placenames.ie
Townland

Johnstown

Baile Sheáin

The Finglas townland connects a financier’s country residence with the founder of Marsh’s Library.

Recorded locationJohnstown53.38583° N · 6.28365° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

bailetownland, town, homestead

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 Sheáin · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Johnstown · English · main form

Place & story

People & connections

Colonel Moore’s residence

F. Elrington Ball records Colonel Roger Moore living at Johnstown before James II's accession. His military title came from the militia, but his work included financial dealings with the Treasury and service to the Board of First Fruits. Moore also represented Mullingar in parliament. Archbishop William King, who shared his imprisonment in Dublin Castle under James II, subsequently visited him at Johnstown. [2]

People & connections

A home for Narcissus Marsh

Narcissus Marsh, founder of the library beside Saint Patrick's Cathedral, also occupied Moore's Johnstown house. Ball suggests that he initially stayed as a guest or temporary tenant, then used it as a residence after Moore's death in 1705. The historian specifically questioned a competing identification with Violet Hill: finding Marsh's papers in another house was insufficient evidence that he had lived there. [2]

Johnstown Park

Johnstown Park now provides a substantial public recreation space between Finglas and Glasnevin. Dublin City Council lists soccer and Gaelic-games pitches, ten tennis courts, a playground and nature trails among its facilities. Its native-tree trail adds an opportunity to study the park's planted landscape alongside its sporting uses, preserving Johnstown's name in the everyday geography of north Dublin. [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Townland
County
Dublin
Civil parish
Finglas
Within
Finglas
Coordinates
53.38583, -6.28365
Mapped area
0.39 km²
Logainm ID
16990 ↗

People & family history

Census figures refer to the matched historical census area for each year. Boundaries and spellings can change over time.

1926 census

48People recorded
7Households recorded

Most frequent surnames in this year’s matched records

  • Keatley 7
  • MacAvin 5
  • Devereux 4
  • Bauer 3
  • Kelly 3
Explore the 1926 records ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Johnstown. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. The Parish of Finglas, A History of the County Dublin, volume VI, From the Revolution to the Union · F. Elrington Ball, reproduced by Chapters of Dublin
  3. Johnstown Park · Dublin City Council

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-05-07. How this page was prepared.