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{{Short description|Coastal town in County Dublin, Ireland}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox settlement
| settlement_type = Suburb (village core)
| name = Portmarnock
| native_name = {{Irish place name|Port Mearnóg}}
| native_name_lang =
| image_skyline = PortmarnockDublin.jpg
| image_caption = Portmarnock, Dublin
| image_map = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-width=280|frame-height=280|zoom=11|frame-lat= 53.4217|frame-long=-6.1372 |type=shape|marker=town|id=Q610995 |stroke-width=2|stroke-color=#000000|title=Portmarnock}}
| pushpin_map = Ireland
| pushpin_label_position = top
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ireland
| coordinates = {{coord|53.4217|-6.1372|dim:100000_region:IE|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Ireland
| subdivision_type1 = [[Provinces of Ireland|Province]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Leinster]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Counties of Ireland|County]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[County Dublin|Dublin]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|Local government area]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Fingal]]
| unit_pref = Metric
| elevation_m = 3
| population_footnotes = <ref name=cso2022>{{cite web | url = https://visual.cso.ie/?body=entity/ima/cop/2022&boundary=C04160V04929&guid=c21c1af1-aa96-4779-a730-de23921adbd1 | title = Interactive Data Visualisations: Towns: Portmarnock | work = Census 2022 | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]]| access-date = 26 September 2023}}</ref>
| population_as_of = [[2022 census of Ireland|2022]]
| population = 10750
| postal_code_type = [[Eircode]] routing key
| postal_code = D13
}}
'''Portmarnock''' ({{Irish place name|Port Mearnóg}}) is a coastal town in [[County Dublin]], Ireland, north of the city of [[Dublin]], with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. {{As of|2022}}, the population was 10,750,<ref name="cso2022"/> an increase of 13.5% on the 2016 census figure of 9,466.<ref name=cso2016>{{cite web | url = https://census.cso.ie/sapmap2016/Results.aspx?Geog_Type=ST2016&Geog_Code=D1BBA3AA-4BE1-4098-BFA2-657CB4CC6674 | title = Sapmap Area: Settlements Portmarnock | work = Census 2016 | publisher = [[Central Statistics Office (Ireland)|Central Statistics Office]] | access-date = 24 September 2021}}</ref>

Portmarnock is also a [[Civil parishes in Ireland|civil parish]] in the ancient [[Barony (Ireland)|barony]] of [[Coolock (barony)|Coolock]].<ref>[http://www.logainm.ie/873.aspx Placenames Database of Ireland - Portmarnock civil parish], logainm.ie; accessed 11 March 2017.</ref> It is in the [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|local government area]] of [[Fingal]].

==Location==
Portmarnock lies on the coast between [[Malahide]] and [[Baldoyle]]. Portmarnock could also be said to border, at sea, [[Sutton, Dublin|Sutton]] and perhaps [[Howth]] in the form of [[Ireland's Eye]]. Its major beach, the Velvet Strand, is monitored by a lifeguard during the summer season from early April to the start of October.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueflagireland.org/velvet-strand-portmarnock-co-dublin/lifeguard-times.656.html|title=Velvet Strand (Portmarnock), Co. Dublin|website=www.blueflagireland.org|access-date=7 February 2017}}</ref>

===Velvet Strand, Portmarnock beach===
[[File:Portmarnock beach.jpg|thumb|Kites in the sky on Portmarnock beach]]
Adjacent to Portmarnock is a narrow beach which extends onto a sandy peninsula with beaches on all sides. Portmarnock's beach is nicknamed the Velvet Strand due to the smooth sand along the beach, and is popular with wind- and kite-surfers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitdublin.com/see-do/details/portmarnock-the-velvet-strand-blue-flag-beach-and-green-coast-award-2016#53.425606|title=Portmarnock - The Velvet Strand Blue Flag Beach & Green Coast Award 2016|website=www.visitdublin.com|access-date=7 February 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Portmarnock - Southern Cross Monument.jpg|thumb|[[Southern Cross (aircraft)|''Southern Cross'']] monument]]
[[File:Portmarnock 1933 slnsw.jpg|thumb|'Faith in Australia' after accident, Portmarnock Beach, Ireland, 1933]]

