Ranelagh (/ˈrænələ/ RAN-ə-lə, locally pronounced /ˈrɛnələ/; Irish: Raghnallach) is a residential area and urban village on the south side of Dublin, Ireland in the postal district of Dublin 6.
The district was originally a village just outside Dublin, surrounded by landed estates.
In the early years of the Irish Confederate Wars (1641–1649) the area was the scene of skirmishes culminating in the Battle of Rathmines in August 1649. After the Irish united with the Royalists against the Parliamentarians, an attempt was made to take Dublin. Their army under Ormonde was defeated, many of them killed, and the place where they fell (mainly between Rathmines and Ranelagh) was known for a long time as the Bloody Fields.
In 1785, only two years after the first manned flight, Richard Crosbie successfully flew in a hot air balloon from Ranelagh Gardens to Clontarf. The 225th anniversary of his flight was commemorated with a balloon flight from the same gardens on 23 January 2010 although due to adverse weather the balloon did not take off.