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There have been airports in the area for almost a century. In early 1918, a Royal Air Force airbase was constructed adjoining the Belgard Road

in Tallaght, on the land that is now occupied by the Cookstown Industrial Estate. The base was made up of six aeroplane hangars and a

number of outbuildings, and was used for pilot training. When the First World War came to an end, operations were transferred to Baldonnel,

further west. Even though the Belgard base was subsequently used as a chocolate factory, it was still seen as a potential threat by the German

Luftwae, who marked the aireld on an aerial photo of Tallaght taken during the Second World War.

Casement Aerodrome in Baldonnel has a long and illustrious history. Aer Linguss rst passenger ight left from the airport in May 1936. It has

been used for many years by the Irish Air Corps; government aircraft and the Garda helicopter also operate from the base. Recently, Queen

Elizabeth II arrived at Baldonnel during her state visit to Ireland.

Baldonnel is associated with two historic aviation feats. On 12th April 1928, the rst East-West non-stop transatlantic ight, in a plane named

the Bremen, took o from the aerodrome, landing the next day at Greenly Island, Labrador, Canada. Capt. James Fitzmaurice of Rathcoole was

one of the three-man crew. The crossing made headlines in newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. In New York City, thousands of people

greeted the yers, who were awarded the US Distinguished Flying Cross by President Calvin Coolidge.

On 18th July 1938, Douglas Wrong Way Corrigans Curtiss Robin J-1 plane descended from the clouds and landed at Baldonnel, having left

New York 28 hours and 13 minutes earlier. Corrigan had applied for permission to y across the Atlantic back in 1935, but had been refused

because his plane was deemed unsound. This time, he had been scheduled to y from New York back to California, but claimed that he got

lost along the way, and ew to Dublin instead. The story made him an instant hero the New York Post wittily printed the headline Hail

Wrong Way Corrigan in reverse on its front page and in 1939 he starred as himself in a Hollywood lm, The Flying Irishman. Journalist H.R.

Knickerbocker wrote of Corrigans plane: as I looked over it at the Dublin aerodrome I really marvelled that anyone should have been rash

enough even to go in the air with it, much less try to y the Atlantic.

This poster is one of six featuring aspects of local heritage on display at stops along the Luas line to Saggart. This

temporary exhibition will be on the Luas stops and in South Dublin County Library in August. As part of Heritage Week

you can also take part in a Saggart Village Heritage Walk on Saturday 20th August at 2pm. To sign up and for more

information see www.luas.ie or www.southdublinlibraries.ie

The content for this temporary exhibition has been prepared by Local History Researchers on behalf of South Dublin County Libraries and the

Railway Procurement Agency.

Aviation in Belgard and Baldonnel

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The new Luas line to Saggart passes through what was in eect a frontier zone between Anglo-Norman and Gaelic Irish settlement in the

fteenth century. The lands in this area have a unique character which reects that frontier history.

The Pale

The Anglo-Normans rst colonized Ireland in the late 12th century AD. The country then became a lordship of the King of England, whose

representatives seized large areas of land. During the period of conict that followed, the Irish succeeded in reducing the area of English

Crown control to a small territory around Dublin which became known as the Pale. The Pale extended from Dundalk in Co. Louth to the port

of Dalkey just south of Dublin, and included parts of Meath and Kildare.

Defending the Pale frontier

The settlers along the Pale frontier experienced sustained resistance from the Gaelic Irish and needed fortied structures to protect

themselves against raids. In 1429 the English crown provided a grant of 10 to its Irish lords to build up these defences around the Pale territory.

The most common element was a single tower house, of 40 ft or more in height.

Tower houses in the area of the Luas line to Saggart

The lands around Fettercairn Stop were located within the Pale boundary and were dotted with tower houses in the townlands of Cheeverstown,

Jobstown and Belgard. Saggart had two of these tower houses, one of which is still visible today about 220m from the Luas stop. This tower

house has been modied and refurbished over time. A small bronze gaming piece found at Swiftbrook House in Saggart during the 1940s

and decorated with an antlered stag may have been associated with Saggarts second castle located nearby, of which there are now no visible

remains.

Neither the Cheeverstown nor Jobstown examples remain standing, though the tower house at Cheeverstown was still standing in 1978.

