Terenure is a suburb of Dublin and straddles the administrative areas of Dublin City Council and South Dublin County Council. It is located south of Harold's Cross and north of Rathfarnham, and also borders the suburbs of Templeogue, Rathgar, Kimmage and Perrystown. Terenure Cross was at one time a terminus for the Dublin tramways, and this is mentioned James Joyce's Ulysses. There were three tram depots in Terenure at one time, the main tram depot for the number 15 DUTC trams on Terenure Road East, another DUTC depot for number 16 trams on Rathfarnham Road, and the terminus of the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway on Templeogue Road. The modern tram system — the Luas — does not take in Terenure, but it is still served by the numbers 15, 15a and 16 bus, among others. The bus route numbers were originally allocated based on historic tram route numbers.
History
Terenure, Drimnagh and Kimmage, on the south side of Dublin City, were given to the Barnewell family by King John in 1215. The Barnewells gave some of the land to St John The Baptist Hospital outside Newgate, and Cromwell confiscated the remainder from them. Terenure passed through the hands of various owners since then, including what is now Terenure College. In the seventeenth century, the main landowners were the Deane family, whose most notable member was Joseph Deane, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer; his estates later passed to the Bourne family. Fortfield House was built around 1785 by a later Chief Baron Barry Yelverton, 1st Viscount Avonmore. The earliest reference to these areas can be found in Grant CCA-DCc-ChAnt/C/1206, a document in Canterbury Cathedral Archives, by which King Henry II granted the lands Terenure and Kimmage in Rathfarnham to Walter the goldsmith in 1175. It has not yet been established how the lands reverted to the crown within 40 years. On 2 January 1941, during World War II, the German Luftwaffebombed Terenure, injuring seven people and destroying two houses.
Education
Schools within the Terenure area include St. Joseph's BNS, Presentation Primary school, Presentation College, Terenure College and Our Lady's Secondary school.
Religion
The Catholic parish church of St. Joseph in Terenure is an impressive edifice with a stained glass window by Harry Clarke. St. Joseph's school is on the church grounds. Along with Rathgar and the area around Portobello, Terenure has traditionally been the home of many of Dublin's Jewish population. Terenure Synagogue, Dublin's main synagogue is on Rathfarnham Road.
