At the foundation of the State in 1922, Kimmage was just a crossroads (KCR), with farmland all around. Then thousands of houses were built by Dublin Corporation in the 1930s, which brought life to the area. In earlier times, Kimmage had many limestone quarries, and the huge clay pits serving an important brick factory were later filled in to create Eamonn Ceannt Park and its cycling velodrome.

The old Larkfield Flour Mill was used by Eamon Ceannt and Joseph Mary Plunkett to train Volunteers leading up to the 1916 Easter Rising and is now the site of Supervalu Shopping Centre on Sundrive Road.  Until recent years, Kimmage Manor was a major seminary for the Holy Ghost Fathers, and part of their extensive farm was later redeveloped for St Mary’s Rugby Football Club. There are also numerous soccer and GAA clubs throughout the locality.

The Passionist Fathers of Mount Argus came to the area in the 1850s, led by Fr Charles, who became a saint in 2007. Big employers in the 1950s included McEntaggart Motor Assembly, later taken over by British Leyland, and the Astor Cigarette Factory, both now the extensive site of Leo Pharma. Dublin Dairies was a major distributor of pasteurised bottled milk to households.Nowadays, Kimmage is very settled and mature, but can boast of a colourful history.