# Rolestown

Rolestown (Irish: Baile Rothluis), is a small village six miles (10 km) north-west of Swords along the R125 in Fingal, County Dublin, Ireland. It lies about halfway between Swords and Ashbourne, County Meath. It is located around two parallel roads intersected by a road that crosses the Broadmeadow River by an old cut stone bridge. Rolestown is also a parish in the Fingal North deanery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin.

## Location and access

Rolestown lies on either side of a floodplain of the Broadmeadow River Valley. The northern part of the village is located on elevated ground. The area centred on the graveyard, old corn mill, bridge and approach to the gates of Rowlestown House, is characterised by distinctive heritage buildings and mature trees.
The settlement is located between the R125, which leads to Oldtown and Garristown, and the R106, which leads to Ballyboughal and Naul to the north, and Dublin Airport to the south. It lacks a core as it is mostly a townland and consists primarily of ribbon development, mainly one-off housing in the form of bungalows.

## Community structure

Traditionally, the Rolestown area has a distinct relationship with the town of Swords, located 7 km away. Many of the local council housing estates built in the Swords area were used to house families from the Rolestown/Kilsallaghan area. Most Rolestown families send their children to secondary schools in Swords, and many Swords residents play Gaelic football for Fingal Ravens GFC in Rolestown.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the parish of is part of a team ministry with Garristown and Naul.

## History

Rolestown originated as a small river settlement at a crossing point of the Broadmeadow River several hundred years ago. The 1658 census of Ireland recorded 41 inhabitants of Rolestown (of 120 persons in the Clonmethan area, which included Rowlestown). Around 1700, lands were given to the Catholic Church for a chapel, garden and paddock.
The 1837 (First Edition) Ordnance Survey Map indicated that the village had grown sufficiently for a National School to be constructed on the edge of the village.
The church called Killossery (the church of St. Ossier in Irish) was built near the banks of the river in the seventeenth century. The parish of Killossery consisted of 2500 acres (10 km$^2$) and over 380 inhabitants in the nineteenth century. The parish was so large at one point that it included all of Rolestown and Lispopple. The current church (pictured above) is named St. Brigid's Church and was built in the 1850s, and had some extensive repair work done in the late 1990s. The Big House (Rowlestown House) originally belonged to the Corbally family and is currently owned by the Griffin family.
The old castle in Killsallaghlan, an area of Rolestown, is surrounded by woodland, hence its name Coill Saileacháin (the Sally Wood). The castle was destroyed in 1641. The oldest still functioning building in the area appears to be Rowlestown House which was constructed in the Georgian style between 1750 and 1770 and is still used as a dwelling as of 2020.

## Education

Rolestown only has a National School, a primary school for 4 to 12/13-year-old children. The original old school building excluding prefabricated classrooms was originally built to accommodate the immediate area of Rolestown/Kilsallaghan.
Local businessman, Pat McDonagh, sponsored the building of a new school building to replace the old school.

## Resources

There is no public open space currently provided in the village. The primary school has a small junior playing field and a hard surface basketball court to the side of the building. In the surrounding area, there are a number of private leisure facilities, including a GAA pitch and clubhouse. In the local area, there is also a bar/pub with an adjoining restaurant and hotel but this is not located within the village centre. There is a church hall which hosts classes on drama, badminton, Tae Kwon Do, soccer, creche services, traditional Irish dancing and other local community activities like the local Catholic church committee meetings, Irish Countrywomen's Association (I.C.A.) meetings and local fund-raisers such as the sale-of-work and several cake sales throughout the year. A historical association was formed in the past few years with the purpose of documenting the history of the parish and area. The drama society puts on a traditional pantomime every year in mid-January. A Maxol petrol/service station was opened to replace an old service station which closed down around the early 2000s. The site which was developed for this now also has a small business centre.

## Sport

Fingal Ravens is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. Rolestown Cho's Tae Kwon-Do is also based locally.

## Public transport

The 41B Dublin Bus Service serves Rolestown. The bus goes from Dublin city centre through Dublin Airport and Swords, Dublin, terminating at Rolestown Bridge. The 197 Go-Ahead Bus Service also serves Rolestown, running from Swords to Ashbourne every hour. There are no other public transport services passing through or running close to the village.

## Lawn Gates

At the end of the T-junction (after crossing Rolestown Bridge which goes over The Broad Meadow stream towards the local hall) a pair of old white gates lie at the entrance to the original house driveway and a field. This field runs on the east side the aforementioned Rolestown House. Here, up until the late 1950s and early 1960s, carnivals were held each year. These included sheep-shearing competitions, sheepdog trials and fancy-dress competitions. The carnival was lit with lights going all the way up the field to a large marquee-style tent where at the end of the carnival a dance would be held at night.