Skerries, Dublin

Early writers tell how an island off Skerries was used as a landing place for an invasion, which happened in the second century C.E. This island was either Shenick or Red Island, which would have been a tidal island at the time. When the invaders landed, they formed ranks and at low tide marched to the mainland, where they were promptly defeated at the ancient settlement of Knocknagin, north of Balbriggan. The islands were previously known as the Islands of Cor possibly after the original inhabitants.

Skerries Lighthouse on Rockabill island

As noted, in 432 AD, St. Patrick landed on Church Island, and according to the Annals of Inisfallen Saint Mochonna founded a monastery shortly afterwards.[5]

In 797 AD, the Vikings (or Danes) carried out one of their earliest raids in Ireland when they plundered the monastery on Church Island.[5] As the origin of the name is Norse and many localities have Norse-based names,[5] it is assumed that the Vikings did settle and occupy the area. Sitric, who was a son of a Dane called Murchard, re-founded the monastery on Church Island in 1120.[5] He dedicated it to St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. By this time, the Hiberno-Norse who had settled in Ireland had become Christians.[5]

In 1148, Saint Malachy, Archbishop of Armagh, arranged a synod on St. Patrick's island to settle differences between the Irish Christians and the Pope. Fifteen bishops, two hundred priests, and other clergy, were present.[5]

In 1320, the manor of Skerries was granted to Sir Michael le Veel; his descendants Anglicised their name to Calf.

The Prior of Holmpatrick received permission to build a pier in 1496 from King Henry VII.[6] At this time, Skerries was the property of the monastery of Holmpatrick and was known as the Port of Holmpatrick.

In 1565, after the Reformation, the monastery and its lands became the property of Thomas Fitzpatrick.

In the autumn of 1583, while the Catholic Church was illegal and underground, Archbishop Dermot O'Hurley arranged for a sea captain to smuggle him into Ireland from the French port of Le Croisic and drop him upon Holmpatrick Strand in Skerries.[7] Archbishop O'Hurley, who later became one of the 24 Irish Catholic Martyrs, was met at Skerries by a priest named Fr. John Dillon, who accompanied him to Drogheda.[7]

In 1605 the manor and lands of Holmpatrick were granted to the Earl of Thomond. In 1721 the last Earl sold the manor and lands, including the town of Skerries, to the Hamilton family of Hacketstown. Comparisons between maps of Skerries drawn in 1703 and 1760 suggest that the Hamilton family was responsible for setting out the streets of the town as they are today.

Between 1863 and 1865 a monument to the memory of James Hans Hamilton, the local landlord and MP, was erected in Skerries. In 1897, the Hamilton family were granted the title of Lord Holmpatrick.

After the 1916 rising, a British destroyer landed troops at Skerries to help the Dublin garrisons suppress the rising. 200 men of the North Staffordshire Regiment landed under the command of Captain Clay. To try to impede their progress to Dublin, local rebels blew up the bridge over the railway in Donabate. During the Irish Civil War in 1922, Harry Boland was mortally wounded while being taken into custody by Irish Free State forces at the Skerries Grand Hotel.

The town's former school holiday camp, Gentours Children's Holiday Camp, was initially a "boys only" camp.[8][9] Later it became Gentours Children's Holiday Camp.[10]

In the late 1940s, a family holiday camp was built on Red Island by the Quinn family, founders of the Superquinn chain of supermarkets.[11] The camp had 250 bedrooms all under one roof, along with dining and entertainment areas. In this respect, the accommodation at Red Island differed from more typical chalet facilities at other camps, such as Butlin's.[12] The holiday business closed in the early 1970s. The ballroom continued in use as a concert venue, until all the buildings were demolished in the 1980s.[13] Much of the Red Island site is now laid out as a public park.[11]

With a restoration starting in the late 20th century,[14] the Skerries Mills consists of two restored and working windmills, a watermill, a museum and coffee shop. Now operated as a local amenity and tourist attraction, the sails on one of the windmills were damaged during storms in January 2007, but subsequently repaired.[15]

In common with much of Dublin's hinterland, Skerries saw growth in residential property and associated prices during the late 1990s and early 21st century.

The larger of the two Skerries Mills windmills

In Flann O'Brien's book The Dalkey Archive, Skerries is the location of the narrator's meeting with James Joyce. The narrator has heard a rumour that Joyce has returned from the continent and is working in a small country pub. He tracks him down to a place on the outskirts of Skerries, but Joyce denies all knowledge of "that filthy book" Ulysses.

Casey, one of Reegan's subordinate officers in John McGahern's first novel, The Barracks, is described as having previously been stationed in Skerries where he also met his wife, Teresa. In conversation with Elizabeth Reegan, the novel's protagonist, Casey describes his "great life there, near the city; the market gardening, places you couldn't throw a stone without breaking glass", while Teresa recalls the evening she met her husband: "You could still hear the music from the pavilion and it was comin' across from Red Island too, Mick Delahunty playing there that night. There was a big moon over the masts of the fishin' fleet. I knew he was mad for a court".

Musicians from Skerries range from Tony Keeling and the Graduates in the showband days, through to extreme metal band Primordial which was formed in Skerries in the 1980s. Singer-songwriter Ryan O'Shaughnessy originates from Skerries, and represented Ireland in the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest.[17]