Beaumont, Dublin

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Beaumont is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland. It’s next to Donnycarney, Santry and Artane and sits in the Dublin 5 and Dublin 9 postal areas. The name comes from the French for “beautiful mount,” because the parish rises above Fairview and has clean air and good views of the Wicklow Mountains. It was named in 1764 by Olivia Whitmore and Arthur Guinness when they built Beaumont House on land leased from Charles Gardiner. The Guinness family lived there from 1764 to 1855. Beaumont House is now a protected building.

In 1900, the Sisters of Mercy bought Beaumont House and opened a convalescent home for patients from the Mater Hospital. In the 1980s, RTÉ had a radio transmitter at Thorndale, Beaumont, which later helped jam pirate radio stations. Beaumont houses one of Dublin’s main hospitals, Beaumont Hospital, and the Mercy Convalescent Home, along with a small group of shops and two pubs.

Beaumont is mainly a residential area with large housing estates such as Elm Mount (built in the 1960s), Beaumont Woods, Collinswood, Ardmore and Montrose. Catherine McAuley Park is in Beaumont Woods. The Artane and Beaumont Family Recreation Centre on Skelly’s Lane and Kilmore Road serves the community with activities, clubs and sports.

Rockfield Park was built to serve nearby estates and is home to Rockfield Park Tennis Club and Artane Beaumont Football Club. The 140th Beaumont Scout group operates from Montrose Park. Local sports teams include Celtic Park F.C. in Beaumont, St. Kevin’s Boys Club, Beaumont Tak Kwon Do at Our Lady of Mercy College, Elm Mount F.C. at ALSAA and Ierne Sports Club in Drumcondra, and the Beaumont Bridge Club.

Beaumont is a parish in the Fingal South East deanery of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin, with the Nativity of the Lord Church. The parish was created in 1977 from Donnycarney. There is also a Catholic parish in Whitehall serving nearby areas, with the Church of the Holy Child on the old airport road, blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1979. Beaumont Parish Centre hosts community groups, and the nearest Church of Ireland churches are Coolock or St. Pappan’s in Santry.

Education in the area includes Our Lady of Mercy College (an all-girls school founded in 1957), St. Fiachra’s Junior and Senior Schools (opened in 1978) near the hospital, and St. Pauls Special School. Local boys’ secondary schools are St. David’s CBS in Artane and St. Aidan’s CBS in Whitehall.