Belgards medieval tower house still exists, though it has been altered over time and is now incorporated into an 18th century mansion,

which serves as the headquarters of Cement-Roadstone Holdings.



you can also take part in a Saggart Village Heritage Walk on Saturday 20th August at 2pm. To sign up and for moreinformation see www.luas.ie or www.southdublinlibraries.ie



MEDIEVAL FRONTIERS

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Tallaghts location on the edge of the city makes it an ideal place for sporting activity, not least soccer. When housing estates were built in the

area in the 1970s and 1980s, planning regulations ensured that these estates adjoined green spaces which could be used for the purposes of

leisure and amenity. These green spaces have long been used by local soccer clubs for competitive matches. Many of these pitches are

administered by the Parks Department of South Dublin County Council.

A number of top-level players grew up in Tallaght. Robbie Keane comes from the area, and played rst for local side Fettercairn. After moving

on to Crumlin United, he came to the attention of English clubs. Signing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 1997, he scored twice on his

professional debut in a 2-0 win against Norwich City.

At club level, Robbie Keane has played for Inter Milan, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Celtic. Keane, the current captain of

the national side, is the Republic of Irelands all-time record goalscorer, and has made over a hundred appearances for his country. He was

part of Mick McCarthys World Cup squad in 2002, scoring three goals in Irelands four games.

Keane lines up alongside other high-prole Irish internationals from Tallaght: Richard Dunne, the Aston Villa defender who has also played

for Everton and Manchester City, and Keith Fahey, the Birmingham City midelder, formerly of St Patricks Athletic. All are key members of the

current Ireland squad.

On 13th March 2009, League of Ireland football nally arrived in Tallaght when Shamrock Rovers the most successful club in the Republic

of Irelands football history played their rst home game in the new Tallaght Stadium. That summer, Rovers came up against Real Madrid in

a friendly match played in Tallaght. The high-prole xture was notable for the debut appearance for the Spanish club of Cristiano Ronaldo,

who had recently moved from Manchester United; the game was broadcast live by Sky Sports.

Since then, Tallaght Stadium has enjoyed many dramatic nights, including, in July 2010, a visit from Italian side Juventus in the Europa

League. In October 2010, Shamrock Rovers became league champions for the rst time in 16 years, bringing the League of Ireland trophy

back to the clubs home ground in Tallaght.



you can also take part in a Saggart Village Heritage Walk on Saturday 20th August at 2pm. To sign up and for moreinformation see www.luas.ie or www.southdublinlibraries.ie



Soccer in Tallaght

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The Tallaght and Saggart areas have long been sites of industr y. Mills once dotted the fast-owing Dodder and Camac rivers, and stone was

extracted from many quarries in the nearby hills. Swiftbrook Paper Mill in Saggart dated from around 1760.

In the twentieth century, manufacturing expanded dramatically. In 1924, Urney Chocolates moved to the disused RAF aireld on Belgard

Road, Tallaght from the companys old factory in Co. Tyrone. During the Second World War, import restrictions were imposed by Britain, but

these restrictions didnt apply to Ireland. As a result, Urney proted: exports to Britain rose, reaching their peak in 1953. In June 1965 a new

three-unit plant was opened in Tallaght by the then Taoiseach Sen Lemass. By this time the factory was increasingly automated, but it was

still a very large employer: almost a thousand people worked for the company and its subsidiaries. Subsequently, however, the company

went into decline, and the factory closed its doors in August 1980. Urney s much-loved brands included the Two and Two, the Regal bar and,

a much later brand, the Catch bar.

On 17th November 1975, Jacobs new biscuit factory, also on Belgard Road, was ocially opened. The factory had moved from two sites:

Bishop Street in the city centre and Deansgrange, near Dun Laoghaire. The company found that about 60% of their employees lived in the

Crumlin and Walkinstown areas, relatively close to Tallaght, and believed that the new factory was ideally located. At the time of its construction,the factory on Belgard Road was the second largest industrial site in Ireland. The total cost of the building was estimated at 15 million.

Jacobs was a major employer in Tallaght throughout its time on the Belgard Road, employing well over a thousand people at its height.

Jacobs produced well-known brands such as Mikado, Kimberley and Fig Rolls from its Tallaght factory. However, in early 2008, the factory

ceased operations.

