The Parish of Springfield was constituted on the 2th September 1972 by the Archdiocese of Dublin

History of St Marks Springfield, Tallaght
It was not hard for Dublin City Council to come up with the name of the estate as Tallaght was out in the county surrounded by water springs and fields. Father Richard Sherry and Father Tom Colreavy was the first Parish Priest and Curate of St Marks Parish. Their memories were in 1972 walking in their wellington boots through the mud to see the site of the new school. Father Sherry said that there were 50 houses in Springfield in 1972; he remembers the tremendous enthusiasm shown by the people of the area to the development of the new parish. These were mostly made up of young married couples with small children who were interested in their children’s education. They put a lot of work into their community. Father Colreavy said there was no unemployment in Springfield then; in some cases husband and wife were working. Many people had moved out from Walkinstown, Drimnagh, Ballyfermot and different parts of the country but buying a home was a big step for many of them. The parish of Springfield was originally part of Rathfarnham Parish which extended as far as Saggart. 1972 Archbishop Ryan divided the parishes and Springfield became the biggest area. Five priests ministered to the parish of Springfield then. McKone Builders who built many of the local houses was by all accounts a decent man and he left the estate in good order. St. Marks School was built in record time and opened in October 1973. Prior to this the children went by bus to Walkinstown and Drimnagh. A house in Springfield in 1972 cost approximately £4,650 and a house with a side entrance the cost was £500 extra.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Building a Community 1972
New people moving into the area were also new to each other, and had no meeting place. There was no Church and very few amenities. For these reasons it was decided to build a dual purpose church, and all the social activities of St Marks to be held in it, and so on the 17th December 1972 the temporary church was blessed and opened by the Archbishop of Dublin Doctor Dermot Ryan. He also carried out three Baptisms on the same day.

Shane Christopher McCauley, Born 12th September 1972, 95 Springfield.
Niamh Mary McCarthy, Born 21st November 1972, 445 Springfield.
Patricia Doyle, Born 17th November 1972, 175 Springfield.
First marriage recorded on the church register was 27th December 1973. Henry Cudden 428 Springfield to Mary Cheevers, Ballymun
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Readings from old notes tells us that this temporary church is overcrowded every Sunday and the present church was in the process of being built. In conformity with the directives of Archbishop Ryan, the architect of the new church Mr Eddie Smith worked to a very tight budget of £84,000. He had hoped to build a church that was relatively cheap and yet not cheap looking. The emphasis on an intimate church seating for 800 people and with no one far from the altar. The outer walls are faced in rustic brick and the interior finished is fair- face blockwork. The altar, tabernacle and ambo, all in oak will be transferred from the existing church. The entire floor area will be carpeted, and this should help the acoustics.
Very careful consideration had been given to the seating and the lay out of the confessionals. As St Marks Church was the first church to benefit from the Share Collection in the diocese of Dublin. The parishioners and friends of St Marks had to pay Share back as quickly as possible, so that other newly developing parishes can be helped. 15,000 bricks were needed for the new church and the parishioners were asked to buy a brick, at a cost of £1.00

Parish Priests of St Marks from 1972 to date
Father Sherry 1972 – 1980
Father Patrick Battelle 1980 – 1992
Father John Deasy 1992 – 1999
Father Oliver Crotty 1999 - 2002
Father Frank Herron 2002 - 2011
Fr Pat McKinley 2011 – 2022
Bill O'Shaughnessy 2022 –
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Priest and Parish Pastoral Worker who served in Springfield, Tallaght,
1972 -2022

Fr Sherry P.P. - R.I.P. - Fr Colreavey R.I.P, Fr Martin Noone, Fr Flannigan R.I.P.

