Portmarnock is a coastal suburban settlement in Fingal, Ireland, with significant beaches, a modest commercial core and inland residential estates, and two golf courses, including one of Ireland's best-known golf clubs. Portmarnock is also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Coolock in the historic County Dublin. In the 2002 census the population was 8,975 and by 2011 had climbed to 9,285.
Location
Portmarnock lies on the coast between Malahide and Baldoyle. Portmarnock could also be said to border, at sea, 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.
Velvet Strand, 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. 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 on the second westbound transatlantic flight, 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 Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick, Canada. The sculpture Eccentric Orbit 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 Heart's Content and the abandoned solo North-Atlantic flight of Faith in Australia. Portmarnock is home to one of the 29 NapoleonicMartello Towers in the Greater Dublin Area.
Etymology and history
The district's name derives from the Irish word port – meaning "port" – and Saint Marnoch or Mernoc, said to have arrived in what is now Portmarnock in the 5th 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 Connaught – Maine – is also said to have been buried locally.
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, the 1991 Walker Cup and the 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. That golfing hotel is built around St. Marnock's, the former home of a branch of the Jameson distilling family, which had its own private golf course. St. Marnock's was largely built in the late 1890s to the designs of British architect Sir Robert Lorimer. Naomh Mearnóg is the local Gaelic Athletic Association club. 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 holds a swimming pool with some public access hours. Portmarnock Pitch & Putt Club was founded in 1958 and moved to its current location in 1961. It has been affiliated to the Pitch and Putt Union of Ireland since its foundation in 1961 and is currently a members-only club with 250 adult and 55 under-16 members.
Eamonn Andrews, the broadcaster, lived in Portmarnock from 1969 to his death in 1987.
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.
International footballer Stephen Ward grew up in Portmarnock.