Nevertheless, industrial expansion in the area continued, embracing new developments in digital technology in the eort to compete on an

international level. In 1991, planning permission was granted for a new campus-style business park near Saggart. Citywest aimed to attract

multinational companies to Ireland, and to provide suitable facilities for information-based businesses. The campus is now home to 150

companies from 10 dierent countries, and to the DCU Ryan Academy, a centre for entrepreneurship.







Industry in Tallaght and Saggart

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For almost fty years, the Dublin and Blessington Steam Tramway could be seen running along the roadsides of South Dublin. The tramway

opened on 1st August 1888, running between Terenure and Blessington; the line was extended to Poulaphouca in 1895. The trams route

took it through Tallaght village, past Jobstown and through the Slade of Saggart via Crooksling. The construction of the Steam Tramway was

enabled by the Light Railways Act, passed in 1871. The act allowed companies to use steam trams on rails set along public roads. It provided

a cheaper way to build railways, as, in most cases, no land needed to be bought for the route of the tram.

The Blessington Tram became a vital part of local peoples everyday lives: their post was carried by the tram; local farmers transported churns

of milk in the tram to Dublin; on Sundays, Dominican priests travelled from the Priory in Tallaght village to say mass in both Crosschapel Halt

and Blessington. Soldiers were a common sight, climbing from the tram at Brittas before marching towards their camp at nearby Manor Kilbride.

An 1897 law meant that public houses were open on Sundays only to customers who could prove that they had travelled three miles or moreto get to the pub. A three mile trip on the tram allowed people to get around the law: most of the tramways stops were near pubs.

During the Civil War, tramway services were disrupted on a number of occasions. On 1st July 1922 members of the South Dublin Brigade of

the Irish Republican Army (IRA) were ordered to retreat to Blessington; on the way, they derailed a tram to stop the Free State Army using the

railway. On 13th April 1923, the mail train from Terenure was held up at Brittas by four armed men, who put the engine in reverse back

towards Dublin. The tram ran o the tracks at a sharp corner, narrowly avoiding a collision with an oncoming goods train.

On New Years Eve, 1932, the tram made its nal journey. Crowds stood along the route to wave the tram on its way. It was neither quiet nor

beautiful, a journalist for the Irish Times remarked. Yet people liked it, and will regret its passing.







The Dublin and Blessington

Steam Tramway

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A monk called Mosacra chose Saggart as the location for his monastery in the 7th century. The name Saggart in fact comes from the Irish

Teach Sacra which means house of Sacra. A village would later form around the modest ecclesiastical site and mark the beginning of Saggart

as the vibrant heritage village it is today. Mosacras monastery was located in what is now Saggart cemetery and many elements of its former

past can still be found there just a stroll away from the Saggart Stop.

Monastery within Saggart Cemetery

The monastery can now be traced as an oval-shaped enclosure at the southern extent of the cemetery. It is clearly shown on the 25 inch

Ordnance Survey map of the area published in 1870 and can also be identied in modern aerial photos of the village. The enclosure now

surrounds the ruined grass-covered foundations of a later medieval church. It is likely that the earliest church at the site was made from

perishable wood as stone churches only became widespread from the eleventh century onwards.

Pilgrims Stone

A carved stone slab known locally as the Pilgrims Stone can also be found a short distance to the west of the ruined church near the

cemeterys boundary wall. The slab is decorated with a double-headed ringed cross and is considered 10th century in date. It is now uprightand set into the ground but originally it would have lain at to mark the location of a grave. The identity of the individual and location of the

grave is now forgotten but we can surmise that it was someone important to the monastery.

Stone Cross

Also to be found within Saggart cemetery, are the remains of two stone crosses. One of these is an Early Christian stone cross decorated with

a ringed-cross on each side. Stone crosses of this type are found throughout Ireland during this period and were often erected within an

ecclesiastic site to act as a focus for worship or to mark out an area of sanctuary or a grave.

Carved Stone Figure

One of the earliest artefacts from the Saggart ecclesiastical site was uncovered by grave diggers during the 1940s. It is a roughly carved stone

gure and the face has wide protruding eyes, bulging cheeks and a grinning mouth. The style of the carving suggests that this gure is very

early in date and may be associated with the earliest Christian settlement at Saggart.







Saggarts Early Christian Origins

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