View source for Palmerstown

{{Short description|Suburb of Dublin, Ireland}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                   = Palmerstown
|native_name            = {{Native name|ga|Baile Phámar|paren=omit}}
|settlement_type        = Suburb
|image_skyline          = Palmerstown Village.JPG
|image_caption          = 
|pushpin_map            = Ireland
|pushpin_label_position = right
|pushpin_map_caption    = Location in Ireland
|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = Ireland
|subdivision_type1      = [[Provinces of Ireland|Province]]
|subdivision_name1      = [[Leinster]]
|subdivision_type2      = [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
|subdivision_name2      = [[South Dublin]]
|subdivision_type3      = [[Dáil Éireann]]
|subdivision_name3      = [[Dublin Mid-West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Mid-West]]
|subdivision_type4      = [[European Parliament]]
|subdivision_name4      = [[Dublin (European Parliament constituency)|Dublin]]
|established_title      = 
|established_date       = 
|unit_pref              = Metric
|area_footnotes         = 
|area_total_km2         = 
|population_as_of       = 2016
|population_footnotes   = 
|population_total       = 
|population_urban       = 11130
|population_density_km2 = auto
|timezone1              = [[West European Time|WET]] 
|utc_offset1            = +0
|timezone1_DST          = [[Irish Standard Time|IST]] ([[Western European Summer Time|WEST]]) 
|utc_offset1_DST        = -1
|coordinates            = {{coord|53.35|-6.379|dim:100000_region:IE|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation_footnotes    = <ref>[https://www.fallingrain.com/world/EI/07/Palmerston.html Maps, Weather, and Airports for Palmerston, Ireland<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
|elevation_m            = 17
|blank_name             = [[Irish grid reference system|Irish Grid Reference]]
|blank_info             = {{iem4ibx|O082345}}
|website                = {{URL|www.sdcc.ie}}
|footnotes              = 
}}
'''Palmerstown''' ({{Irish place name|Baile Phámar}}; officially '''Palmerston''', see [[#Name origin and spelling|spelling]]) is a [[Civil parishes in Ireland|civil parish]] and suburb in western [[Dublin]], Ireland on the banks of the [[River Liffey]]. It forms part of the [[South Dublin]] local authority and the [[Dublin Mid-West (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Mid-West]] parliamentary constituency. The area is bordered to the north by the River Liffey and the [[Strawberry Beds]], to the west by [[Lucan, Dublin|Lucan]], to the south-west by [[Clondalkin]], to the south by [[Ballyfermot]] and to the east by [[Chapelizod]]. Palmerstown village is situated near the [[Liffey Valley Shopping Centre]]. The area is near the junction of the [[M50 motorway (Ireland)|M50 motorway]] and the [[N4 road (Ireland)|N4 road]]. It lies approximately 7{{nbsp}}km west of [[Dublin|Dublin city centre]]. The Old Lucan Road, once the main western route out of the city, passes through the centre of Palmerstown village.

== Name origin and spelling ==
A "[[Palmer (pilgrim)|palmer]]" in medieval times was a pilgrim who returned from the [[Holy Land]] with a palm branch or leaf.<ref name="lee1967"/> Between 1185 and 1188 Ailred the Palmer and his wife took [[religious vows]] and founded a [[priory]] and [[Medieval hospital|monastic hospital]] of [[Crutched Friars]] outside the West Gate of Dublin, on the road to [[Kilmainham]], which they [[endowed]] with all their property.<ref name="Hennessy1988">{{cite book|editor-last1=Smyth|editor-first1=William J. |editor-last2=Whelan|editor-first2=Kevin |first=Mark |last=Hennessy|title=Common Ground: Essays on the Historical Geography of Ireland : Presented to T. Jones Hughes|year=1988|publisher=Cork University Press|pages=41–54 : 42–43 |chapter=The priory and hospital of New Gate: the evolution and decline of a medieval monastic estate}}</ref> In 1188 [[Pope Clement III]] confirmed the priory's grants, including both the parish of Palmerstown west of Kilmainham and the [[Palmerstown, Fingal|other parish of Palmerstown]] northwards in Fingal.<ref name="Hennessy1988"/> Gerard Lee notes an association of palmers with [[leper hospital]]s, of which there was one dedicated to [[Lawrence of Rome|Saint Laurence]] in the [[townland]] of the Saint Laurence in Palmerstown.<ref name="lee1967">{{cite journal|last=Lee|first=Gerard A.|date=June 1967|title=Leprosy and certain Irish placenames|journal=Dinnseanchas|volume=2|issue=3|pages=71–72|url=https://www.logainm.ie/Eolas/Data/Brainse/dinnseanchas-2-1966-1967.pdf#page=40|access-date=7 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.logainm.ie/en/57055|title=Saintlaurence|work=[[Placenames Database of Ireland]]|quote=This place appears to have taken its name from a leprosy hospital dedicated to the martyr Saint Laurence.|access-date=7 November 2014}}</ref>

