BALDOYLE, a parish, in the barony of COOLOCK, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 6 miles (N. E.) from Dublin; containing 1208 inhabitants, of which number, 1009 are in the village. The village is pleasantly situated on an inlet or creek of the Irish Sea, to the north of the low isthmus that connect Howth , with the mainland: it comprises about 200 houses, and is much frequented in summer for sea-bathing. Some of the inhabitants are engaged in the fishery, which at the commencement of the present century employed nine wherries belonging to this place, averaging seven or eight men each; at present nearly 100 men are so , engaged. Sir W. de Windsor, lord-justice of Ireland, held a parliament here in 1369. The creek is formed between the mainland and the long tract of sand on the north of Howth, at the point of which, near that port, a white buoy is placed; it is fit only for small craft. The manor was granted to the priory of All Saints, Dublin, by Diarmit, the son of Murchard, King of Leinster, who founded that house in 1166. The corporation of Dublin owns the entire parish, about two-thirds of which are arable: the system of agriculture is improving, and the general routine of crops pursued with success. Donaghmede, the seat of Mrs. King; Talavera, of Capt. N. Furnace; and Grange Lodge, of W. Allen, Esq., are the principal seats. The village is a chief station of the constabulary police, and also a coast-guard station, forming one of the nine which constitute the district of Swords. The Drogheda or Grand Northern Trunk railway from Dublin to that town, for which an act has been obtained, is intended to pass through the grange of Baldoyle. The parish is in the diocese of Dublin, and is a curacy forming part of the union of Howth: it is tithe free. In the Roman Catholic divisions it is included in the union or district of Baldoyle and Howth, which comprises also the parishes of Kinsealy and Kilbarrack, and contains three chapels, situated respectively at Howth, Kinsealy, and Baldoyle, which last has been lately rebuilt by subscription, and has a portico of four Tuscan pillars surmounted by a pediment, above which rise. a turret supporting a dome and cross: attached to the chapel are school-rooms, in which about 60 boys and 60 girls are taught. The parochial school-house is in the village, and there is also a hedge school in the parish, in which are 12 children. At the Grange are the picturesque ruins of the ancient church, surrounded by horse-chestnut, lime, and sycamore trees; and in the grounds of Donaghmede is a holy well, which is resorted to on St. John's eve by the peasantry.
1st January 1837
A snapshot of pre-famine local history, as described in the "Topographical Dictionary of Ireland" by Samuel Lewis, 1837. (The information collected here was submitted by members of the local gentry and clergy of the time).
