Baldoyle ACA

Baldoyle Architectural Conservation Area Statement of Character Contents • Introduction • Location & Boundary of Architectural Conservation Area • Historical Development of the Area • Schedule of Protected Structures & Recorded Monuments • Development Plan Zoning & Objectives • Description of Existing Built Environment • Summary of Special Character • Implications for Planning and Development 1 NOTE: This document includes Ordnance Survey Ireland data reproduced under OSi Licence number 2003/07/CCMA/Fingal County Council. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Ordnance Survey Ireland and Government of Ireland copyright. ©Ordnance Survey Ireland, 2006. Permission has been granted by the Map Library, Trinity College Library, Dublin for the reproduction of Figures 2, 3, 5 and 6 which are extracts from early historic maps including John Rocque’s Map of County Dublin 1760, John Taylor’s Map of the Environs of Dublin 1816 and early Ordnance Survey Maps. Permission has also been granted by the National Library of Ireland to reproduce the late 19 th century photograph of the Sisters of Charity Convent (Figure 4). Library Reference Number VAL 205173. 2 Introduction Many of the towns and villages of Fingal contain areas of architectural, historical, and/or cultural interest, which have a particular distinctive character considered worthy of retention and enhancement. Planning legislation allows a planning authority to include objectives in the County Development Plan to preserve the character of a place, area, group of structures or townscapes, taking account of building lines and heights, that: is of special architectural, historical, archaeological, artistic, cultural, scientific, social or technical interest or value or contributes to the appreciation of protected structures. The title given to these areas or places is Architectural Conservation Areas, or ACAs for short. Currently, there are 28 ACAs designated in Fingal. An ACA could encompass, for example, a terrace of houses, a whole streetscape, town centre, or a small cluster of structures associated with a specific building such as a mill or country house. Most structures in an ACA are important in how they positively contribute to the streetscape or character of an area. Therefore, in ACAs the protection relates to the external appearance of such areas or structures. Any works that would have a material effect (i.e. impact) on the character of an ACA require planning permission, even works that are outlined in the Planning Regulations as not normally needing planning permission, and known as Exempted Development ... This does not prevent alterations, extensions or new build within ACA’s but the designation seeks to ensure that any new development respects or enhances the special character of the area and is carried out in consultation with the Planning Department and Conservation Officer, usually through a planning application. This document is one in a series that set out to identify the special character of each individual ACA and give guidance to homeowners, developers and planning professionals on the type of works that would require planning permission in that specific area. 3 Location and Boundary of the Conservation Area Baldoyle is located in a sheltered inlet along the northern coast of Dublin county, between Portmarnock and the Howth/Sutton peninsula. It is about 11 miles from Dublin City Centre, and is now virtually a suburb of the city. The ACA for Baldoyle encompasses the area bounded by Dublin Street, College Street, Willie Nolan Road and Main Street, which includes the institutional complexes of St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Secondary School, and the Convent of the Sisters of Charity. The streets included with the ACA boundary are: • Back Lane • College Street • Dublin Street • Main Street • Parochial Avenue • Seapoint Avenue • Willie Nolan Road The houses on Back Lane have individual property names rather than street numbers. On College Street the numbering starts on the western side of the road at the junction with Weldon’s Lane running southwards from No. 2 to the An Post building at No. 27. The numbering on the eastern side of College Street, from the junction with Back Lane to Seapoint Lane, runs northwards from No. 29 to No. 40. The terrace of houses on Parochial Avenue are numbered No. 1 to No. 6 on the western side from the junction with Back Lane northwards towards Seapoint House, and No. 7 to No. 16 on the eastern side in a north to south direction. On Main Street, the building numbers within the boundary of the ACA, start at Grainger’s Pub at the junction with Seapoint Avenue, which is Nos. 12/13 on the western side of the road and continue southwards until No. 23 just before St. Mary’s Secondary School and the junction with Dublin Street. 