placenamesPhibsborough
Baile Phib
Transport routes shaped Phibsborough’s growth, leaving a varied streetscape around Doyle’s Corner and a celebrated sporting ground at Dalymount.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Baile Phib · Irish · main form · validated name
- Phibsborough · English · main form
Place & story
A suburb shaped by transport
Phibsborough grew along the road towards Finglas and Glasnevin from the later eighteenth century. The North Circular Road and Royal Canal, followed by the Midland Great Western Railway in the 1840s, encouraged further development. Its streets retain successive phases of that expansion: early nineteenth-century yellow-brown brick houses with raised entrances stand alongside later red-brick Victorian terraces. The village centre around Doyle’s Corner received Architectural Conservation Area designation in October 2015, recognising the collective character of its residential and commercial buildings. [2]
All Saints and a growing congregation
All Saints Church on Phibsborough Road began in 1828 to designs by John Staple & Son. Its enlargement followed the district’s growth: a chancel was added in 1856, with a north aisle, baptistry and porch following in 1887. Thomas Drew remodelled the interior, where coloured brickwork and an arcade give the nave a distinctive character. Fire partly destroyed the church in 1966, after which the north aisle was rebuilt. The building therefore records both nineteenth-century expansion and twentieth-century repair. [3]
Dalymount’s opening day
Bohemians settled at Dalymount Park in 1901 after earlier grounds in the Phoenix Park, Jones Road and Whitehall. On 7 September, Dublin’s Lord Mayor Tim Harrington officially opened the ground before approximately 5,000 spectators. Bohemians beat Shelbourne 4–2, with Harold Sloan scoring Dalymount’s first goal. Season tickets were offered for five shillings. Friendlies against Celtic and Preston North End followed within the first six months, establishing the ground’s connection with visiting teams as well as the club’s new permanent home in Phibsborough. [4]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Dublin
- Barony
- Coolock
- Civil parish
- Grangegorman
- Coordinates
- 53.35271, -6.27274 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 127085 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Phibsborough. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Phibsborough Centre Architectural Conservation Area Report, adopted 5 October 2015 · Dublin City Council
- All Saints Church of Ireland Church: NIAH 50070378 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
- The Bohemian Football Club transcript · Dublin City Council Libraries
- St Peter's Church, Phibsborough, Dublin illustration: based on a St. Peter's Church by JP. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-06-28. How this page was prepared.