Clondalkin Village, Dublin 22

• Clondalkin is a suburb in south west Dublin situated approximately 4.6km north of Tallaght, 12km south of Lucan and 14km west of Dublin city centre.
• Local amenities include Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Clarion Hotel Dublin, Newlands Golf Club, The Mill Centre and Corkagh Park together with a range of local shops, bars and restaurants.
• Transport connections are provided by the M50 Motorway, the Luas red line, together with Dublin Bus routes (13,68 & 69)

Clondalkin history

Situated on the heights over the estuary of the River Liffey, historically it guarded the inland pass between the mountains and the river. This advantageous location first attracted Neolithic settlers around 7,600 years ago. It was an early monastic settlement (hence the famous round tower) before being sacked by the Vikings and playing host to a major battle during the Norman invasion. By 1547 it was described as a “walled and good town”.

1933 photo of Clondalkin Paper Mills

A 1933 photo of Clondalkin Paper Mills facing north. Taken by the British on a survey mission, it shows the vast workings of the site in contrast to the sparse fields that surrounded it back then. Hard to believe Clondalkin ever even looked like that! It would only be a couple more decades before things changed very fast.

The buildings which house and the heritage centre are standing as they had done for the previous 70 years. The camac you can see as it comes pass the Mill tower stack, now of course covered under the car park. The OMAC business centre building stands on the corner where it was originally a grocers by the name of Furlongs.

1970s

It wasn’t until the 1970s that the current neighbourhood as we know it began to take shape with large-scale house building. Clondalkin was one of Dublin’s “new towns” proposed in 1967, and the Corporation and County Council built most of the homes initially.

Affordable neighborhood

Clondalkin is one of a shrinking number of neighborhoods left in Dublin that could reasonably be described as ‘affordable’. It’s got great transport links and is handy for the Square and Liffey Valley shopping centres with strong communities in the estates and an absolute abundance of schools.

The area is centred around the old Clondalkin village just west of the M50, with substantial hinterlands stretching north to Lucan and south to Tallaght. Among other things, it’s regarded as an unusual urban centre for the Irish language and culture, and is also home to Dublin’s first outlet of the clean-eating, houmous-making, naked-swimming phenomenon that is the Happy Pear.

House prices

Clondalkin is one of the least expensive areas in Dublin – in fact, just eight neighborhoods of the 118 tracked by Daft.ie are cheaper overall. The average asking price for a property here is currently €234,143 – well below the city average of roughly €395,000.

Places to eat

East Village Coffee is a fine neighbourhood coffee place on Monastery Road, opened at the end of 2016. They do breakfast, lunch and a good cuppa.

Alternatives: There’s the aforementioned Happy Pear café at the round tower, serving the brothers’ trademark selection of natural treats. Or on the other side of Clondalkin try the Honeycomb Bakery, in the ACE Enterprise Park on the Bawnogue Road.

Directions to Clondalkin Village

Visible from all directions, the dominant feature of Clondalkin village is its round tower. The Annals of Ulster record that the relics of St Kevin and St Mochua were taken on tour in 790 AD.

It is thought that the Clondalkin Round Tower was built around this period. A visitor centre and gardens opened at the tower in June 2017, telling its 1,200-year story.

Frequently asked question