Tallaght

Tallaght ( TAL-ə; Irish: Tamhlacht, IPA: [ˈt̪ˠəul̪ˠəxt̪ˠ]) is a southwestern outer suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland, and is the county town of South Dublin. Tallaght was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to the 1960s, Tallaght was a small village in County Dublin, linked to several nearby rural areas which were part of the large civil parish of the same name—the local council estimates the population then to be 2,500. Suburban development began in the 1970s and a "town centre" area has been developing since the late 1980s. There is no legal definition of the boundaries of Tallaght, but the 13 electoral divisions known as "Tallaght" followed by the name of a locality have, according to the 2022 census, a population of 81,022, up from 76,119 over six years. This makes Tallaght the largest settlement on the island without city status, though there have been calls for it to be declared one. The village core of the district is located north of, and near to, the River Dodder, and parts of the broader area within South Dublin are close to the borders of Dublin City, County Kildare, Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown and County Wicklow. Several streams flow through the area, notably the Jobstown or Tallaght Stream (a tributary of the Dodder), and the Fettercairn Stream (a tributary of the River Camac), while the Tymon River, the main component of the River Poddle (Liffey tributary), rises in Cookstown, near Fettercairn. Tallaght is also the name of an extensive civil parish, which includes other areas of southern and southwestern Dublin, from Templeogue to Ballinascorney in the mountains. A book about the civil parish was published in the 19th century, The History and Antiquities of Tallaght...