The spelling "Palmerston" rather than "Palmerstown" was fixed by the [[Ordnance Survey of Ireland]] in the 1830s; this remains the legal spelling and is officially recognised by [[South Dublin County Council]].<ref>[http://www.southdublinhistory.ie/content.aspx?area=palmerston&type=chronology Palmerston - Chronology] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015031629/http://www.southdublinhistory.ie/content.aspx?area=palmerston&type=chronology |date=2014-10-15 }}</ref> Locals generally use "Palmerstown", and [[Road signs in Ireland|road signs]] have used both.<ref name="herald27886793"/> A [[plebiscite]] of residents is required for a legal name change.{{#tag:ref|Technically, the plebiscite is of [[rates (tax)#Ireland|ratepayer]]s, both business and domestic, as required by the Local Government Act 1946 and detailed in a 1956 [[statutory instrument]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sdcc.ie/en/download-it/publications/proposed-change-of-name-of-locality.pdf |title=Proposed Change Of Name Of A Locality (Palmerston Village To Palmerstown Village)|year=2014|publisher=South Dublin County Council|access-date=19 April 2018 |quote=In accordance with Section 79 of the Local Government Act 1946 and the Local Government (Changing of Place Names Regulations) 1956 (as amended by Section 67 of Local Government Act 1994)}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1956/si/31/made/en/print|title=S.I. No. 31/1956 - Local Government (Changing of Place Names) Regulations, 1956.|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Domestic rates have not been levied since 1978 but residents are still legally classed as ratepayers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1978/act/35/section/17/enacted/en/html|title=Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1978, Section 17|work=[[Irish Statute Book]]|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> The relevant provisions of the 1946 act are replaced by Part 18 of the [[Local Government Act 2001]], itself amended in 2011.<ref name="revisedacts2001">{{cite web|url=http://revisedacts.lawreform.ie/eli/2001/act/37/revised/en/html#SEC189|title=Local Government Act 2001|date=10 November 2017|work=Revised Acts of the Oireachtas|publisher=[[Law Reform Commission (Ireland)|Law Reform Commission]]|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> However, the 1956 provisions were used for the Palmerstown plebiscites held in 2009 and 2014, because Part 18 had not [[coming into force|commenced]].<ref name="revisedacts2001"/>|group="n"}} In 2009, a plebiscite to change to "Palmerstown" received a majority of votes cast but not of eligible voters.<ref name="herald29830212">[https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/council-faces-a-70k-bill-for-second-vote-in-name-row-over-palmerstown/29830212.html Council faces a €70k bill for second vote in name row over Palmersto(w)n]</ref> The area concerned was the townlands of Palmerston Upper and Palmerston Lower with an estimated electorate of 8,000.<ref>{{multiref|
{{cite web |title=July 2008 council meeting agenda |url=http://www.sdublincoco.ie/Meetings/Agenda/435?p=52 |no-pp=y |page=H 4 (e) (v) Plebiscite for Palmerston |publisher=South Dublin County Council}}|
{{cite web |title=H 4 (e) (v) Plebiscite for Palmerston - Report |url=http://www.sdublincoco.ie/Meetings/ViewDocument/18522 |website=July 2008 council meeting agenda |publisher=South Dublin County Council}}|
{{cite web |title=H 4 (e) (v) Plebiscite for Palmerston - Townland Map |url=http://www.sdublincoco.ie/Meetings/ViewDocument/18680 |format=[[JPEG]] |website=July 2008 council meeting agenda |publisher=South Dublin County Council}}|}}</ref> Supporters of the change argued that the wording of the ballot confused some voters who wanted "Palmerstown" but voted No.<ref name="herald29830212"/> They also argue the spelling without W creates confusion with [[Palmerston Park, Dublin|Palmerston Park]] further east in [[Rathmines]].<ref name="herald29830212"/> Opponents argue the cost of changing road signs is prohibitive.<ref name="herald29830212"/> Others argue that the name "Palmerston" legally applies only to the [[Civil parishes in Ireland|civil parish]] and townland, and that the locality known as "Palmerstown" has a separate identity.<ref name="herald27886793">[https://www.independent.ie/regionals/herald/palmerston-will-vote-to-end-a-very-bad-spell/27886793.html Palmerston will vote to end a very bad spell]</ref> In 2014, another plebiscite was held, restricted to the [[electoral division (Ireland)|electoral division]] (ED) of [[#Palmerstown village|Palmerston Village]] (bounded by the Liffey, [[M50 motorway (Ireland)|M50]], and [[N4 road (Ireland)|N4]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sdcc.ie/en/download-it/publications/plebiscite-boundary-map.pdf |title=Plebiscite boundary map |year=2014|publisher= South Dublin County Council|access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref>) and excluding the adjoining ED of Palmerston West.<ref name="thejournal1879108">{{cite news|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/palmerstown-name-change-1879108-Jan2015/|title=Palmerston or Palmerstown? ... Residents have voted on a name change|last=Brophy|first=Daragh|date=13 January 2015|work=[[TheJournal.ie]]|access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref> The electorate was 641, of whom 425 voted in favour and 17 against;<ref>{{cite news |last1=Begley |first1=Ian |title=Letter 'W' returns to Palmerstown |url=https://issuu.com/robheigh/docs/lucan_5a2e4f5ba80d8f |access-date=19 December 2021 |work=Dublin <!-- not [[Dublin Gazette]] -->Gazette |date=2–7 January 2015 |page=2}}</ref> the change to "Palmerstown Village" was formally approved at the county council meeting in January 2015.<ref name="thejournal1879108" />