Fr Patrick Battelle P.P, - Fr Frank Rayburn, Fr Colm Matthews R.I.P. Fr Ryan Fr Jim Nolan, Fr John McDonagh, Fr Philip Curran, Fr Owen Sweeney Belgard,

Fr John Deasy P.P. - Fr Patrick Gleeson, Fr Gabriel O Dowd R.I.P, Fr Patrick Littleton, Fr Patrick O Keefe, Fr Colm McCarthy. Fr Aquinas Duffy, Fr Richard Behan

Fr Crotty P.P. R.I.P. - Fr Richard Behan Fr Tom Early, Fr Aquinas Duffy

Fr Frank Herron P.P. - Fr Gerard Doyle R.I.P, Fr Eamonn Bourke, Fr Billy Burke, Fr Aquinas Duffy, Deacon Gerry Moore.

Fr Pat McKinley P.P. - Fr Jimmy McPartland, Fr Paul Ludden, Fr Chris Derwin, Fr Bill O' Shaughnessy, Fr Gerry Fleming, Fr Martin Hughes, Deacon Derek, Deacon Victor Okafor.

Fr Bill O’ Shaughnessy P.P - Fr Gerry Fleming, Fr Martin Hughes, Fr Colin Rothery was appointed to James Street Parish on the 12 July 2023. And Fr Pat O’ Rourke was appointed to St Marks July 2023 Fr Michael (Part Time) 12 July 2023

Parish pastoral worker Jane Mellett, Saule Cameron, Christina Malone

St Marks Parish Church Opened on the 27th July 1975 and there were twelve children baptised. The names are as follows:
Alan Swinburne 50 traditional homes Claire Pauline Bonerwell 578 Springfield
Stephen Ward 13 Raheen Road John Nolan 85 Springfield
Fiona Condron 315 Springfield Alan Nagle 87 Raheen Road
Emma Scuds 15 Traditional Homes Susan Finn 334 Springfield
John James Fox 895 Springfield David Ryan 140 Springfield
Jennifer Scanlon 16 Raheen Close David Delaney 31 Springfield
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fist Confirmations in Springfield, 6th June 1975
Michael McCabe 163 Fortunestown Peter Malone 233 Springfield
Brian Swift 60 Springfield James McGurth 41 Belgard Heights
Oliver Duff 908 Springfield Michelle Corrigan 44 Ashgrove
Marie O Sullivan 269 Springfield Geraldine Hanlon 8 Ashgrove
John, Patrick, Helen Casey Blessington Road
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1973 changes in the Springfield area.
1973 saw great changes in Springfield. September 1973 saw three nuns come to live in the parish. And they contributed greatly to the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people. All three nuns were professionally qualified one to teach in the school, another was a qualified social worker, and the third nun was a home economy advisor. This was the second time such an experiment had been carried out, the Dominican Nuns in Ballyfermot parish were the first in late 1950s early 1960s
A shopping centre also opened in September 1974. Within twelve months many essential services were set up.
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Fettercairn House
Fettercairn House appeared on the first ordinance survey map in 1837, and was situated in the town land of Whitehall, Tallaght. The first owner of the house was a Mr Gregg whose landlord was Sir James Hawkins Bart. The house sat on 400 acres of land and had a tree lined avenue which led up to the house. The Mooney family bought the house and land in 1883 and it then passed through the family. The last of the Mooney family to run the farm was Patrick. In the early 1970s the land was sold to Dublin County Council for the new housing estate of Springfield. The house was eventually sold in 1973 to Dublin City Council and was used as a parks depot for a number of years. Patrick Mooney and his family then moved to Leixlip Co Kildare and continued to farm. 1973 St Marks Youth Club was established. The Club began in Springfield in the prefabricated building on the church grounds. 1983 the prefab was destroyed by storm damage. So the youth club had to relocate to St Marks Youth and Family centre known as the farm or Fettercairn house and re-named in 1985 St Marks House.
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St Marks National School Junior - Senior 1973 / 74
As a result of a few parish meetings it was decided to go ahead with the permanent school bus to bring the children to Walkinstown and Drimnagh schools. Work started on St Marks School in January 1973, and opened on July 1st with a staff of eight and the pupil enrolment of 160. Mr Diarmuid McMahon was appointed principal and Mrs Mairead McGowan as vice principal. September saw 8 classrooms out of a final 32 rooms and this left room for 320 pupils. The 32 Classroom School and the new church to replace the temporary church in all cost £160,000.00.
