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The Science Block

The restaurant

The Arts Block and Admin

Belfield is a small enclave, not quite a suburb, located to the south of Ireland's capital city Dublin. It has a distinct identity because of, and is generally synonymous with, the main campus of University College Dublin.

Belfield is in close proximity to Donnybrook, Ballsbridge, Clonskeagh, Goatstown and Stillorgan and takes its name from Belfield House and Demesne, one of eight properties bought to form the main campus of University College Dublin. It is adjacent to the N11 road.

[edit] History

Belfield was one of the original sites suggested as a possible location for Dublin Airport before Collinstown was chosen. Nowadays, Belfield is synonymous with University College Dublin, being the location of that institution's main 132 hectare campus. University College Dublin (UCD) dates back to its foundation at 86 St. Stephen's Green in 1851 as the Catholic University of Ireland founded by John Henry Cardinal Newman who was its first rector.

In 1934, UCD bought Belfield House and from 1949 to 1958 purchased a group of adjoining properties to form a potential campus estate.

In 1960, the Government recommended that the College move from the city centre to Belfield. The first buildings to be completed on the new campus were those of the Faculty of Science in 1964. The other faculties moved to Belfield on a phased basis as their new buildings were completed, although as of 2007, parts of a few remain in Dublin city centre. Additionally, the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business is based on the remainder of the Carysfort (former School of Education) campus in Blackrock.

[edit] Amenities

The site also includes Belfield office park, with a large, international Hewlett-Packard call centre, and a sports ground, The Belfield Bowl, at which the UCD soccer and rugby teams both play in the top divisions of their respective leagues.

[edit] Office parks

There are several office parks located in Bellfield: The Bellfield Office Park, Beech Hill OP, Clonskeagh Drive. Some of the major companies located here are:

• HP- until 2008 most call centre activities were based in the Bellfield Office Park, but the majority of the employees moved to the new HP Ireland HQ in Leixlip. Only some specialized activities remained in Dublin, such as: HP European hardware dispatch, IT support for Bank of Ireland and Premier and Professional support for Microsoft on Windows, Exchange, SharePoint and Office products.
• Ericsson - several buildings, mainly for the Sales and Marketing division of this Swedish telecom conglomerate^[1]
• Smurfit Kappa Group - the company's head office is located here on Beech Hill

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

Coordinates: 53°18′24″N 6°13′08″W / 53.306801°N 6.218820°W / 53.306801; -6.218820