The civil parish of Chapelizod is part of the barony of Castleknock. The parish consists of a single townland of the same name. However, 465 acres are within the walls of the Phoenix Park while the village proper, outside the walls, contains only 67 acres. It is the only parish of the barony that lies outside the territory of the modern county of Fingal.
History
The origins of Chapelizod are obscure. There is evidence of Neolithic settlement between the southern ridge of the Phoenix Park and the Liffey and several burial mounds exist to the north of the village. Aerial photography has also revealed several prehistoric and early medieval settlements in the vicinity of the modern village. Aside from these archeological remains, the etymology of the village indicates an association with Princess Iseult/Isolde from the Arthurian legend of Tristan and Isolde - indeed, the village derives its name from a chapel consecrated in her honour. Outside the archeological and mythical record, the historical record more firmly details the establishment of a manor by Hugh Tyrell after the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169. In 1177 Tyrell, Baron of Castleknock, granted lands at Kilmainham to the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem. The grant included a portion of the land that now makes up the Phoenix Park and Chapelizod. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the lands reverted to the Crown and from that time onward were used as a Royal seat. This was made explicit by the Duke of Ormonde after he successfully lobbied for the creation of an enclosed deer park outside Dublin in 1662. The 'King's House', a Royal Residence built by and used as an out of town residence by the Viceroy, formerly faced the millrace on the banks of the Liffey. It was used as the royal residence in Ireland until the mid-eighteenth century, when the Viceregal Lodge was completed in the Phoenix Park. In 1671, Colonel Richard Lawrence settled a number of Hugenots in the village with the intention of establishing a linen industry. Later, King William stayed during the Williamite Wars in Ireland, holding court and redressing grievances. During much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Chapelizod was a prosperous village with a rural atmosphere close to the centre of Dublin.
Transport
Chapelizod is served by Dublin Bus routes 25, 26, 66, 66a, 66b, 66e and 67. There are no train or Luas stations in Chapelizod.
Religion
Chapelizod is a parish in the Blanchardstown deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin. In the 19th century, the parish of Blanchardstown in the Catholic Church encompassed much of the area now within the Dublin 15 postal district. Following the relaxation of the Penal Laws, it became possible for Catholics to consider the construction of additional churches and to repair the existing stock of religious buildings. St Brigid's Church Blanchardstown, not to be confused with a church of the Church of Ireland in nearby Castleknock, was constructed in 1837 upon the foundation of a church that had been built prior to 1731. It is the Mother church of 12 other churches constituted out of the parish over the following 156 years. Among these was the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The parish separated from Blanchardstown 1883. The eastern part of the new parish was in turn constituted out of Chapelizod in 1953 as the Navan Road parish of Our Lady Help of Christians. In the Church of Ireland, the church of St Laurence, with its 14th-century bell tower, is one of two churches that today form part of the parish of Crumlin.
Administration
In local government elections Chapelizod is part of the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh Ward. Since the last local elections in 2019, the local elected representatives on Dublin City Council are:
Interesting buildings in the village include the church of St Laurence with its medieval bell tower. The fine Georgian house where Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu wrote stands at the corner of Park Lane facing Main Street in front of the church. The renovated old RIC barracks on Main Street predates the old Constabulary, serving as an army barracks from the reign of William and Mary. Chapelizod Community Festival is held annually between the first and second Sundays in July. First held in 1994, the festival has grown to be one of the highlights of the summer here. The festival is run by volunteers and funded mainly by local business sponsors.
In literature
The village is the setting of Le Fanu's novel The House by the Churchyard and short story Ghost Stories of Chapelizod. In James Joyce's short story "A Painful Case", published in Dubliners, it is the home of the unsociable protagonist James Duffy, who "lived in Chapelizod because he wished to live as far as possible from the city of which he was a citizen and because he found all the other suburbs of Dublin mean, modern and pretentious." It is the setting—as well as the scene of the home and hostelry of the protagonist Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker, his wife Anna Livia Plurabelle, and their family Shaun, Shem and Issy—in Joyce's final major work, Finnegans Wake.
