service from the city was started and Clontarf became a fashionable place to live – Samuel Lewis lists twenty-seven major houses, apart from Clontarf Castle, in which resided wealthy and important gentry. The Confirmation list for 1824 includes four titled ladies – Lady Charlemont, Lady Caroline Clements, Lady Maria Caulfield and Lady Emily Caulfield. Clontarf had an important role in the career of the prominent Irish nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell who sought to hold on this location, symbolic because of its association with the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, a mass meeting calling for repeal of the Act of Union. The meeting was banned by then-Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, and despite appeals from his supporters, O'Connell refused to defy the authorities and he called off the meeting, as he was unwilling to risk bloodshed. A key arrival at Clontarf was Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness, son of Arthur Guinness II and his partner in running the brewery, who purchased various lands in Clontarf and Raheny, combining them to form St. Anne's Estate (the remnants of which form Saint Anne's Park). By the late 19th century Clontarf was becoming urbanised, initially as a holiday resort for wealthy Dubliners, but rapidly as a suburb of the city. A tram line was laid along the coast, increasing activity in the area. Amenities Clontarf's most notable amenity is its seafront, with a promenade running continuously from Alfie Byrne Road to the wooden bridge at Dollymount, totalling 4.5 km in length. From 1911 to 1958 the promenade was improved with a variety of shelters and lifeguard stations added by the Dublin Corporation. The most notable of these structures date from the 1930s and were designed by Herbert Simms, which are primarily executed in pre-cast concrete. More shelters were added later, in the 1950s. The seafront is used by runners, walkers, sailors and cyclists. Among the features of the promenade is an Easter Island Moai replica statue, a diplomatic gift from the ambassador of Chile, which is located just across the road from The Sheds pub.Also on the promenade is Clontarf's privately owned open-air seawater swimming pool, once a recreational destination with hot and cold baths, closed in 1996, then becoming derelict. But in 2017 it was redeveloped with a restaurant and bar open to the public within licensed hours. Originally scheduled to open in autumn 2017, it eventually did so in February 2018, but it