Blackrock School

The Heritage of Blackrock

The small seaside settlement that would eventually become Blackrock was first noted in "The Book of Dundalk" in 1752. Blackrock developed as a fishing village in the early 19th. century and in 1841 the population was 507 with 95 houses which were mostly fishermen's thatched cottages.
By 1845 visitors to the village complained about the lack of stabling for horses and hosteleries.This prompted the local landlord Thomas Fortescue to undertake the construction of a wall along the main beach and several lodgings which included the Blackrock Hotel (now The Brake), The Clermont Arms and The Swans.
This was the beginning of the rapid expansion of Blackrock as a popular holiday resort attracting visitors from neighbouring counties, Belfast and Scotland. This trend continued well into the 1960s. Today Blackrock is a vibrant community with over 3,000 inhabitants.
The numbers on the map on the right correspond with the numbers on the photos in the slide show. The first two photos in the slide show were taken in the 1890s and the third photo was taken in the 1950s/1960s.