Kilnamanagh, in Irish 'Cill na Manach', translates to 'Church of the Monks', referring to the church and castle established to house Saint Kevin and his followers. Present day Kilnamanagh has close ties to Glendalough, the other resting place of St Kevin. Unfortunately, the ancient Church of St. Kevin and castle located in Kilnamanagh were destroyed when the building of the housing estate commenced in 1974 by unscrupulous developers who were insensitive to the rich historical heritage which resided there. The well that was built by St. Kevin is now covered up, but there is still a small garden around the well for people to visit. The well and garden have been fenced in for fear of desecration. The gates are locked and access is controlled by the local church. There are many references to St. Kevin and his followers in Kilnamanagh; the school, church and local sports teams are named after him. During the 1980s, many annual community events were held in the parish including the Sunday Fete and the annual cycle pilgrimage to Glendalough.
St. Kevin's Church was built in 1978, and over the years the adjoining presbytery has been residence for many priests which have included the following:
Fr. Donal O'Scanaill, P.P.
Fr. Ernest Neville, P.P.
Fr. Pearce McLoughlin, C.C.
Fr. Oliver Hanratty, C.C.
Father Curran, P.P
Father James Fingleton, P.P.
Modern suburb
Kilnamanagh was one of the largest housing estates in Europe at the time it was built by Tom Brennan and Joseph McGowan, who traded as Kilnamanagh Estates. It is still the largest private housing estate in Europe, consisting of 1,600 houses. On release to the market, the first tranche of 3-bedroom semi-detached houses were priced at £5,995. Kilnamanagh has a primary school, a shopping centre, a credit union and a well-established community centre, which also has a bar. Kilnamanagh is close to The Square shopping centre, the third largest shopping centre in Ireland, which expanded with an extra 400 shops in 2010. The Luas red line and M50 are located between Kingswood and Kilnamanagh within walking distance of the entire estate. Kilnamanagh is divided into smaller neighbourhood areas such as Treepark, Redwood, Pinetree, Elmcastle, Parkhill, Birchview, and Tamarisk. The first houses built which were at Birchview, adjacent to the Greenhills Road, were the only houses in Kilnamanagh that had wooden floorboards on the ground level with under floor heating, and was the only part of the estate to have a street gas supply since its construction in 1972. Most of the other parts of the estate eventually had a street gas supply installed around 1990, with the exception of houses in the Elmcastle neighbourhood which had timber floors and gas ducted heating since their construction in 1974.
Clubs, associations and societies
There is an active soccer club known as Kilnamanagh AFC. The community centre, known as Kilnamanagh Family and Recreation Centre, built two 'astro parks' with floodlights and a grass pitch in August 2009. There is an active GAA club in Kilnamanagh. Formerly known as St. Kevin's GAA club, it merged with St. Killian's GAA club from the neighbouring area of Kingswood to become known as St. Kevin's Killians. Kilnamanagh has three GAA pitches in the middle of the estate. Kilnamanagh was well known for its summer projects in the 1980s, involving community members of all ages to participate in activities such as excursions out from the area, arts and crafts, organised children's discos, and cinema. The projects continued for a number of years and were centred mainly at Saint Kevin's Primary School during July every year. Set up by volunteers and parents from the area, it started in 1982 and ran successfully until 1989.
Businesses and industries
Located between the Mayberry Road and Treepark is the Kilnamanagh Shopping Centre. At its peak during the 1980s, and before the opening of the Square Shopping Centre on the Belgard Road, Kilnamanagh Shopping Centre was an extremely popular shopping destination for people from the surrounding areas. The biggest retailer in the centre is Dunnes Stores, with other units occupied by An Post, Insight Opticions, Boston Barber Bars, 5th Avenue Hair and Beauty, Bookstation and ODC chemist. Kilnamanagh has a fuel filling station located on its primary access route.
The Cuckoo's Nest
Kilnamanagh's local pub, The Cuckoo's Nest, closed in June 2015. It had been in the Lynch family for the last 53 years. In December 2017 work has started demolishing part of the pub to make way for 48 houses and 6 apartments. The new development is to be called TempleWood.
