Rathfarnham
Encyclopedia
Rathfarnham or Rathfarnam is a Southside
suburb of Dublin, Ireland
. It is south of Terenure
, east of Templeogue
, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
and South Dublin
County Councils.
The area of Rathfarnham includes Whitechurch, Nutgrove, Ballyboden
and Ballyroan. Historical sites in the Rathfarnham townland
s include: Kilmashogue
, Mount Venus
, Tibradden and Taylors Grange.
and Loreto Abbey, four parks: Marlay Park
, Dodder Park
, St. Enda's
and Bushy Park
, and several pubs including The Eden, Revels and the landmark Yellow House. Padraig Pearse established St Enda's School for Boys, which is now a museum in his honour situated in St. Enda's Park
.
) suggests an earlier habitation but no remains of prehistoric fortifications, burial places, early churches or old records have been found.
. Terenurr and Kimmage (Cheming), both described as being in Rathfranham (sic) parish Dublin, are mentioned in an 1175 grant by Henry II to Walter the goldsmith ('Aurifaber') held at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.
In 1199
these lands were granted to Milo le Bret. In 1199 he adapted an existing ridge to build a motte and bailey fort at what is now the start of the Braemor Road. It was apparently still in evidence up to the early 20th century.
In the following century no events of great importance are recorded as Rathfarnham, perhaps as it was protected on its south side by the Royal Forest
of Glencree
. Rathfarnham became more exposed to attack when this deer park was overrun by the Clan
O'Toole
from the Wicklow Mountains
in the 14th century. Rathfarnham Castle
was erected in part to protect the area from such attacks.
In addition, part of the Pale
's defences ran through the townland of Rathfarnham. Some traces of this are still extant.
. However, their property was confiscated for their part in the Second Desmond Rebellion
of 1579
-83
. The castle and its lands were then granted to the Loftus family.
In the 1640s, the Loftus family was at the centre of the Irish Confederate Wars
arising out of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
. In 1649
, the castle was seized by the Earl of Ormonde's Catholic and Royalist forces before the battle of Rathmines
. However they were granted it back by the English parliamentarians after their victory in that battle. Reputedly, Oliver Cromwell
stayed in Rathfarnham Castle on his way south to the Siege of Wexford.
Economic activity in Rathfarnham was stepped up in the 17th century and in the early 18th century many gentlemen's residences were erected. Two key examples were Rathfarnham Castle and Ashfield.
itself was re-modelled from a defensive stronghold into a stately home. Lower Dodder Road is still marked by a triumphal arch
, from this era, which originally led to the castle.
The erection of this gateway is attributed to Henry Loftus
, Earl of Ely
from 1769
to 1783
who was also responsible for the classical work on the castle itself. The arch is named the new gate on Frizell's map of 1779
. After the division of the estate in 1913 the arch became the entrance to the Castle Golf Club but was later abandoned in favour of the more direct Woodside Drive entrance. The area around the Arch is a haven for wildlife, with the nearby River Dodder
home to Brown Trout
, Otter
and many water-birds & Woodside Estate home to Red Fox
, Rabbits and Grey Squirrels.
A millpond and extensive mill buildings formerly occupied the low-lying fields on the west side of the main Rathfarnham road, just beside the bridge. On a map by Frizell dated 1779 it is called the Widow Clifford's mill and mill holding and in 1843 it is named the Ely Cloth Factory. A Mr. Murray then owned it but in 1850, it passed into the hands of Mr. Nickson who converted it into a flour mill. His family continued in occupation until 1875 when John Lennox took over. In 1880 this mill closed down, the buildings were demolished and not a trace now remains.
Rathfarnham is the start of the Military Road
.
This road through the Wicklow Mountains
(still in use mainly for tourist traffic) was built at the beginning of the 19th century to open up the Wicklow Mountains to the British Army
to assist them in putting down the insurgents who were hiding there following the Irish Rebellion of 1798
. Rathfarnham itself was the scene of some skirmishes in the early days of the Rising.
Construction commenced on 12 August 1800 and was completed in October 1809. The road starts outside the Yellow House, passes the head of Glencree
, with a spur down that valley to Enniskerry
, rises to the Sally Gap and then dips down to Laragh
, over the hills into Glenmalure
, and finishes at Aghavannagh
. Well known sections also include the Featherbed Mountain, the section below Kippure Mountain
. The total distance was 34 Irish Miles, of which the spur to Enniskerry
was 5 Irish Miles.
The engineer in charge was Alexander Taylor (born in 1746), who was responsible for many other roads in the country, including some "Turnpike Roads
", which are Toll Roads
.
