Editing Castleknock (section)

==Etymology==
In a poem relating to the earliest centuries after Christ, the origin of the name Cnucha is connected with [[Conn of the Hundred Battles]], and the name is said to have been borne by his foster mother: —

{{poemquote|
The nurse of Conn who loved this strip of land
Was Cnucha of the comely head;
She dwelt on the dun with him
In the reign of Conn of the Hundred Fights.
Cnucha, the daughter of Concadh Cas,
From the land of Luimncach broad and green,
Died yonder in that house
To the horror of the Gaels.
The woman was buried, a grief it was.
In the very middle of the hill ;
So that from that on Cnucha
Is its name until the judgment.<ref>A HISTORY OF COUNTY DUBLIN: FRANCIS ELRINGTON BALL https://archive.org/stream/historyofcountyd06ball/historyofcountyd06ball_djvu.txt</ref>
}}
[[File:Castleknock Castle, 1835 (IA jstor-30004302) (page 1 crop).jpg|thumb|Castleknock Castle, 1835, ''[[Dublin Penny Journal]]'']]
As the word ''Castle'' did not come into use in Ireland until Norman times we know that ''[[Castleknock Castle|Castleknock]]'' is a name of comparatively recent origin. Documents from the 12th and 13th centuries refer to the place as Castrum Cnoc, simply Cnoc and also Chastel-cnoc or Castel-Cnoc.<ref>Castleknock College Centenary Record, 1935. available on https://www.knockunion.ie/news/castleknock-castle-its-owners-354 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922014221/https://www.knockunion.ie/news/castleknock-castle-its-owners-354 |date=22 September 2020 }}</ref> So it seems{{according to|date=May 2024}} that the name Castleknock is rooted in the topography of the hill or ''cnoc'' located at the centre of the modern neighbourhood and/or the personal name of the mother of a semi-legendary High King i.e. ''Cnucha'' and the building of a castle by Normans on this site in the 12th century.