Donabate Urban Centre Strategy Fingal County Council

3.0 Historical Context and Morphology
3.1 Historical Context and Urban Morphology
Although there is evidence of human habitation in the area from the
Mesolithic period onwards, the present urban structure began to
develop around the medieval ecclesiastical foundation in Donabate
townland, which was in existence by the early 13th century.
A thriving economy based on fishing and limestone quarrying fuelled
a period of significant development in the 18th century. The town
underwent further significant change with the construction of the
Dublin-Belfast railway line in the mid 19th century.
The 1841 Ordnance Survey six-inch map shows:
• Ballisk village to the north and east
• the newly constructed railway running north-south through the
peninsula
• the alignment of the road through the village (now the R126)
• Donabate village to the west of the line
6 inch Historic Map: 1841
Donabate Urban Centre Strategy 7