with the church St. John the Baptist in the background
Origin of the name Blackrock, some hundreds of years ago, was variously called Newtown-at-the Black Rock, Newtown on the Strand by the Black Rock, Newtown Castle Byrne, or simply Newtown, so that "Blackrock" is simply an abbreviation of one of its ancient titles. For example, the town was called Newtown in a 1488 Act of Parliament. The name still survives in Newtown Avenue, and Newtown House. It was thus distinguished from Newtown-in-the-Deer-Park, as the village of Newtown Park was then called, from the circumstance that it was built in the Deer Park belonging to Stillorgan House, or Castle (
a quo Newtownpark Avenue). Blackrock is named after the local geological rock formation to be found in the area of Blackrock Park. Most of it is now buried under the park, but it is said that it is possible to see it just north of the pond. The rock itself is a limestone calp that when wet appears black, thus giving the name Black Rock. For the construction of the railway in 1834, the rock was extensively used for the wall cappings between Williamstown and Blackrock and can also be seen in the walls of the train station at Blackrock.
St Mary's Chapel of Ease on St. Mary's Place, nicknamed the Black Church, is constructed using the same Black Rock (limestone calp), although the rock used in its construction is locally sourced to the church. The population at the time of the
1841 census was 2,372.
Rock Road The Rock Road, which forms the south-western boundary of the park, is said to form part of one of the oldest roads in the country, having been part of the ancient constructed by the
High King of Ireland several centuries before
Saint Patrick, and which connected
Tara with what is now southern County Dublin and north-east
County Wicklow. The road may have facilitated the
O'Toole and the O'Byrne clans in their raids on the neighbourhood of Dublin.
Historic houses A number of houses of historical and architectural significance were built in the area, some of which are still existing today, while others have been demolished.
Frescati House, built in 1739, was at one time the childhood home of Lord Edward FitzGerald. Frescati, despite much local protest to save it, was demolished in 1983 and Frascati Shopping Centre now stands in its place. Maretimo House was built in 1770 as a summer residence for
Nicholas Lawless, 1st Baron Cloncurry, who had his main house at
Lyons Hill,
County Kildare. His son
Valentine Lawless, 2nd Baron Cloncurry gave land beside the house for the building of the Roman Catholic Church, St. John the Baptist. At the time of the construction of the
Dublin and Kingstown Railway, Lord Cloncurry was compensated with, among other things, a private railway bridge and harbour. Maretimo house was demolished in 1970 and apartments of the same name now stand in its place. The private railway bridge can still be seen today but is not maintained and its once elegant walkway has been replaced by a corrugated iron walkway. Blackrock House, built in 1774 by
Sir John Lees (1737–1811), is one of a few 18th-century houses built with red brick. It has a two-storey red brick porch and features a large coach-house, stable yard and gate lodge. With the construction of the railway, Lees was also compensated with a tunnel being built through his land. There is a ruin of a small summer house near Lord Cloncurry's harbour. In the nineteenth century, it was owned by the Vance family. The house is still here to be seen today, although it is currently divided into flats. The Catholic
Holy Ghost Fathers came to Blackrock from Paris and established
Blackrock College in 1860 with the purchase of Castle Dawson. They later bought Williamstown Castle in 1875, Clareville in 1899 and Willow Park in 1924. All of these buildings, except Clareville, are still standing today and form Blackrock College and Willow Park School. The
Methodist congregation established a church on George's Avenue in the 19th century. The church is still standing but disused. The congregation moved to a new church beside Blackrock Town Hall on Newtown Avenue. The congregation consolidated with that of Dún Laoghaire around the middle of the 20th century. Since then the Blackrock building is used as a community meeting place called Urban Junction. The Catholic
Order of St. Camillus have a community residing at South Hill Avenue while
Opus Dei established Rosemont secondary school off Temple Hill around 1970. The
Presbyterian Church in Ireland established their Blackrock Congregation in 1895. It met in the Blackrock Town Hall until they built St. Andrew's Church on Mount Merrion Avenue in 1899. The Catholic
Religious Sisters of Charity arrived in 1864 with the purchase of Linden and established Linden Convalescent Home. They later bought Talbot Lodge which became part of the convalescent home. ==Local government==