Coolock (barony)


Coolock is one of the baronies of Ireland. It was constituted as part of the old county of Dublin. Today, it covers much of the northern parts of the city of Dublin and the south-eastern part of the modern county of Fingal. At the heart of the barony is the civil parish of the same name - Coolock - which is one of twenty civil parishes in the barony.

Legal context and history

Baronies were created after the Norman invasion of Ireland as subdivisions of counties and were used for administration. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they are no longer used for many administrative purposes. They have been administratively obsolete since 1898. Nevertheless, they continue to be used in land registration and specification such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier Gaelic túath which had submitted to the Crown. However, the status of barony is still used in modern times

Location

It is one of seven and a half baronies that used to comprise the old county of Dublin. It stretches from Dublin Airport and the Malahide estuary to the Royal Canal and River Tolka estuary and from the Phoenix Park to Dublin Bay. It is located between the baronies of Nethercross, Castleknock and Dublin City. The northern two-thirds of the barony is now administered by Fingal County Council while the southern third is subject to Dublin City Council.

Civil parishes

For convenience, the table below groups the barony's twenty civil parishes by their location in one of the modern local authority areas. Some parishes, however, straddle both areas.
Name in IrishName in EnglishArea in Acres 1Modern Local Authority Area
Ard AidhinArtaine.557Dublin City
Cill BharrógKilbarrack.Note 1Dublin City
Cill EasraKillester.150Dublin City
Cluain TarbhClontarf.535Dublin City
Cluain TorcClonturk.800 Note 2Dublin City
Gráinseach GhormáinGrangegorman.450Dublin City
Paróiste San SeoirseSt George's.Note 3Dublin City
Glas NaíonGlasnevin.600Dublin City
An ChúlógCoolock.1199Dublin City
Ráth EanaighRaheny.440Dublin City
SeantrabhSantry.2350Dublin City
Baile DúillBaldoyle.450Fingal
Baile GhrífínBalgriffin.540Fingal
Binn ÉadairHowth.1772Fingal
Cionn SáileKinsaley.1339Fingal
ClochránCloghran.994Fingal
Mullach ÍdeMalahide.606Fingal
Port MearnógPortmarnock.1020Fingal
SordSwords.5 Note 4Fingal
Teampall MhaighréideSt. Margaret's1140Fingal

The table below lists the population and the number of houses in the various civil parishes according to the 1851 census of Ireland.
Civil Parish.Population
in 1851.		Number of Houses
in 1851.
Artaine34577
Baldoyle1131231
Balgriffin52397
Cloghran46289
Clontarf2682449
Clonturk2630459
Coolock943161
Glasnevin1340178
Grange Gorman
971178
Howth1715328
Kilbarrack24242
Killester
40071
Kinsaley648119
Malahide1341271
Portmarnock602101
Raheny548117
St Georges
1297198
St Margarets41278
Santry1140194
Swords
31