The title [[Viscount Palmerston]] created in 1722 in the [[Peerage of Ireland]] derives from the place;<ref>{{cite book|title=The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor-law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical Arrangements, and Compiled with a Special Reference to the Lines of Railroad and Canal Communication, as Existing in 1844–45|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1HMuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA68|access-date=7 November 2014|volume=III: N-Z|year=1846|publisher=A. Fullarton and Company|page=68|chapter=Palmerstown}}</ref> its spelling also varied,<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Hart|first=John |author-link=John O'Hart|title=Irish pedigrees; or, The origin and stem of the Irish nation|url=https://archive.org/stream/cu31924092516297#page/n317/mode/2up|year=1880|publisher=Gill|location=Dublin|page=286|quote=The Temples, viscounts Palmerstown or Palmerston. }}</ref> but the form "Lord Palmerston" is now usual for [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|the Victorian prime minister]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n81019980.html|title=Palmerston, Henry John Temple, Viscount, 1784-1865 |work=[[Library of Congress Control Number|LC Linked Data Service]] |publisher=[[Library of Congress]]|access-date=7 November 2014}}</ref>

== Townlands ==
The civil parish of Palmerstown is the most northerly parish in the former [[List of baronies of Ireland|Barony of Uppercross]]. Much of Palmerstown has been developed for residential, transportation and commercial purposes over the last half century. [[Townland]]s include:<ref>[http://www.logainm.ie/Viewer.aspx?text=Palmerstown&streets=no Placenames Database of Ireland]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} - Palmerstown townlands</ref>
* Palmerston Lower 
* Palmerston Upper 
* Irishtown
* Saint Laurence
* Johnstown
* Palmerstown Manor
* Yellow Walls
* Fonthill
* Redcowfarm
* Woodfarm 
* Quarryvale
* Brooklawn
* Liffey Valley

=== Palmerstown village ===
[[File:Stewarts Hospital.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The main building of Stewartscare and HSE from Mill Lane]]
[[File:PalmerstownChurch.jpg|thumb|250px|left|The church in Palmerstown village]]
The townlands of Palmerstown Upper and Palmerstown Lower straddle the old Lucan Road, which was the ancient western highway. Many of Palmerstown's local amenities are located in a cluster along the road. Robin Villas and Hollyville were labourers' cottages built at the beginning of the last century. The old national school is now a community centre. Stewarts Hospital, (formerly the residence of the [[Earl of Donoughmore|Hely-Hutchinson]] family, the Roman Catholic Church of St. Philomena, the National School and a variety of general enterprises, including a bank and convenience stores, are located here. Stewartscare is a health care facility at the Stewarts buildings and grounds, which overlook the meandering Liffey valley. The Stewarts complex houses the administration of the Irish [[Health Service Executive]]. Stewarts Sports and Leisure centre is open to the general public. It also hosts an annual summer camp.

