Sandymount Green is a triangular park located next to the village. The houses along the south side of the green are part of what once was Sandymount Castle and the roads behind this bear the name. There are shops, restaurants and cafés around the green.
Sandymount is located between 3 and 4 km south-east of Dublin’s city centre. At the northern end it begins where Newbridge Avenue meets Herbert Road, running to Church Avenue at the coast, and west along the DART rail line, and south to Merrion Gates. Sandymount Promenade runs along the coast road (Strand Road) from Sandymount Strand, down to Merrion Gates. It lies a little south of the Great South Wall in Dublin Bay.
The River Dodder passes nearby to the west, and three streams, the Elm Park, Nutley and Trimleston, come to the coast to the south, but any pollution of these impacts Sandymount Strand. In the past, the Nutley Stream came to the coast in what is now Sandymount, and severe flooding occurred on the old course in 1963.
The extensive Sandymount Strand, which is part of the South Bull, (a mirror to the North Bull sandbank, which grew into North Bull Island), is a major component of the south side of Dublin Bay. The strand runs from the curve of the bay at Ringsend to Merrion Gates. Sandymount Strand is a popular place for locals to take a walk. People and cars have been occasionally trapped by the incoming tide.
The promenade is a 2.5 km walkway along the coast from Gilford Avenue to Saint Alban’s Park, however, there are plans to lengthen the promenade to connect with the S2S Sandycove to Sutton Cycleway.
Neighbouring suburbs are Ballsbridge, Merrion and Irishtown.
The area, often referred to as Cowtown, was at a particular time in history on the edge of the city of Dublin and was the ideal location for the city’s cattle market.
Dublin Corporation had been holding a cattle market in Smithfield, but with the increase in the city’s population and the growth of the cattle export business, Smithfield proved to be too small. In 1863, the market was relocated to the open spaces on the North Circular Road. A number of fine houses were built in the area by successful cattle dealers and at the same time over 250 large houses were built for the ‘professional classes’.
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