest pubs in Dublin and feels like it's on some country lane. Keep it secret;)


  • #27
    Muahahaha
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,815 ✭✭✭✭Muahahaha


    Cant believe no one has mentioned Loughshinney in north co. Dublin. Its a tiny fishing village with a crescent moon shaped beach and a Martello tower up on top of the nearby cliffs. Its just up the coast from Skerries. Well worth a trip but shame it hasnt got a coffee shop or pub to stop and linger

    6762448031_2debaed18c_b.jpg

    harbour.jpg


  • #28
    gaiscioch
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,535 ✭✭✭gaiscioch


    "Unusual" CCTV house aside, Loughshinny is really lovely.

    51242945.jpg


  • #29
    Mesrine65
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,949 ✭✭✭Mesrine65


    Muahahaha wrote: »
    Cant believe no one has mentioned Loughshinney in north co. Dublin. Its a tiny fishing village with a crescent moon shaped beach and a Martello tower up on top of the nearby cliffs. Its just up the coast from Skerries. Well worth a trip but shame it hasnt got a coffee shop or pub to stop and linger
    The Yacht?


  • #30
    arybvtcw0eolkf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 24,608 ✭✭✭✭arybvtcw0eolkf


    Loughshinney, IMO its a filthy kip, esp the harbor/beach.


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  • #31
    anncoates
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,925 ✭✭✭✭anncoates


    Teyla Emmagan wrote: »
    Yes, very sad to see the Thatch still standing like that. I love that stretch beside the COI church (or whatever it is), it's beautiful. The rest of the village though, not so much, though it has still come on leaps and bounds.

    Have often thought that too. If the village only existed between the Hazelhatch and Peamount roads and you rebuilt the Thatch and maybe added another little pub and some shops, it'd be a lovely little village.

    For the most part, it's just a sprawl of houses with no real centre.


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