Stoneybatter

Stoneybatter Synopsis

The oldest settled community on the northside of Dublin, Stoneybatter comprises the ancient Viking settlement of Oxmantown. This northwest frontier of Dublin was a major trading hub for over a thousand years. Because of its sprawling cattle markets it became known as ?Cowtown', a maelstrom of animals, drovers, horse dealers, farmers and traders.

Stoneybatter has survived providentially as a genuine inner urban village. Long cherished traditions, customs and city lifeways are still practised and ?neighbouring' flourishes along every street. With most of ?old Dublin' now tattered or demolished, Stoneybatter stands uniquely as a truly living community. It has the largest elderly population in the city, an invaluable repository of local oral history and urban lore.

"This book is redolent of the spicy smells of old family grocers, of the sanctity of the snugs in Mulligan's renowned public house, of big families pulling happily enough together against familiar storms of poverty and illness… meticulously recorded and fascinating." The Irish Times

"A unique local study of a proud community, but also a fascinating record of the lives of extraordinary people in their own words… scholarship with immense affection."

Books Ireland

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