At Enjoy Malahide you can learn about all the latest events, information and special offers available in Malahide, Co. Dublin, Ireland. You will find all you need to know about the shops, bars, restaurants, cafes, amenities & services in the area. Malahide, situated just north of Dublin city, surrounded by countryside, the broad meadow estuary and the Irish Sea, has won numerous Irish Tidy Towns Awards and is a modern village with a traditional Irish feel .
This picturesque maritime village enjoys a blend of contemporary chic with old-school charm that is as unique as it is captivating earning itself a reputation as a seriously upmarket and cosmopolitan coastal village… Admire stylish shop fronts with their hanging baskets lush and overflowing with colour; allow sea breezes to caress your cheeks; be hypnotised by the chime of halyards strumming their masts, join the buzz of chat and laughter from cafes and restaurants and embrace the wonder that is Malahide, Dublin’s favourite seaside village.
Malahide has also acquired a reputation as the gourmet capital of the East Coast, with an array of restaurants noted for the quality and variety of their food representing many nationalities. Pubs with traditional music and accommodation ranging from a grade A hotel with extensive conference facilities to an abundance of moderately priced B&B's are among the other visitor attractions.
Malahide Village
As the road from Dublin City passes Malahide Castle Demesne, the rural and meandering tree-lined route leaves the city far behind. After passing the Red Brick School and thatched Marino Cottage, up over the old hump-backed railway bridge, Malahide opens out in front of you, the tall spire of St. Sylvester's Church dominating the low-lying buildings of the traditional village below.
In Malahide there is something for everyone, shoppers, sports fanatics, day trippers and holiday makers, the picturesque village boasts a wide array of retail destinations and services including fashion boutiques, hair and beauty salons, florists, restaurants, cafes and two small shopping centres.
Traditional shopfronts and several cobble-lock side streets give the village an intimate and welcoming feel. There are a broad range of pubs and restaurants to take you well into the night and a wide range of leisure and sports activities to get you up in the morning.
Malahide’s substantial marina is accessible from an attractive promenade, beginning at Village Green. Walking in the opposite direction will take you to Malahide’s long, sandy beach. Surrounding the town are the protected grounds of Malahide Castle, with botanic gardens, sports pitches and a children’s playground, land which was once the private estate of Baron Talbot.
Gallery of Images
Enjoy Malahide would like to invite all visitors to the website to send us their favourite pictures of Malahide. We're looking for anything that catches the eye, funny photos, beautiful photos and unusual photos, and every month we will post our favourite on the front page on the site. With any other notable entries displayed on our gallery page. Please send your photo, with its title, and your name to info@enjoymalahide.com.
Click here to look at our gallery page.
Malahide: A brief History
Paddy's Hill, overlooking Malahide Estuary, is the earliest evidence we have of a habitation site in the area C.6000 B.C. The Fir Domhnainn are also reputed to have settled here, where they remained "fishing and fowling" for a few hundred years.
Tradition has it that St. Patrick visited the locality in 432 A.D. The Vikings landed in 795 A.D. and the Danes were resident in 897 A.D. McTurkill, the last Danish King of Dublin retired to Malahide in 1171, from whom the Normans took over in 1185.
The modern name Malahide ( Mullagh h-Ide ) probably derives from this time, meaning the sandhills of the Hydes, a Norman family from the Donabate area. From the 12th. Century onwards, Malahide developed around the Talbot Castle. In 1547, it was described as one of the chief haven towns of Ireland because of its very safe harbour. At the turn of the 19th. Century a small village had developed; coal, slate and timber was imported; Yellow Walls cotton mill and Killeen Terrace ribbon factory were in operation; the local Talbot Bank issued 25,000 bank notes and Malahide was justly proud of its coalyard, sawyers factory, steam bakery and saltworks.
In 1831, the total population was 1223 of which 90 labourers were each earning 15 pence per day. In the 1880's cod liver oil was being exported to England and the Scott's Emulsion trademark of a man with a huge cod on his shoulder is said to have been modeled on a Malahide fisherman. In the latter part of the 19th.Century with the advent of the railway, Malahide became a tourist resort and a residential town.
In 1914, it was described as a genteel ghetto for disengaged West Britons. In the 'twenties the buses came and croquet was played alongside the Band Garden on Sundays. In the 'thirties there was greyhound racing at Gaybrook while many Malahide men earned 11.5 pence an hour in the building of Dublin Airport. But the greatest change of all came in the 'sixties when Malahide became attractive to speculative builders and Malahide's first housing estate, Ard-Na-Mara came into being in 1964.
Since then, though the population has mushroomed in a major way, Malahide Village has still managed to retain an old-world elegance about it.
St Sylvesters Well
As with most historical topics many view points exist, and so with the holy well in Malahide. Some historians hold that the well got its title from the Pagan Sun-God Silvanus. Others prefer to relate the well's origins to a Bishop Silvester of St. Patrick's time. It should also be borne in mind that the Normans, being very proud of their French origins, may have dedicated the well to Pope Sylvester 11, the first French Pope of the 10th Century.
