The reason to stop in Balgriffin sits a kilometre north of the hamlet: St Doulagh’s, the oldest stone-roofed church still in use in Ireland. Its east end rises at a pitch of 68 degrees, which the architectural historian Harold Leask reckoned the steepest of any surviving church roof in the country. If you have time for one thing here, make it this – Balgriffin itself is a crossroads being steadily absorbed into Dublin’s northside, and the church is what survives the building boom intact.
St Doulagh’s Church
The present building dates largely from 1864, but it wraps around far older fabric thought to go back to the 12th century, and the monastery it grew from was founded centuries before that – sources put the saint’s settlement anywhere from the 5th to the early 7th century, so treat the precise date as folklore rather than fact. The stone roof is the thing to see: a steep slab of masonry rather than the usual timber-and-slate, and a rare survival in Ireland. In the grounds are St Doulagh’s holy well, a detached stone baptistry and St Catherine’s Pond, an open-air pool.
There’s no admission charge, and the church is generally open in daylight when no service is on – but it’s a working Church of Ireland church in the United Parishes of Malahide, Portmarnock and St Doulagh’s, so check the parish schedule before making a trip, and keep things quiet in the churchyard.
The hamlet and its history
The name is the Irish Baile Ghrífín, ‘Griffin’s town’, and the place name suggests an early Welsh settler. A manor stood here by the 14th century, held by the De Burgo family, who built a castle; by 1388 Robert Burnell, a judge of the Court of Exchequer, was lord of the manor, and his descendants held it into the 17th century. The castle later passed to the O’Neills, and for a time was a residence of Richard Talbot, Duke of Tyrconnell, Lord Deputy of Ireland under James II.
What’s left of the old settlement is a crossroads: the 18th-century Balgriffin Inn on the Malahide Road, a village green and hall, and two cemeteries. The older burial ground lies to the west; the newer civic one to the east, with roots in the early 17th century but only formally opened, under Dublin County Council, on 20 October 1954.
Around Balgriffin
The Turnapin and Cuckoo streams thread the fields north of the houses and join to form the Mayne River, a gentle, tree-lined corridor good for a short walk and a bit of birdwatching. Down the road in Kinsealy is Abbeville, an 18th-century big house altered by the architect James Gandon in the 1790s and, much later, the home of Taoiseach Charles Haughey; its grounds hold streams, a pond and a disused brewery. It isn’t open to the public, but the connection is worth knowing. For a proper beach day, Portmarnock and its Velvet Strand are a short drive east.
Getting there
Balgriffin sits about 8km from Dublin city centre, in the Dublin 13 postal district. Dublin Bus routes 15, 42 and 43 serve the area, and the nearest DART station is Clongriffin. Driving, it’s reached off the R139 from Dublin Airport or along the Malahide Road; street parking around the village is generally free. The roads and green are flat, but the stream-side paths turn muddy after rain, so bring sturdy shoes if you’re heading for the water.