The beach was the starting point for two important pioneering flights. On 23 June 1930, Australian aviator [[Charles Kingsford Smith]] and his crew took off in the [[Southern Cross (aircraft)|''Southern Cross'']] on the second westbound transatlantic flight (to [[Newfoundland and Labrador|Newfoundland]]), after which they continued on to [[Oakland, California]], completing a circumnavigation of the world. The first ''solo'' westbound transatlantic flight began from Portmarnock beach when [[Jim Mollison]], a British pilot, took off in a [[de Havilland Puss Moth]] on 18 August 1932 bound for [[RCAF Station Pennfield Ridge|Pennfield Ridge]], New Brunswick, Canada.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1932/1932%20-%200851.html|title=Mollison's Atlantic Flight |date=26 August 1932 |magazine=Flight |page=795 |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref>

The sculpture Eccentric Orbit (by [[Rachel Joynt]] and [[Remco de Fouw]], erected 2002) on the seafront is of limestone, bronze and stainless steel. The needle points to the North Star, an age-old navigation point. The sculpture commemorates the epic flights of the ''Southern Cross'' (the second non-stop east–west North Atlantic flight, in 1930), the ''Heart's Content'' (the first east–west non-stop solo North Atlantic flight, 1932) and the abandoned solo North-Atlantic flight of ''Faith in Australia'' (1933).<ref name="portmarnock.org"/>

Portmarnock is home to one of the 29 [[Napoleonic]] [[Martello Towers in the Greater Dublin Area]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portmarnockwaves.com/martello.html|title=PORTMARNOCK MARTELLO TOWER|first=Veronica|last=Burns|date=31 January 2022 }}</ref>

==Etymology and history==
The district's name derives from the Irish word ''port'' – meaning "port" – and [[Marnock|Saint Marnoch]] or Mernoc, said<ref name="portmarnock.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.portmarnock.org/about-portmarnock.php|title=Portmarnock Community Association}}</ref> to have arrived in what is now Portmarnock in the fifth century AD.

The area had been settled in [[Neolithic]] times, as evidenced by flints and other tools excavated on the northern fringe of Portmarnock and the remains of a ring fort visible from the air at the south of the town. The son of Queen Maedhbh of [[Connacht|Connaught]] – Maine – is also said to have been buried locally.<ref>{{Cite web| title=Environmental report for Baldoyle racecourse park | url=https://consult.fingal.ie/en/system/files/materials/22117/Fingal%20County%20Council%20-%20Racecourse%20Park%20Environmental%20Report.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210915011325/https://consult.fingal.ie/en/system/files/materials/22117/Fingal%20County%20Council%20-%20Racecourse%20Park%20Environmental%20Report.pdf | archive-date=2021-09-15}}</ref>

During the [[Irish War of Independence]], [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]] stayed at the Portmarnock house of [[Moya Llewelyn Davies]], using it as a [[safe house]].<ref>{{cite book |title=BUREAU OF MILITARY HISTORY, 1913-21. STATEMENT BY WITNESS DOCUMENT NO. W.S. 767 |date=16 December 1952 |publisher=[[Bureau of Military History]] |page=47 |author=[[Patrick Moylett]]}}</ref>

In February 1988, [[An Garda Siochana]] discovered a [[Provisional IRA]] arms cache at Station Road. 30 [[AK-47]]s, 3 machine gun [[tripod]]s, 12 [[Rocket-propelled grenade|RPG]]s, 31,000 [[Cartridge (firearms)|rounds]] of ammunition and 227 kg of [[Semtex]] was discovered.<ref>{{cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Brendan |title=The Long War The IRA and Sinn Féin, 1985 to Today |date=1995 |publisher=Syracuse University Press |page=150}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Oppenheimer |first1=A.R. |title=IRA, The Bombs and the Bullets A History of Deadly Ingenuity |date=2008 |publisher=Irish Academic Press}}</ref>

