A short history of our coastal community from 13,000 years ago to the present day

This project began in December 2019 with the initial intention of developing a timeline of the history of Bayside, a 1970’s coastal suburb in North Dublin. We wanted to explore all aspects of our local heritage in a way that would spark people’s interest and appreciation for the area we live in, both for people who have lived here their whole lives, and those who were new to the area. We focused on all three aspects of heritage: natural, built and placenames.

Our most precious local heritage is the sea. The sea brought the first settlers here over 8,500 years ago to Sutton, and has been a source of food for locals since then. The sea has shaped our coastline, brought first monks here in 570, then the Vikings to nearby Baldoyle 200 years later, created Bull Island, shipped the post to Howth leading to the construction of Telford’s London to Dublin road, and was responsible for wrecking hundreds of ships through the ages, many of those who perished are buried in the church of Cill Barrog, or the mariners church. We produced a heritage sign with funding from Fingal and had an official unveiling of the sign by the Deputy Lord Mayor of Fingal during heritage week. It has already given people a sense of place and pride in their area and an appreciation of the communities who have lived here before and those who continue to do so today.

Huge thanks to Deidre Denver, a member of the Bayside Community Association and wonderful neighbour, who took on this massive project.