THE HISTORY OF DOUGLAS

The district of Douglas takes its name from the Gaelic word "Dubhghlaise" which means "the dark or black stream".
Today the gaelic for Douglas is "Dubhglas" which are the colours of our football and camoige teams.
The Fingerpost

Douglas is a suburb of Cork city. It is situated three miles from the city centre and overlooks Lough Mahon, an inlet of Cork Harbour which is a natural habitat for many species of waterfowl.

In the mid-seventeenth century, the area consisted of a small number of large farms or estates with a total population of 308 people.
With the arrival of the sail-cloth industry in 1726 (flax being the raw material) Douglas began to take shape as a settled community.
This provided much needed employment for the people of Douglas and outside areas.
With the decline in the use of sail, the linen industry declined.
Some of the mills converted to the manufacture of worstead cloth.
In the recession of the 1970's, the last two mills closed, bringing to an end a tradition that had lasted 250 years.

As well as being an industrial area, many of the merchant princes of the city had country residences in the locality.
In the nineteenth century there were many fine period residences built.
Many of them have been demolished and their lands built on.
However, a few have survived and have been converted to hotels.