Ballybough () is an inner city district of northeast Dublin city, Ireland. Adjacent areas include the North Strand and Clonliffe. Location Ballybough is an inner city district of northeast Dublin. Neighbouring districts include Drumcondra to the north, Fairview to the east, North Strand to the southeast and Phibsborough to the west. Croke Park, the headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association, is a prominent local landmark in the area where Ballybough meets Drumcondra. History Mud Island The first urban settlement was founded by three MacDonnell brothers who fled Ulster during the Ulster Plantations in 1605. They sought refuge in 'Mud Island' or 'Críonán/Críonach' in Ballybough as few people lived there at the time, and reigned as 'kings' of the area, a nickname which is honoured in 'Kings' Avenue' off Ballybough Road. A village of mud house was established on the island that lay off the sloblands along the estuary of the Liffey, and is thought to have been accessible by foot at low tide. The Irish Builder described Mud Island as being "between the Royal Canal and the River Tolka on the north and sound and being bounded east and west by the North Strand and Ballybough Road; but we think we may with some degree of truth affirm it received its name from its low marsh situation, and from being at one time at no distant date under the influence of the sea. Mud Island was one of the poorer parts of Ballybough. Its inhabitants lived in badly-constructed mud huts and the area was at the mercy of the sea at high tide. The present-day area which was encompassed by Mud Island includes: Newcomen Avenue, Clonmore Road, Charleville Avenue, Bayview Avenue, Kings' Avenue, Nottingham Street, and parts of Spring Garden, Ballybough Road, and North Strand. Mud Island was marked on Campbell's map of 1811 and Duncan's map of 1821 but neither map shows it as an actual island. The MacDonnell's of Ulster were the principal family on the island and by the late eighteenth century, the MacDonnell was recognised as 'The King of Mud Island'. The islanders elected the king, who was often but not always a member of the extended MacDonnell family. Two of the more famous of these monarchs were Art Granger and 'Grid Iron' MacDonnell. Eventually, the inhabitants of the island became the proprietors of the land they lived on through 'squatters' title'. The Irish Times ran