ABOUT THE AREA

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MORE ABOUT THE VILLAGE AND RED COW FARM

Origins of Red Cow Names

Have you wondered about the interconnected names around Dublin's Palmerstown Village? I did while walking down Old Lucan Road. Noticing the Red Cow Cottages prompted me to remember the townsland of Redcowfarm (An Bhó Dhearg). This led to curiosity about the Red Cow tram stop. Was it named after a farm, or perhaps the historic Red Cow Inn? And was the Red Cow Inn actually named after a farm?

Redcowfarm and Surrounding Developments

Redcowfarm, a townsland, became the site of Palmerstown's earliest modern housing development between 1955 and 1965. Centred on Manor Road, the area boasts shops, the local credit union, and a doctor's surgery. Glenaulin Park, home to St. Patrick's GAA club, lies to the east of Redcowfarm, adjacent to the "California Hills" Park. The park is also notable for its short stretch of the Glenaulin Stream, a Liffey tributary that mostly runs underground.

The "California Hills" Mystery

Intriguingly, local children coined the name "California Hills" for a small wasteland in Ballyfermot, northeast of Glenaulin Park. This area, once a builders' dump during the mid-to-late 1960s, featured a series of small hills—actually mounds of rubble covered in clay and wild grass. Children sometimes called it 'The Caliers', a name that persists even today. The hills were eventually flattened and the area landscaped for public use.