4 Fig. 1 Boundary of Baldoyle ACA 5 Historical Development of the Area The name Baldoyle derives from the Irish Baile Dubhgaill which translates as the town of Doyle or Dubhgall, a personal name which itself originates from the Gaelic for dark foreigner, a term used for the Danish Vikings, and a possible indication that Baldoyle was a viking settlement. In the late 12 th century Dermot McMurrough, King of Leinster, gave the land of Baldoyle to the Priory of All Hallows, and the land was used as a grange (farm). A chapel was built on the Grange to serve as a parish church for the rural community, probably at the start of 14 th century. This chapel was known as Grange Abbey, the remains of which are still visible off Grange Road. The Priory of All Hallows was dissolved at the start of the 16 th Fig. 2 Extract from Rocque’s century and the lands at Grange given to Sir Edward Map of County Dublin 1760 Fitzsimons. The development of the village of Baldoyle appears to be closely tied to its maritime heritage, growing from a small fishing community to a Bathing Resort and Coastguard Station in the 19 th century. Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Dictionary of the Parishes, Towns and Villages of Dublin City and County (1837) describes Baldoyle as being “ pleasantly situated on an inlet or creek of the Irish Sea, to the north of the low isthmus that connects Howth with the mainland: it comprises about 200 houses, and is much frequented in summer for seabathing. 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 .” Fig. 3 ExtExtractract for Ordnance Survey Map circa 18371837----43434343 6 The Catholic Church of St. Peter and St Paul dates to the early 1830s and the single- storey structures on either side (currently a dwelling and the parish centre) are the original local Boys’ and Girls’ National Schools dating to the same period. The Sisters of Charity established their convent in Baldoyle in 1869, while the Christian Brother novitate school was founded in 1885. Throughout the 20 th century Baldoyle was Courtesy of the National Library of Ireland chiefly known for its racecourse, which was ththth established in 1860 but closed in the 1970’s and is Fig. 4 Late 19 cencenturytury photo of the Sisters of Charity Convent currently being developed for housing. The core of the ACA consists of the terraces of simple single-storey residences and the institutional buildings of the secondary school and hospital. St. Mary’s Hospital was built in the mid-1950’s, while the school, initially the Christian Brothers Novitate School founded in 1885, became a girls secondary school in 1972. The terraces of cottages along College Street, Main Street, and the west side of Parochial Avenue appear, based on the historic maps, to be mostly early to mid-19 th century in date. As with the core of any settlement there have been changes to these buildings over the decades, with the infilling of gaps, demolition and rebuild, as well as alterations both externally and internally. However, the Fig. 5 Extract from Ordnance Survey Map 1869 overall appearance of the streetscape of single-storey, two- to three-bay structures with slate roofs, brick chimneys and rendered stone walls has remained consistent, with the two large institutional complexes at either end of the area. 7 Schedule of Protected Structures & Recorded Monuments There are no Protected Structures within the boundaries of the Architectural Conservation Area. There are also no archaeological sites, features, artefacts, etc., listed as Recorded Monuments on the Record of Monuments and Places, within the boundaries of the ACA. Development Plan Zoning & Objectives In the Fingal Development Plan 2005 –2011 the lands along Main Street, St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Secondary School Complex, as well as Parochial House and the eastern side of Parochial Avenue are zoned Objective SC – To protect and enhance the special physical and social character of major suburban centres and provide and/or improve urban facilities. The remaining lands within the ACA on College Street and the western side of Parochial Avenue are zoned Objective RS - To provide for residential development and to protect and improve residential amenity . 8 Description of Existing Built Environment • Street patterpatternn & materials The street pattern within Baldoyle still reflects the early morphology of the settlement. The one primary route visible on John Rocque’s map of 1760 (see Fig. 2), appears to matches the orientation and position of modern day Main Street. Most of the other streets within the ACA are apparent on Taylor’s Map of the County from 1816 (see Fig. 5). However, Parochial Avenue seems to have developed slightly later with the western terrace of houses marked on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey Maps, circa 1837 but the terrace on the eastern side does not appear Fig. 6 Extract from Taylor’s Map until the 1909 edition of the Ordnance Survey Maps.

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