The artificial harbour was formed (1807-1832) between the mainland and the picturesque island of Ireland's Eye, and preceded Kingstown as the station for the mail-packets from Great Britain, but was found after its construction to be liable to silt, and is now chiefly used by fishing-boats and yachts.
Kingston (at first called "Kingstown," from Kings Towne, Rhode Island) was commonly known in its early days as the "Forty Township," because the first permanent settlement was made by forty pioneers from Connecticut, who were sent out by the Susquehanna Company and took possession of the district in its name in 1769.
Rathmines, Monkstown, Clontarf, Dalkey and Killiney, with the neighbourhood of Kingstown and Pembroke, are the most favoured residential districts.
The direct route to Dublin from London and other parts of England is by the Holyhead route, controlled by the London & North Western railway with steamers to the port of Dublin itself, while the company also works in conjunction with the mail steamers of the City of Dublin Steam Packet Company to the outlying port of Kingstown, 7 m.
The railway was to run from Dublin to Kingstown, a distance of about 6 m., and was opened in 1834.
