placenamesDundrum
Dún Droma
Archaeological investigation uncovered successive uses of an industrial site beside the River Slang.
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
- Dún Droma · Irish · main form · validated name
- Dundrum · English · main form
Place & story
The ironworks and its wheels
Archaeologist Redmond Tobin's account of the Dundrum Town Centre site traces water-powered industry beside the Slang. A mill was marked in 1762, and the 1837 Ordnance Survey named the later ironworks. An 1847 description recorded two overshot wheels, one powering bellows and the other a tilt-hammer. By 1860, the ironworks was recorded as vacant. [2]
Evidence of spade manufacture
Excavation in 2001 exposed water channels, industrial floors and the remains of a forge. Charcoal, cinders, slag and iron fragments accompanied wooden blocks preserved in a stone-lined pit. Their indentations and shape led Tobin to identify evidence of spade manufacture. Later use had left enough of the earlier works intact for archaeologists to reconstruct how waterpower served the metalworking process. [2]
Laundry and electronics
Manor Mill Laundry appeared in valuation records in 1864 and continued until 1942. A turbine, probably installed between 1920 and 1940, added electricity generation to the site. Pye Ireland acquired the premises in 1943; its factory eventually employed more than 1,200 people before closing in 1985. The archaeological report thus records several working landscapes preceding the shopping development. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Dundrum. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Dundrum Town Centre excavation, 2001:419, licence 00E0736 extension · Redmond Tobin, Margaret Gowen and Company, Excavations.ie
- Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-06-28. How this page was prepared.