Monica McGill: Viking settlement established by King Olaf the White

Clondalkin is different now from long ago. Modern living conditions, the services we expect and enjoy were not available then. Our way of life has changed but yet, in many ways, it remains the same. Here are a few examples.

Population changes

Padraig Murphy is one of our local historians, renowned for his meticulous research. As usual, he presents very interesting lectures and talks. His recent presentation involved the Vikings and their effects on our history from about AD 800 until the Normans came in AD 1169.

Murphy confirmed that, following a long period of raiding and then trading, the Vikings eventually settled in Ireland.

Here, a Viking settlement in the vicinity of Clondalkin village was established by King Olaf the White, a strong Viking leader.

The settled Viking population brought their language and their customs, and these enriched our history in a way not seen before.

Today, Clondalkin’s residents include many people from abroad who are the first of their ethnic background to live here. They bring much from their homeplaces, contributing to the cultural and volunteering experiences of our locality.

It’s now usual to hear many languages spoken with ease in Clondalkin.

Our own Irish language has thrived in the area also. Clondalkin has gained official Líonra Gaeilge status. (See – Clondalkin’s Gaeltacht credentials given a big thumbs-suas.”

This official status is permitted only to an area outside the traditional Gaeltachtaí which is “recognised for its daily use of the Irish language”.

Religion

Murphy pointed out that as the Vikings in Clondalkin became Christianised, a Viking church was built in the vicinity now known as St Killian’s Park.

However, the “native Irish” (for the want of a better term) and the Vikings didn’t usually worship the same God together.

Each had their own church building. Back then, as now, Christians living and working together in Clondalkin worship the same Creator, likewise usually in different ecclesiastical buildings.

Education

One of the major turning-points in Irish educational history occurred as a result of Catholic Emancipation in the 1800s, when schools were established legally to teach the majority of the population for the first time in about 200 years.

Put very simply, religious orders whose members had been coached to an adequate level willingly became the teachers in the new schools. The first of such schools was at Mount St Joseph in Clondalkin.

Religious orders continued teaching in the majority of schools in Ireland until more recent years when scandals, together with societal trends away from religious vocations, necessitated increasing the numbers of lay teachers.

Unfortunately, today many schools indicate a shortage of teaching staff, with the possible reduction of educational standards.

Although nowadays Ireland’s educational successes are valued by companies from abroad who have chosen to establish branches here, it may take time to evaluate the full results of our see-sawing educational phenomena.

Workplaces

The importance of Clondalkin’s heritage is acknowledged. Its agricultural background, historical buildings, its industrial, travel and transport histories are evident.

However, all enterprises had to be created, and sometimes at great physical and personal cost. It’s reasonable to conclude that adequate protective apparel and shielding swift-moving machinery from workers was mostly absent.

Even today, where health and safety standards have improved, there are still many accidents in workplaces.

1. Farming

Clondalkin is situated on some of the best grasslands and agriculturally-rich soil in the hinterlands of Dublin City. Food products grown in Clondalkin served Dublin’s population for centuries until about the 1970s.

Farming has always been dangerous work, but no known data exists to indicate how many local farm workers were involved in agricultural accidents in times past.

However, according to a Teagasc survey concerning the year 2020,

47 per cent of farm workplace injuries needed hospitalisation, and “over half of farm accidents (52 per cent) involved livestock.” (See HERE)

Until the coming of the motorised equipment, horses were the main producers of horse-power (note the modern term, still in use) on farms, so serious accidents must have occurred.

The writer knows of only one farm worker who was killed by a horse, “at the haggard” at Mount St Joseph Monastery. The unfortunate man is buried in the cemetery there.

2. Construction – historical buildings

It would be interesting to discover information about safety standards during the construction of our historical buildings.

For instance, no-one really knows how our Round Tower was built nor how many accidents occurred during the building process, but it’s a fair guess there were at least a few.

Despite best efforts, modern protective clothing and practices, construction workplace accidents still occur.

Available figures (1989-2016) show sadly that, on building sites, “the single most common cause of accidents responsible for around

40 per cent of all deaths, was falling from height . . . especially around late morning or early afternoon.” (See page 43)

3. The Grand Canal

People may be surprised to discover that due to land acquisition problems, the construction of the Grand Canal commenced in Clondalkin rather than elsewhere.

As soon as possible, new Dublin suburbs such as Rathmines obtained their piped water supply from the Grand Canal, the entire enterprise constructed by the hard physical work of navigators (“navvies”).

Injuries of various kinds and seriousness were experienced by Canal workers, as well as very poor working conditions.

One operator on the Grand Canal describes his experiences as “a river to hell”. (See History Ireland website)

4. Mills

Local mills producing high-quality paper – such as Clondalkin Paper Mill of recent living memory – were part of the milling tradition in Clondalkin from at least the 13th century up to the 20th.

They include Fairview Oil Mills, as well as Clondalkin Gun-powder mills.

Data is unavailable about workplace accidents involved in our milling history. However, the explosions at the gun-powder mills accounted for at least 2 sudden deaths, as well as damage to buildings in Dublin City itself.

5. Roadways

Brown’s Barn, not far from Clondalkin, was one of the staging posts for Bianconi coaches (horse-drawn stage coaches for passengers).

In the 1800s as now, roadways were an essential element in Clondalkin’s prosperity. However, roads were lot rougher then, and early Bianconi coaches (“Bians”) lacked proper suspension mechanisms.

Consequently, passengers crammed together aboard Bians arrived at their destinations exhausted and bruised.

Nowadays, extreme weather conditions can seriously damage roadways and car-drivers complain that the same type of bruising still exists, only now it affects their vehicles – not so much their bodies.

Winter is here, folks. Mind how you go, and stay safe.