=== Redcow Farm and Glenaulin Park ===
[[File:Glenaulin Park.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Glenaulin Park, adjacent to St. Patrick's GAA Club and home to many local sports fixtures]]
This area was the location of the first modern housing development in Palmerstown, constructed between 1955 and 1965. Centred on Manor road, this area contains several shops, the local credit union and a doctor's surgery. To the east of Redcow Farm, adjacent to the "California Hills" Park, is Glenaulin Park, a public park also home to [[St. Patricks GAA Palmerstown|St. Patricks GAA club]]. The park contains a short stretch of a local stream, the ''Glenaulin Stream'', a Liffey tributary most of which runs in culvert.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Rivers and Streams of the Dublin Region: Dublin city, Fingal, South Dublin & Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown |date=2018 |publisher=Rath Eanna Research |isbn=978-09566363-8-6 |location=Dublin, Ireland |oclc=1237252174}}</ref>

The name 'California Hills' was given by the children of the area{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} to a small wasteland in Ballyfermot to the northeast of Glenaulin Park, which had been a builders' dump during the construction of the main Palmerstown Estate in the mid to late 1960s. The wasteland had a series of small hills, which were in fact mounds of rubble which had been buried under clay and eventually over grown with wild grass. The children of the area sometimes shortened the name to 'The Caliers'{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} and this name is also still in use today. The hills or mounds were flattened some years ago,{{when|date=May 2025}} and the area was landscaped for communal/public use.

=== Palmerstown Lower ===
Mill Lane leads to the original Palmerstown settlement and the centre of industry, which once employed over 600 millhands, craftsmen, and labourers. This seventeenth-century low-lying waterside industrial village was complete with flax, seed, oil, flour and cloth mills.<ref>Registry of Deeds, Dublin. Memorial: 24-316-13903. "A Memoriall of a Deed of Mortgage Indented dated the fifteenth day of September One Thousand Seven hundred and Nineteen... Reciting that Joshua Willson of Palmerstown in the County of Dublin, Gent, by lease dated the 28/03/1717 did demise and sett unto John Byrne two stocks of mills for milling of cloath formerly in the possession of William Watson and James Watson and also an appartment in the house adjoyning unto the said Mills with part of a garden and stable formerly sett out and sett to the said William and James Watson, which premisses are scituate in the town of Palmerstown aforesaid and bounded on the river that runs under the lands belonging to the great house of Palmerstown" [https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSH3-9799-K?i=487&cat=185720]</ref> The ruin of a pre-Norman church and the remains of the once prosperous thriving community are situated near the river. A small ferry crossed the Liffey here, to where the Wren's Nest pub was situated on the North side. A football ground opposite the river Liffey is home to Palmerstown F.C. [[Muhammad Ali]] visited Stewarts Hospital on 15 July 1972 when the hospital was hosting its annual sporting fete.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://comeheretome.com/2016/06/09/when-muhammad-ali-came-to-palmerstown/|title=When Muhammad Ali came to Palmerstown.|date=2016-06-09|website=Come Here To Me!|access-date=2016-12-02}}</ref>

=== Palmerstown Manor ===
Palmerstown's largest housing estate was built in the early 1990s in the south east of the area. Adjacent to the Coldcut and Kennelsfort roads and the M50 motorway, the estate marks the 'border' between Palmerstown with [[Ballyfermot]] and [[Clondalkin]].

=== Woodfarm Acres ===
The townland of Woodfarm Acres was mostly farmland, with a few council cottages that previously existed on the site. This housing development was built during the 1970s. The estate is bounded by the M50 motorway and N4. Adjacent to Woodfarm Acres is another shopping centre containing a grocery store, a gym, the youth centre, and other amenities. Access to the local cemetery is adjacent to this centre.  Also located nearby is ''Pobalscoil Isolde'', a secondary-level community school which opened in the 1980s.