Phase 2 of the school was completed. In 1974 the school was later divided into St Marks Junior and Senior schools. Mr Diarmuid McMahon was appointed principal of the senior school. Mrs. McGowan was appointed principal of Junior School. In 1983 eight classroom extension was built onto the school bringing the senior school up to 24 class rooms by the middle of the 1980s there were over 1,600 children between the ages of 4 – 12 on the campus. Mrs. McGowan retired in September 1988 and Ms. Ryan was appointed principal and retired in 2015 present Principal Ms. Deirdre Ni Bhroin was appointed. Mr. Diarmuid McMahon retired on 6th September 1997, and Mr.Richard Walsh was appointed principal September 1997 and he retired in September 2020. Present Principal Mr. Daly was appointed.
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Springfield Celtic / Marks Celtic FC 1973
The club - originally known as Springfield Celtic - was established in 1973 to provide soccer for players living in the St Marks Parish and the surrounding areas
In February 1975 an AGM was held by the residence association among one of the many items discussed and passed at that meeting was the formation of area committees. These committees were organised amongst 200 houses. The committees were to manage the affairs of the area and were to refer any problems that may arise to the executive committee. All the committees that were forming were helping to cement a community together and by doing this people were forming other clubs in the area.
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St Marks GAA 1975
St Marks G.A.A. first meeting took place in the prefab beside the new church had one junior football team in 1975. Father Tom Colreavy was elected as the first club president.
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St Mark’s Community School 1977
St Mark’s Community school was established in 1977. Principals of the school were Mr Murray, Ms Billy O Hara, Ms Irene Kiernan, and present Principal Ms Coyne
Priests that served St Marks Community School Fr Donal Roche, Fr Martin Hughes
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Tallaght West Credit Union 1981
All new housing estates were scourged by unofficial moneylenders and St Marks was no different. In 1981 Michael Geaney a school teacher and who lived locally met with Fr Martin Noone the local priest and discussed with him about setting up a Credit Union in Tallaght West. They advertised and were encouraged with a positive response that they received from the people around the area. They arranged a meeting and approx. twenty people turned up, and from that meeting they decided to form a study group. For almost a year they met in St Marks National School and studied the rules of the Credit Union. They also visited other Credit Unions. The League of Credit Unions would send a representative to their meetings and assist them in every way possible. They then set up savings scheme. By the end of the year they felt they acquired enough knowledge to set up a thriving Credit union that has helped so many people to this day
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Last word from the Late Fr Tom Colreavy
“A community can be sufficient materially, and still not be a community. A community is made up of people who live and work together for their own and their neighbours good”
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Information Sources – Thanks to the following
Fr Frank Herron and Marian Kavanagh who allowed me go through the parish records.

Fr Aquinas Duffy
Late Fr Tom Colreavy Notes
Tallaght Community Pamphlet
The Signal Volume 1 issue No 7 December 1997.
Tallaght West Credit Union Robert Trulock,
Notes Vol 3 Number 8 August 1973

St Marks Youth Club website stmarksyouthclub.ie/about/
Springfield Celtic, St Marks FC, Soccer Ireland. Com www.soccer-ireland.com/dublin-football-clubs/marks-celtic...
St Marks Community School stmarkscs.ie/
St Marks GAA www.stmarksgaa.ie/about-4
Tallaght West Credit Union www.twcu.ie/


Ken Larkin
14 September 2022

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Proposed Springfield Site early 60s Started to build the Housing Estate in 1970s first people moved into the Houses in 1972

Tallaght Hospital accepted its first patients on Sunday 21 June 1998.

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Bishop Paul Dempsey celebrated the Anniversary Mass along with Monsignor John Deasy, Bill O'Shaughnessy P.P., and Father Pat O' Rourke. Thank you to all the Organisers for what was a great afternoon. Special thanks to Mr Martin Durkin for the Old Photos archives. .

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The Minister for Education Mr Burke officially opened St Marks School Springfield, Tallaght on the 16 November 1974

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