placenamesWilkinstown
Baile Bhailcín
Wilkinstown, locally known as Walkinstown, developed into a suburb whose street names, church and library record its twentieth-century growth.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Baile Bhailcín · Irish · main form · validated name
- Wilkinstown · English · main form
- Walkinstown · English · main form · local name
Place & story
The musical roads
Housing built around the 1940s transformed former dairy farmland into Walkinstown’s Musical Roads estate. Streets between Cromwellsfort Road and Drimnagh Road commemorate composers and performers, including John McCormack, Michael William Balfe, Percy French and Thomas Moore. Elizabeth Crotty is also remembered. These are commemorative associations, giving the neighbourhood a shared musical theme through its everyday street names. [2]
A library for the new suburbs
Walkinstown Library opened on Percy French Road on 2 October 1961. Dublin City Libraries records an initial stock of 7,000 books, including 3,500 in a dedicated children’s section. A lecture hall and committee room formed part of the building. Its service area extended beyond Walkinstown to Cherryfield, Greenhills, Perrystown and the Manor Estate, reflecting the growth of neighbouring suburbs. [3]
The Church of the Assumption
The red-brick Church of the Assumption is dated 1954 in the architectural inventory. Its cruciform plan includes a tall entrance section, projecting transepts and a five-stage bell tower at one corner. Limestone details contrast with the brickwork, while the tower carries a copper-covered pyramidal roof. The building remains a conspicuous landmark on Walkinstown Green. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Dublin
- Barony
- Uppercross
- Civil parish
- Crumlin
- Within
- Wilkinstown
- Coordinates
- 53.31786, -6.34027
- Logainm ID
- 1412166 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Wilkinstown. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- The musicians behind Walkinstown’s Musical Roads · EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
- LBH036 Walkinstown Library: collection description · Dublin City Libraries, Dublin City Council Photographic Collection
- Church of the Assumption, NIAH 50080454 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2011-11-01. How this page was prepared.