Portrane or Portraine is a small seaside town one kilometre from, and merging into the larger town of Donabate

Donabate

Donabate is a small suburban coastal town in Ireland, some 20 km north-northeast of Dublin City. The town is situated on a peninsula which it shares with the town of Portrane. This peninsula lies on Ireland's east coast, between the Rogerstown Estuary to the north and Broadmeadow Estuary to...

 in Fingal

Fingal

Fingal is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. With its county seat located in Swords, it has a population of 239,992 according to the 2006 census...

, north County Dublin

County Dublin

County Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Dublin Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the city of Dublin which is the capital of Ireland. County Dublin was one of the first of the parts of Ireland to be shired by King John of England following the...

, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

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St. Ita's Hospital

Portrane's most prominent feature is the mental hospital. Now over 100 years old, St Ita's Hospital is an impressive collection of Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 red prick buildings which dominate the peninsula

Peninsula

A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....

. Important features within its main building include two churches and the clock tower. In the hospital grounds is a monument to George Hampden Evans

George Hampden Evans

The Rt.Hon. George Hampden Evans was an Irish politician.He was the eldest son of Captain Hampden Evans and his wife Margaret née Davis of Portrane, County Dublin. in 1805 he married Sophia Parnell, only daughter of Sir John Parnell former Chancellor of the Exchequer of Ireland...

, a replica of the round tower in a town in Afganistan.

Music

Members of the band U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

 owned a caravan in Portrane where they composed some of the music and lyrics for their 1981 album, October

October (album)

October is the second album by Irish rock band U2, released in 1981. The album featured spiritual themes, inspired by Bono, The Edge, and Larry Mullen, Jr.'s memberships in a Christian group called the "Shalom Fellowship", which led them to question the relationship between the Christian faith and...

. Rock band the Delorentos

Delorentos

Delorentos are a Dublin-based Irish alternative rock band, formed in 2005. They consist of Rónan Yourell , Kieran McGuinness , Níal Conlan and Ross McCormick...

 are Portrane natives.

Television

Portrane has been used extensively as a location for many film and television shoots. Parts of the Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

 television series Father Ted

Father Ted

Father Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...

 were filmed in Portrane, most notably Funland in the first series was filmed in Tower Bay. It also featured in the BBC series "Murphy's Law" starring James Nesbitt

James Nesbitt

James Nesbitt is a Northern Irish actor. Born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Nesbitt grew up in the nearby village of Broughshane, before moving to Coleraine, County Londonderry. He wanted to become a teacher like his father, so he began a degree in French at the University of Ulster...

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