, the ancient highway, which in the time of Saint Patrick
was used by travellers between Dublin, Wicklow
and Wexford
. This road is believed to have crossed the Dodder at the Big Bridge, now Pearse Bridge, and re-crossed it again near Oldbawn
, an unnecessarily inconvenient route, considering that a road through Templeogue
to Oldbawn
would not necessitate any crossing. The first record of a bridge being built here was in 1381
and in 1652
it was described by Gerard Boate
in his A Natural History of Ireland as a wooden bridge which 'though it be high and strong nevertheless hath several times been quite broke and carried away through the violence of sudden floods.' After three bridges had been demolished by the river, between 1728
and 1765
, the present structure of a single stone arch was erected in the latter year. This was widened on the west side in 1953 when it was renamed in commemoration of Patrick
and William Pearse.
In 1912 during the construction of a main drainage scheme to Rathfarnham, a stone causeway was uncovered 23 ft (7 m) below the road level. It was 9 ft (2.7 m) wide and built of great blocks crossing the course of the river. Cut into the surface of the stone were a number of deep parallel grooves, as from the action of wheeled traffic over a long period. This was evidence for the existence here of a busy thoroughfare even before the construction of the earliest bridge.
s Peter
and Paul
. This was a medieval church used for Protestant worship until 1795
when it was found to be too small for the congregation and a new one was erected a short way off. The end walls of the old church still stand, the west gable containing a bell turret and the east pierced by a chancel arch, the chancel itself having disappeared. The north wall is gone and all that remains of the south wall is an arched opening.
Near the entrance to the burial ground is the grave of Captain James Kelly, an old Fenian
who was associated with the Fenian Rising
of 1867
. He was organiser for the Rathfarnham district and was known in the area as The Knight of Glendoo. On one occasion when he was on the run he was hiding in the cellar of his business premises in Wicklow Street
when police raided it. An employee named James Fitzpatrick who strongly resembled Capt. Kelly in appearance was arrested in error and was tried and sentenced to six months imprisonment, which he served without betraying his identity. Capt. Kelly died on 8 March 1915, aged 70.
On the opposite side of the road is Crannagh Park and Road, Rathfarnham Park and Ballytore Road, all built on part of the old Rathfarnham Estate. In the garden of a house formerly named Tower Court in Crannagh Road is an ancient circular pigeon house, a relic of Lord Ely's occupation of Rathfarnham Castle. The entrance to this curious structure is by a low door on level with the ground and the inside is lined from floor to roof with holes for the pigeons. A floor of more recent date has been inserted half way up, so as to make two rooms, and a second door broken through the wall at that level.
and flows down through Grange Golf Links
and St. Enda's Park
. This served several mills before entering the fish ponds, whence it ran through the golf links while a smaller branch was conducted under the road to the flour mills which stood at the corner of Butterfield Lane, on the site later occupied by Borgward Hansa Motors Ltd.
Described in 1836 as Sweetman's Flour Mills, it frequently changed hands before closing down in 1887. It was later operated as a saw mill. The dry mill race can still be seen here on the north side of Butterfield Avenue.
Rathfarnham Protestant Parish
Church on the Main St. was built in 1795 to replace the church in the old graveyard. Beside the church is the old school house that dates from early in the nineteenth century.
Immediately adjoining is Church Lane at the corner of which is a bank built on the site of an Royal Irish Constabulary
barracks that was burned down by Anti-Treaty IRA forces in September 1922 during the Irish Civil War
. In the lane is an old blocked up doorway of an early eighteenth century type. Church Lane leads to Woodview cottages, which are built partly on the site of an old paper mill. The mill race previously mentioned passed under Butterfield Lane to the paper mill and continued on below Ashfield to turn the wheel of the Ely Cloth Factory. It was later turned into the Owen Doher River at Woodview Cottages. Until recently, when the new road was made to Templeogue, the old mill race could still be traced through the grounds of Ashfield where its dry bed was still spanned by several stone bridges.
The paper mill, of which some old walls and brick arches still survive, has been described as the oldest in Ireland but there does not appear to be any evidence to support this. The earliest reference to a paper mill here is 1719 when William Lake of Rathfarnham presented a petition for financial aid but we hear of one at Milltown as far back as 1694
. In 1751
William and Thomas Slater whose works were destroyed by fire in 1775
made paper here. Archer's survey of 1801
mentions two paper mills here, Freemans and Teelings, and both Dalton in 1836
and Lewis in 1837
state that one paper mill was still working and from 1836 to 1839 the name Henry Hayes, Rathfarnham Mill appears in the directories. If this can be identified with the mill at Woodview cottages it must have become idle soon afterwards as it is designated “Old Mill” on the 1843 edition of the O.S. map. In 1854 when this mill had neither water wheel nor machinery an attempt was made to re-open it for the manufacture of paper but it came to nothing. The mill race has now been completely removed to make way for a housing development.
