ST COLUMBANUS ROAD – IS IT IN DUNDRUM OR MILLTOWN?
This is new to me. I got off the tram at Windy Arbour and walked along St Columbanus Road which I never visited before and then I came across what could be described as a linear park on the banks of a small stream and I could not decide if I was in Dundrum, Clonskeagh or Milltown. Why Clonskeagh? Because Our Lady’s National School had a sign showing its address as Clonskeagh.
I asked two people who I met on my journey and one said Dundrum and the other said Milltown [the property for sale advertisements appear to agree]. Later a friend told me that legally it is in Rathmines Great which came as a surprise but according to my friend Rathmines Great is in the Electoral Division of Dundrum, in Civil Parish of Taney, in the Barony of Rathdown, in the County of Dublin.
THE RIVER SLANG – THE DUNDRUM SLANG OR THE DUNDRUM RIVER
Please correct me if I am wrong whey I say that the stream flowing through the green space in my photographs is the River Slang
The River Slang , also known as the Dundrum Slang or the Dundrum River, a tributary of the River Dodder, is a stream which rises on Three Rock Mountain, County Dublin. It is in the jurisdiction of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.
This is new to me. I got off the tram at Windy Arbour and walked along St Columbanus Road which I never visited before and then I came across what could be described as a linear park on the banks of a small stream and I could not decide if I was in Dundrum. Clonskeagh, Milltown or Dundrum. Why Clonskeagh? Because Our Lady’s National School had a sign showing its address as Clonskeagh.
I asked two people who I met on my journey and one said Dundrum and the other said Milltown [the property foe sale advertisements appear to agree]. Later a friend told me that legally it is in Rathmines Great which came as a surprise but according to my friend Rathmines Great is in the Electoral Division of Dundrum, in Civil Parish of Taney, in the Barony of Rathdown, in the County of Dublin.
From Three Rock Woods on the northern slopes of Three Rock Mountain, the Slang flows down through Ticknock, passing Ballinteer north to Dundrum, where it (sometimes known this far as “Ticknock Stream”) receives the Wyckham Stream, and then loops east, north, and west, coming to a mill pond north of the Dundrum Town Centre retail complex. The Slang then runs north via Windy Arbour and subsequently joins the River Dodder at Milltown, near the Nine Arches viaduct, now used by the Luas.
The small Wyckham Stream, joining from the west, is a natural tributary, visible on early maps, but was later connected to the Little Dargle River, further west, to take some of the flow of that river into the Slang, to increase the supply for powering of mills.
Today there is a walk made by the County Council from south Dundrum to Marlay Park, along part of the Slang, the Wyckham Stream, and part of the Little Dargle.
THE RIVER DODDER AT MILLTOWN NEAR THE PACKHORSE BRIDGE
The old bridge in my photographs is Packhorse Bridge which is a 17th century structure now protected under the Dublin Development plan 2011 – 2017.
For many years I could not find the old bridge near the Nine Arches in Milltown and then about two years ago a very old gentleman who was standing on the bridge told me that it was the oldest bridge in Dublin but he could not remember its name however it had something to do with horses. He claimed that Oliver Cromwell visited the area and crossed the Dodder via the old narrow bridge.
When I returned home I was able to establish that it is known as Packhorse Bridge but little information relating to the actual bridge is available online.
A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the panniers borne by the horses. Multi-arched examples sometimes have triangular cutwaters that are extended upward to form pedestrian refuges.
Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes (often called packhorse routes) that formed major transport arteries across Europe and Great Britain until the coming of the turnpike roads and canals in the 18th century. Before the road-building efforts of Napoleon, all crossings of the Alps were on packhorse trails. Travellers’ carriages were dismantled and transported over the mountain passes by ponies and mule trains.
MAY THE ROAD RISE UP TO MEET YOU FROM MILLTOWN TO DUNDRUM VILLAGE
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Having walked along Dundrum Road today I realised that it is longer than I thought it was and I was exhausted by the time I got to the village having already walked from Bolton Street, in the City Centre. to Milltown.
A SELECTION OF HOUSES AND HOMES ALONG DUNDRUM ROAD
Having walked along Dundrum Road today I realised that it is longer than I thought it was and I was exhausted by the time I got to the village having already walked from Bolton Street, in the City Centre. to Milltown.
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