Carrickmines is suburb of Dublin in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. Located to the south-east of Dublin city, its county seat is the town of Dún Laoghaire. It is one of the four constituent parts of the Dublin Region...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

. Traditionally a location for large expensive houses, being situated just south of Foxrock

Foxrock

Foxrock is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County, in the postal district of Dublin 18 and in the parish of Foxrock.-History:...

. The area is now divided north/south by the M50 motorway

M50 motorway (Ireland)

The M50 motorway is a motorway in Ireland running in a C-shaped ring around the north-eastern, northern, western and southern sides of the capital city, Dublin. The northern end of the route is located at the entrance to the Dublin Port Tunnel. Anti-clockwise it heads northwest through the tunnel...

 and its associated Junction 15. To the north are the older residential areas near Foxrock and to the south, along the Glenamuck Road are new retail parks, office buildings, apartments and housing schemes. It is also present in James Joyce A portrait of an artist being described as an area dominated by feilds.

The Carrickminders

During the construction of the M50 motorway Carrickmines gained national notoriety when anti-roads protesters calling themselves The Carrickminders set up camp in the area and delayed the completion of the M50 for 2 years with legal challenges being taken by Vincent Salafia

Vincent Salafia

Vincent Salafia is a noted Irish-born lawyer and environmentalist. Salafia was involved in a legal challenge against Mr.Dick Roche, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government over the M3 Motorway at Tara in 2006.- Brehon Law Project :...

.
The objectors claimed that the underground remains of Carrickmines Castle

Carrickmines Castle

Carrickmines Castle is an archaeological site in Carrickmines, County Dublin, in eastern Ireland. The castle was built in the medieval period to protect the English-ruled Pale around Dublin...

, an Anglo-Norman

Anglo-Norman

The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...

 fort built in the 12th Century on the edge of the Pale

The Pale

The Pale or the English Pale , was the part of Ireland that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages. It had reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk...

, was of great national importance. Today, much of the uncovered remains are preserved in tunnels and other structures scattered around the interchange. Dún Laoghaire Council claimed the action greatly increased the cost of the project, which was eventually completed in August 2005.

Development

Junction 15 of the M50 now lies at the heart of Carrickmines since the motorway opened. The Park Carrickmines (2006) and developments on the Glenamuck Road have converted the recently semi-rural area into a suburban complex of shops, offices, apartment blocks and housing estates; though still interspersed with farmland.

Transport

Carrickmines railway station opened on 10 July 1854, but finally closed on 1 January 1959. The LUAS Green Line extension opened in October 2010.

Luas Stop

Carrickmines

See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland