Lusk, Dublin
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Lusk Lusca
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Church of Ireland and round tower at Lusk
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 Lusk
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| Coordinates: 53°31′34″N 6°10′01″W / 53.526°N 6.167°WCoordinates: 53°31′34″N 6°10′01″W / 53.526°N 6.167°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | Fingal |
| Elevation | 25 m (82 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Total | 7,022 |
| Irish Grid Reference | R746888 |
Lusk (Irish: Lusca) is a small town in Ireland, 23 km (14 mi) north of Dublin city centre. The name "Lusk" is said to date back to Saint MacCullin, who founded a church there c. 450. Oral tradition suggests MacCullin may have either lived in or been buried in a cave and that the name "Lusk" derives from an old Irish word Lusca meaning 'cave' or 'underground chamber'. MacCullin died in c. 497 and his feast day was 6 September. The area was known as Bregia in pre-Christian times and was said to have been birthplace to Cú Chulainn's wife, Emer in Irish mythology.
The railway station of Rush & Lusk is about 2km east and is shared with the coastal settlement of Rush.
The settlement of Lusk has been associated with St. MacCullin since c. AD 450. The place also had associations with St. Maur, who nowadays connects with Rush (RosEo). The ruins of St. Maur's original church, or more likely its later replacement, are at the top of Whitestown hill, firmly in the parish of Rush. Lusk was plundered and burned several times in the 8th and 9th centuries by marauding Vikings, who eventually built a permanent settlement at Dubh Linn now Dublin.
The only tangible remnant of the early Christian foundation at Lusk is the round tower. It stands 27 m high (originally some 32 m high) which retains its original conical cap or so it seems, as the modern trap-door onto the rooftop suggests otherwise. Inside are nine 'floors' including the basement, which are likely to be due to unrecorded 'improvements' in or after the Middle Ages. The flat-headed doorway, which originally would have been some 15 ft (4.6 m) above the ground is now less than 1 m above ground level. The tower either sunk or was buried some 4 m over the centuries. The Round Tower is adjacent to a Norman square tower built against it in the 15th century. This building has three matching towers at its corners and is beautifully represented by the 18th-century picture below. The square tower holds several medieval tombs including that of James Bermingham (1527) and the double-effigy tomb of Christopher Barnewall and his wife Marion Sherle (1589). The Church of Ireland church dates from 1847 by Joseph Welland, and was designed in an Early English Gothic style. While standing on the right side of the castle looking up one of the bricks in the building has a stone image of St. Macullin's face.
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Wikipedia