==Transport==
Portmarnock is on the [[Dublin Suburban Rail|northern commuter railway line]] out of Dublin (also the [[Belfast–Dublin line|Dublin–Belfast main line]]); [[Portmarnock railway station]], opened on 25 May 1844 upon the opening of the [[Dublin and Drogheda Railway]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Portmarnock station|work=Railscot – Irish Railways|url=http://www.railscot.co.uk/Ireland/Irish_railways.pdf|access-date=3 September 2007}}</ref> and is now on the [[Dublin Area Rapid Transit|DART]] network.<ref>See [[rail transport in Ireland]] for more.</ref> The village is served by [[Dublin Bus]] routes 32, 32X, 42, 42N (Nitelink) and 142 and [[Go-Ahead Ireland]] routes 102 and its a/c/p/t branches.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dublinbus.ie/Your-Journey1/Timetables/?searchtype=place&searchquery=Portmarnock|title=Timetables - Dublin Bus}}</ref> Owing to its proximity to [[Dublin]] city, it is a form of [[dormitory town|dormitory village]] {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=on}} north-northeast of the city centre.

==Education==
There are two primary schools – St. Marnock's and St. Helen's – and also a secondary school, [[Portmarnock Community School]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.portmarnockcommunityschool.ie/|title=Portmarnock Community School | Pobal Scoil Phortmearnóg (01) 8038056 40th Anniversary 2019|website=www.portmarnockcommunityschool.ie}}</ref>

==Religion==
Situated on the coast of Portmarnock are the ruins of the old Saint Marnock's Church, with an adjacent cemetery.<ref>{{cite news |title=St Marnock's cemetery work |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/fingal/st-marnocks-cemetery-work/27791419.html |publisher=independent.ie}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Pump in the middle of Ignatius Byrne's field, Portmarnock. |date=18 February 1976 |url=https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000183389 |publisher=[[National Library of Ireland]]}}</ref> Today, Portmarnock holds a [[Roman Catholic]] parish and the church of St Anne.<ref name="parish">{{cite web|title=Saint Anne's Parish Portmarnock|url=http://www.portmarnockparish.ie|access-date=7 February 2017}}</ref> The [[Church of Ireland]] parish of Portmarnock was united with [[Malahide]] in 1873, and the newer St Marnock's Church, consecrated in 1790, operated up until 1960;<ref>[https://visitportmarnock.ie/history/ Saint Marnock’s Church] History, Visit Portmarnock.</ref> parishioners are now served by churches in Malahide and north of Balgriffin.

==Sport==
Portmarnock is famous for the world-class golf course at [[Portmarnock Golf Club]], which formally opened on 26 December 1894. Occupying much of the sandy [[peninsula]] to the south of the village, the club has hosted many golf tournaments, including the 1960 Canada Cup (now known as the World Cup), the 1991 [[Walker Cup]] and the [[Irish Open (golf)|Irish Open]] on many occasions. Another links course, part of the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links complex, that opened in the 1990s, was designed by German golfer [[Bernhard Langer]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.portmarnock.com/golf.html|title=Portmarnock Golf Links | A Championship Golf Course In Co Dublin|website=www.portmarnock.com}}</ref> That golfing hotel is built around St. Marnock's, the former home of a branch of the [[Jameson Irish Whiskey|Jameson]] distilling family, which had its own private golf course.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.portmarnock.com/jameson-connection.html|title=History of Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links, Dublin | Whiskey Tasting|website=www.portmarnock.com}}</ref> St. Marnock's was largely built in the late 1890s to the designs of British architect [[Sir Robert Lorimer]].

[[Naomh Mearnóg CLG|Naomh Mearnóg]] is the local [[Gaelic Athletic Association]] club.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://naomhmearnog.ie/|title=Naomh Mearnóg|website=Naomh Mearnóg}}</ref>

Other local sports clubs include Portmarnock Tennis Club, Portmarnock A.F.C., AUL Premier A side Seaview Celtic F.C., and the Portmarnock Sport & Leisure Club, which encompasses 16 sporting activities and has a swimming pool with some public access hours.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Portmarnock Pitch & Putt Club was founded in 1958 and moved to its current location in 1961. It has been affiliated with the [[Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland]] since its foundation in 1961 and is currently a members club with over 400 adult and 120 under-16 members in 2023.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