=== Oakcourt ===
The Oakcourt housing estate lies in the western part of the 59-acre Johnstown townland, behind Pobalscoil Iosolde. It was originally developed in the 1970s, and expanded in the mid-1990s. The Johnstown townland extends due west from the Georgian Johnstown House (now St. John's College) on Le Fanu Rd. It runs west to Kennelsfort Road and lies between St. Laurence townland (the St. Laurence House is now the West County Hotel) from the River Liffey and Chapelizod in the north, to Ballyfermot Upper/Blackditch in the south.

== Transport ==

=== Bus ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2025}}
[[Dublin Bus]] provides services east to Dublin city and west to [[Lucan]], [[Celbridge]], [[Leixlip]], and [[Maynooth]].

Route 80 operates from [[Liffey Valley]] to Palmerston Park in Rathmines via Kennelsfort Road Upper and Chapelizod.

Route L55, a local route, runs from the Old Lucan Road to [[Chapelizod]]  via Ballyfermot.

Route G2 operates via the Coldcut road to Spencer Dock via Dublin city.

Routes C1, C2, C3 and C4 operate via the Chapelizod Bypass to [[Ringsend]] or [[Sandymount]] via Dublin City.

=== Former rail station ===
Palmerstown railway station on the [[Dublin and Lucan tramway]], later part of the [[Dublin United Transport Company]] tram system, opened in November 1881 and closed on 13 April 1940.<ref>{{cite web | title=Palmerstown station | work=Railscot - Irish Railways | url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf | access-date=2007-11-22}}</ref>

== Waterstown Park <span class="anchor" id="Waterstown Park"></span> ==

<!-- "Waterstown Park" redirects here. -->


Waterstown Park is a public park on the [[Bank (geography)|right bank]] of the [[River Liffey]] ({{Coord|53.36|-6.37|region:IE-D|format=dec|name=Waterstown Park|display=inline}}). It was a farm until the 1980s.

The park consists of woodland, wet grassland, and mature hedgerows, and it contains 300 species of plants, animals, birds, and insects. Bird species include blackbirds, blackcaps, bullfinches, buzzards, chiffchaffs, dunnocks, jays, kingfishers, long-tailed tits, ravens, robins, siskins, sparrowhawks, and willow warblers.

There is a 5{{nbsp}}km track for walking, jogging, and cycling; a dog park; exercise equipment; a picnic area; and a children's playground was added in September 2019.<ref>
* {{cite web
	| title = Waterstown Park
	| access-date = 2025-05-25
	| website = [[South Dublin County Council]]
	| url = https://www.sdcc.ie/en/services/sport-and-recreation/parks/waterstown-park.html
}}
* {{cite web
	| title = Waterstown Park
	| access-date = 2025-05-25
	| website = Dublin Guide
	| url = https://www.dublinguide.ie/places/waterstown-park
}}
* {{cite web
	| title = Waterstown Park, Palmerstown
	| first = Des
	| last = Higgins
	| date = 2023-01-08
	| website = [[BirdWatch Ireland]] – South Dublin Branch
	| url = https://www.southdublinbirds.com/reports/outings23/reports49.php
}}</ref>

== Palmerstown Cemetery ==
Palmerstown Cemetery on Kennelsfort Road opened in 1978. It is managed as part of the Dublin Cemeteries Trust.<ref>{{cite web
	| title = Palmerstown Cemetery
	| access-date = 2025-05-25
	| website = Dublin Cemeteries Trust
	| url = https://www.dctrust.ie/location/palmerstown.html
}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland]]

== Footnote ==
{{Reflist|group="n"}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.southdublinhistory.ie South Dublin County History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410184151/http://www.southdublinhistory.ie/ |date=10 April 2022 }}
* [http://www.southdublinimages.ie South Dublin County Images] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111022133827/http://www.southdublinimages.ie/ |date=22 October 2011 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090404064257/http://prfc.ie/ Palmerstown Rangers Football Club Website]
* [http://www.stpatricksgaa.ie St Patricks GAA Hurling, Football and Camogie Club Website]

{{Dublin residential areas}}

[[Category:Palmerstown| ]]
[[Category:Towns and villages in South Dublin (county)]]
[[Category:Civil parishes of Uppercross]]