Blanchardstown-Castleknock and its surrounding areas were once the site of a massive oak forest.
The forest was a natural regenerating forest, an indigenous Irish forest. The trees included oak, ash, alder, wych-elm and the smaller species like blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel and holly. Yew trees and Scots pine were to be found on higher ground in the forest. This forest was known as The Great Scaldwood. If you want to get an idea of what this forest looked like, visit the forest in the Glen of the Downs near Delgany, Co. Wicklow.
We decided that we should choose an acorn and oak leaves to symbolize the memory of that vast forest. Acorns symbolize fortune, prosperity, power and heritage while the tree itself represents, in Celtic folklore wisdom, strength, morale, knowledge and honour not only by the Celts but also the ancient Romans.
The horseshoe reminds us of the thriving bloodstock industry in the locality that produced some of the greatest horses in racing history. Horses were also bred for more menial tasks such as ploughing and drawing carts; indeed, hundreds of horses were bred to pull the massive artillery guns that were used during the Boer wars and the Great War. These horses were known as troopers and were bred locally.
The horseshoe, as we all know, is a symbol of fortune and luck and the horseshoe in our logo is that used by racehorses. I did a rough sketch of the logo forgetting to mention it was by and large a racehorse industry in the area. Barbara Franzoni, who was preparing the artwork for our logo, with knowledge afore-thought returned the beautifully designed artwork with a racehorse's horseshoe - that was indeed fortunate if not lucky. -- Jim Lacey
Blanchardstown & Castleknock History Society
Join others to find out about the local heritage, history and culture of Dublin 15 - Blanchardstown and Castleknock.