==Representation==
Portmarnock lies in the [[Dublin Fingal (Dáil constituency)|Dublin Fingal]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2013/act/7/schedule/enacted/en/html|title=SCHEDULE|first=electronic Irish Statute|last=Book (eISB)|website=www.irishstatutebook.ie}}</ref> Dáil constituency and in the modern administrative county of [[Fingal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fingalcoco.ie/customer-service/maps/interactivemapoffingal/|title=Interactive Map of Fingal |publisher=Fingal County Council |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref> Before 2016 it was in the [[Dublin North-East (Dáil constituency)|Dublin North-East]] constituency.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://irishpoliticalmaps.blogspot.com/2012/06/constituency-commission-boundary.html|title=Irish Political Maps: Constituencies of Ireland, 2016 -|first=Jason|last=Kelleher}}</ref>

==Notable people==
* [[Eamonn Andrews]], broadcaster, lived in Portmarnock from 1969 to his death in 1987<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/dublin/fingal/tv-star-eamonn-andrews-loved-portmarnock-home/27773321.html|title=TV star Eamonn Andrews loved Portmarnock home|date=23 September 2004|website=Independent.ie}}</ref>
* [[Joanna Donnelly]], weather forecaster, resident
* [[Oisin Fagan]], Irish boxer, lived in Portmarnock<ref>{{cite news |title=Cinderella Man of Dublin |url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cinderella-man-of-dublin-1557710.html |date=29 November 2008 |work=[[Irish Independent]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203070328/https://www.independent.ie/sport/other-sports/cinderella-man-of-dublin-1557710.html |archive-date=3 December 2008}}</ref>
* [[Ian Garry]], mixed martial artist and former Cage Warriors welterweight champion, was born and grew up in Portmarnock<ref>{{Cite news |last=Byrne |first=Andrew |date=30 July 2019 |title=Watch Irish fighter's duet with grandad who has dementia sing 'Imagine' |url=https://www.irishmirror.ie/lifestyle/family/irish-mma-fighter-shares-touching-18800893 |access-date=28 August 2023 |publisher=[[Irish Mirror]] }}</ref>
* [[Brian McFadden]], musician and former Westlife singer, lived in Portmarnock until 2004, when he emigrated to the UK with his Australian then-fiancée [[Delta Goodrem]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/features/brian-mcfadden-meeting-vogue-was-a-real-life-changer-we-make-each-other-laugh-31112145.html|title=Brian McFadden: Meeting Vogue was a real life changer... we make each other laugh |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph |date=2 April 2015 |access-date=11 July 2018}}</ref>
* [[Laurence O'Neill]], Lord Mayor of Dublin, Senator and TD.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morrissey |first1=Thomas J. |title=O'Neill, Laurence |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/oneill-laurence-a9555 |publisher=[[Dictionary of Irish Biography]]}}</ref>
* [[Stephen Ward (footballer)|Stephen Ward]], international footballer, grew up in Portmarnock<ref>{{cite news |title=Stephen hits new heights at Euros |url=https://www.independent.ie/regionals/fingalindependent/news/stephen-hits-new-heights-at-euros-34837099.html |date=2 July 2016 |website=Irish Independent |access-date=28 August 2023}}</ref>
* [[Marty Whelan]], radio and television personality, lived with his family in Portmarnock for 25 years before relocating to the nearby village of [[Malahide]]<ref>{{Cite news|date=16 October 2015|title=Marty Whelan: 'I never sowed my wild oats with other women because I sowed my wild oats at home with Maria'|work=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.ie/entertainment/marty-whelan-i-never-sowed-my-wild-oats-with-other-women-because-i-sowed-my-wild-oats-at-home-with-maria-34115896.html|access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref>

== Twinning ==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in the Republic of Ireland}}
Portmarnock is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with the following places:
* {{flagicon|Lesotho}} '''[[Hlalele Secondary School]]''', [[Maseru District]], Lesotho

==See also==
*[[List of towns and villages in the Republic of Ireland|List of towns and villages in Ireland]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.portmarnockwaves.com Portmarnock Community Information]
* [http://visitportmarnock.ie visitportmarnock.ie]

{{Dublin residential areas}}
{{Fingal}}

[[Category:Portmarnock| ]]
[[Category:Beaches of Fingal]]
[[Category:Towers in the Republic of Ireland]]

Portmarnock - Revision history

imported>Iveagh Gardens: moved ref to County Dublin up