Santry: An Introduction

Santry is a mixed class suburb of the north side of Dublin, and situated within a short distance from Dublin Airport. The suburb is mixed residential commercial and industrial which combines to make an interesting mixture. The area has changed immensely in the last century, a century that has seen destruction to much of the old buildings in the area, most notably the Swiss Cottages. Fields of crops and woods have been replaced by housing estates, hotels and a mixture of industrial and commercial buildings.

The Swiss Cottage is the most famous building in Santry and unfortunately has not been protected from progress. The cottages were built in 1702 to serve as holiday cottages for visitors to the home of the Barons of Santry (Barry family). The cottages were built in the style of the cottages found in Switzerland which impressed Lady Domville greatly. Today Morton Stadium stands of the site of the Barry Mansion and 10 of the 11 Swiss cottages were destroyed by fire. The only remaining cottage was adapted into an office block in 1984 and is now home to a pharmacy.

The main shopping area in Santry is the Omni Centre which was opened in 1991. An extension to this original shopping centre was added in 2005 with the addition of the fashion mall. There is a wide range of shops and places to eat in the Omni Centre, among which are Subway, O’Brians Irish Sandwich, Burger King and McDonalds. There is also an extensive cinema complex at the Omni Centre, the Omni Plex which has 11 screens.

While the current presentation of Santry is of a mixed developed suburb, Santry has had a very interesting history. Not much is know about the prehistoric era in Santry although the book of Leccan refers to a tribe called the Almanii who lived in the area. In 1581 the area was awarded to William Nugent although he subsequently lost the area because of disloyalty before it came into the hands of the Barry family.

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