The well is often referred to, locally, as the Sunday Well, from the fact that the water is said to have first appeared on a Sunday, but this may have resulted from the similarity of the name of the Fir Domhnainn, one of Malahides earliest inhabitants and that of the Irish name for Sunday Dia Domhnaigh. The Well has also been called Our Lady's Well possibly because of the association of Our Lady's Feast with the 15th August, on which day patterns used to be held at the well. John Rocque's map of 1756 indicated the position of the well, but, unfortunately, does not give it a title. We do know that the present Church of St. Sylvester takes its title from the well and not vice-versa.
Customs associated with the Well
We are aware that many sacred fish are associated with holy wells and, here in Malahide, up to the close of the 1890's, an eel was inserted into the waters of the well to purify it.
The water of St. Sylvester's well was also "well" known for its medicinal properties and is reputed to have cured a wide variety of diseases and afflictions.
Wells, in general, were known to be the haunts of spirits, who could prove to be propitious, if remembered, but were very vindictive, if neglected. Holy wells, like St. Sylvester's, are approached from the Northern side, then moving east to west, in imitation of the diurnal motion of the Sun.
When Christianity came to Malahide it did not destroy the heathen customs associated with the well, but rather absorbed and incorporated the established traditions.
The Malahide well, like many others, became associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, and a patron was held there regularly on the 15th August. On this date the well was decorated and the statue of the Blessed Virgin was decked with ribbons. There is a theory that the statue used was Our Lady of Malahide, associated with the Oak panel carving of the Assumption in Malahide Castle. During the Patterns, the well was circled seven times, while reciting a special prayer or rann. At these 15th August patrons, worshippers gathered from many miles distant.
In the olden days public baptisms took place at St. Sylvester's Well. The system was that of triple immersion. Today the receptacle for the water used in baptism in Christian Churches is frequently eight-sided because eight is the number of re-birth - many wells were octagonal for the same reason.
But, back to the Malahide Eel. Eels have always been associated with magic e.g. an eel will not die before sunset: and eel skin makes a lucky belt for the wearer: horsehairs will turn into eels, juice or soup of the eel is a cure for stomach cancer etc.
The custom of releasing an eel into the well water could also be a folk remedy for keeping the water pure as the eel will eat all the grubs, crustaceans, mites, flies, nympha and all aquatic insects which would otherwise contaminate it's purity.
Puck
In the 16th Century, as befitted a family of importance, the Talbots always had a jester among their retinue of attendants. One of these jesters, “Puck” by name, was also the resident caretaker. He was four foot tall and and always wore a bright tan cloak (see image above), and his main function when he wasn't entertaining was to keep watch and sound the alarm in case of attack. He lived in a turret of the Castle, now known as Puck's Staircase, where he carried out his duties as watchman in the most dedicated manner. Indeed, he was the most orderly of individuals and always kept his turret very clean and tidy. When he wasn't joking about in the main hall he was somewhat of a recluse and his food used to be left outside his door each night at sundown. Every morning the empty trays and plates, spotlessly clean, would be in the same spot awaiting collection.
It is said that Pucks spirit lives on in the castle, appearing at numerous times down the years when the castle was in danger. His dwarfish figure has appeared in photographs taken in the Great Hall. Even in external photographs of the Castle, his impish face has appeared through the ivy covering of his turret (see him in the image above). Many a Talbot family letter makes reference to his continued protection of the castle down the centuries. Some of the latter Talbots believed that he was still doing his duties as a sentry, centuries after his departure.
About thirty years ago, before the Castle was open to the public, an occasional guided tour used to take place. On nearing the area of Puck’s Staircase, the lady guide used to always ask her visitors to “please, stand aside, make way for Puck”. After a moment of silence, the tour would continue, but in a subdued fashion.
Puck’s last reported appearance was in 1976. A member of Sotheby’s staff was sitting in the Great Hall, itemising material for the pending auction, when he swears that Puck appeared on his staircase. Without any prior knowledge he described Puck as he had been known to generations of Talbots.
If you tour the castle today you will see many small doors throughout the old building leading to passages often frequented by Puck. Be sure to sure you keep an eye out for him, and if you're lucky you'll see him pulling a trick or standing guard from the ramparts.
Malahide Historical Society
Malahide Historical Society is seeking images of Malahide over the last century to build a photographic archive which can be preserved for the future. The Society also seeks help in recording the various shops and businesses that operated in Malahide.
Do you have any information, old photographs, postcards, paintings or drawings to donate or alternatively lend for careful copying and prompt return?
Around and About Malahide: A guide to historical aspects
This is a very informative 96 page book by Roger Greene of the Historical Society about Malahide and its history. The book contains about seventy historical pieces featuring places, buildings, people, events and clubs around Malahide and is illustrated in colour. The book is available in Village Books on Townyard Lane for €10.
Some of the information on this page was provided by the Historical Societies fantastic and indepth website, for further information on the history and heritage of Malahide we recommend you visit the Malahide Historical Society Museum in Malahide Castle, and their website: www.malahideheritage.com
You can contact the Society by emailing: malahidehistoricalsociety@gmail.com
Map of Malahide
Malahide Community Forum
Malahide has a population of over 20,000 and has more than twenty separate residents' associations. Malahide Community Forum is the umbrella group for residents' associations in Malahide. They act as a watchdog to warn residents and to take action on their behalf when issues arise which are likely to affect the residents of Malahide as a whole.
For more information see: www.malahide.muintir.ie/
