The houses in the Ranch were built about 110 years ago, in the 1890s, for workers of the Great Southern and Western Railway at the Inchicore Works. There is absolutely no doubt whatsoever that the Ranch was part of Inchicore. The deeds of a house in the Ranch will say "Inchicore".
Now, as to what happened between the 1890s and today, matters are suscintly summarised in the following quote from the Wikipedia entry on Ballyfermot:
"The dairy and stud farms in the townlands of Ballyfermot were acquired by the authorities in the 1930s.They were developed into suburban housing estates needed to alleviate the post war housing shortage. This development, along with estates at
Drimnagh,
Crumlin,
Walkinstown in the south city, and
Cabra,
Finglas and
Donnycarney in the north city also provided modern accommodation to facilitate the city slum clearance programs. The first estate was built in the late 1940s at Ballyfermot Lower and was originally called the Sarsfield Estate. The street names reflect this historical theme. The adjacent townlands of Ballyfermot Upper, Johnstown, Blackditch, Cherry Orchard, Raheen and Gallanstown were subsequently developed, and incorporated in Dublin 10."
I know of folks in their 50s, who grew up in the corporation houses along the western parts of Lally Road and Landen Road and manintain that those areas are also Inchicore. Other's would class these roads as Lower Balltfermot. In any event, it's probably correct to class The Ranch as Inchicore. The full address is: "The Ranch, Inchicore, Dublin 10."
I'm from Greystones, Co. Wicklow myself and I live in the C.I.E. Estate in Inchicore, Dublin 8, which is definitely part of Inchicore. The C.I.E. estate is a lovely area to live in, but you won't find cheap houses to buy there.
Regarding Inchicore itself, and what it is like to live here, I love it and think it's a great area to live. Being so close to town is very convenient. The buses are very frequent and of course there is the Luas too. The biggest problem that Inchicore ever faced was St. Michael's flats, near Emmet Road. In 2008 Bernard McNamara pulled out of the PPP that had been set up to demolish the remaining flats an redevelop it. However there are a number of proposals being currently being considered by Dublin City Council. Watch this space !