Oldtown, Dublin
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Oldtown An tSeanbhaile
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| Town | |
 Oldtown
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| Coordinates: 53°31′27″N 6°18′58″W / 53.5241°N 6.3160°WCoordinates: 53°31′27″N 6°18′58″W / 53.5241°N 6.3160°W | |
| Country | Ireland |
| Province | Leinster |
| County | Fingal |
| Elevation | 63 m (207 ft) |
| Population (2011) | |
| • Urban | 455 |
| Time zone | WET (UTC+0) |
| • Summer (DST) | IST (WEST) (UTC-1) |
| Eircode (Routing Key) | A45 |
| Irish Grid Reference | O115540 |
Oldtown (Irish: An tSeanbhaile) is a population centre and townland in the civil parish of Clonmethan in Fingal, Ireland. The R122 road runs through the village linking Naul to St Margaret's and Dublin Airport.
The character of the landscape is Low-Lying Agricultural, as indicated in the County Development Plan. This area contains mixed pasture and arable farming on low lands, consisting of large fields with few tree belts or large settlements with few panoramic views or prospects.
The village itself is situated in a shallow valley drained by a small river known locally as ‘The Daws River’ and is surrounded by lands zoned as agricultural in the 1999 Fingal County Development Plan. It is the policy of the Council to protect and provide for the development of agriculture and rural amenity within this zone.
Oldtown is a good example of a "chapel village" which led to a widespread investment in chapel building following the re-emergence of institutional Catholicism in the late eighteenth century.
The original chapel, which was built in 1827, became the focal point of the village and attracted a range of other services such as the national school, community hall, priest’s house, shop, public house and forge. The term ‘chapel villages’ has been coined for settlements which evolved in association with the growing social and cultural importance of the Catholic Church in Irish society.
The Parliamentary Gazette of Ireland 1843–44 states that the population of Oldtown in 1841 was 156 and 27 houses were located within the village area of 10 acres (40,000 m2). After the Great Famine of 1848 the census of 1851 states the population of the village as recorded as 32 people.
Molly Weston a heroine of the 1798 rebellion was born near Oldtown. She fought alongside her three brothers at Tara. A memorial was erected to her memory at Oldtown during the 1798 Bi-Centennial in 1998. "Arrayed in green... mounted on a white horse, [she] rode hither and thither upon the field with drawn sword in hand, rallying the pikemen and leading them in successive charges with the utmost fearlessness." (Patrick Archer, Fingal in 1798). She wore a green riding costume, with gold braid in the manner of a uniform and a green cocked hat with a white plume. She was armed with sword and pistols and was accompanied by her four brothers when she rode into battle. Weston rallied and regrouped the stricken pikemen; she placed herself at their head and led repeated charges against the Reagh Fencibles."She fired a big gun captured from the Fencibles during the course of the battle, killing eleven of their number. Molly died along with her four brothers at the Battle of Tara. Her side-saddle was recovered from the battlefield.
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