At the end of the main street, on the right, the road to Lower Rathfarnham passes the site of the earliest Constabulary barracks. This closed down in 1890 when the establishment was transferred to a house named Leighton Lodge near Loreto Abbey.
Church of the Annunciation
was erected in 1878 to replace the old chapel in Willbrook Road. Outside the church door is a primitive type of font on a pedestal bearing the inscription FONT USED IN MASS HOUSE OF PENAL TIMES IN PARISH OF RATHFARNHAM FROM 1732
. The appearance of this font would suggest that it was originally a stone bullaun
dating back to a period much earlier than the penal times.
On the opposite corner is the well-known Yellow House, a licensed premises built near the site of an inn of the same name which is marked on Taylor
's map of 1816
. (The Catholic Church of the Annunciation (see above) is on the site of the original Yellow House). A tradition has been recorded by Mr. Hammond that in 1798
a Michael Eades, who sheltered wanted men in his house, owned it. It was also frequented by the soldiers of the Rathfarnham Guard whose careless talk was carefully noted by the United Irishmen hiding on the premises. In 1804
when the truth came to be known, the same military wrecked the place. Following Wilbrook road down between the Yellow House and the Annunciation, a large set of wrought iron gates can be observed. These gates, which now act as the pedestrian entrance to the Beaufort Downs housing estate, were originally the entrance to the Beaufort estate of the 1700s.
. The old quiet tree shaded avenue has been completely swept away, along with the narrow lanes a cramped passage bounded on both sides by towering walls and full of right angled bends, which wended its crooked course between Loreto Convent cemetery and the garden of Nutgrove House. A massive gateway stood at the entrance to this avenue until about 1911, which bore the inscription Nutgrove School Established 1802
. In 1839 the school was under the supervision of Mr. Philip Jones, who continued to hold the post of principal until 1866 when the position was held by Mrs. Anne Jones. In 1876 the school closed down and the house was occupied as a private residence by various tenants down to recent years becoming the parish councilheadquarters. The new avenue was laid through the former school grounds and the house, shorn of its ornamental gardens, stood with its front against the footpath. At some time the house had been disfigured with a rather unsightly concrete porch and the old brickwork covered with cement plaster, concealing the fact that this was a very interesting eighteenth century building containing a fine stairs and coved ceilings with good plaster decoration. Unfortunately the house fell into very bad repair and eventually was demolished. Joyce in his Neighbourhood of Dublin states that this house was at one time the dower house
of Rathfarnham Castle
but in this he is almost certainly mistaken, as Frizell's map of 1779 shows that it was outside the estate. It is possible that he confused it with the other old house on the opposite side of the avenue which was formerly named Ely Cottage, later altered to Ely Lodge, and which was shown to be within the boundary of the estate. This house was in very bad repair but has recently been restored in a very tasteful manner.
The first avenue on the left, beyond Nutgrove House, is Whitehall Road where stands that curious structure known as the Bottle Tower or Hall's Barn. This was built by Major Hall in 1742
in imitation of the better constructed Wonderful Barn
erected about the same period near Leixlip
. The floors and other timber work have long disappeared and the winding stone steps are not considered safe to ascend. While the ground floor may have been used as a barn, the first and second floors appear to have been residential as they are both fitted with fireplaces. A smaller structure behind the barn, built on somewhat similar lines was a pigeon house.
The old house named Whitehall, which was demolished some years ago, stood adjacent to the barn. It was also built by Major Hall around the same time. In 1778 it became the residence of Rev. Jeremy Walsh
, curate of Dundrum
, and in 1795 it was converted into a boarding house by Mr. Ml. Kelly. A newspaper advertisement in 1816 invites enquiries from prospective visitors. In a description written in the last century the old-fashioned kitchen and panelled staircase are specially noted.
The tall house at the bend in the road, recently occupied by the De La Salle Brothers, seems to be identical to a house named Waxfield where the death is recorded in 1766
of Mr. John Lamprey. In 1836 it was known as Hazelbrook, a name which was later transferred to the nearby, now defunct, Hughes Brothers
milk bottling plant. The Hughes Brothers original house, built 1898, and called Hazelbrook House, was rebuilt in the Bunratty Folk Park
in 2001. From 1844 to 1899 it was known as Bachelor's Hall, after which it became the headquarters of a Charitable Institution under the name of Berwick Home. In 1944 it again became a private residence and the name was changed to Berwick House.
.
The mansion which now forms the centrepiece of the group was built by Mr. William Palliser
about 1725
. No expense was spared in its construction and decoration, as can still be judged by the beautifully preserved interior, the polished mahogany and, in one room, embossed leather wallpaper. William Palliser died in 1768
without issue and Rathfarnham House passed to his cousin the Rev. John Palliser, who was rector of the parish.
After his death in 1795
the house was purchased by George Grierson, the Kings Printer
in Ireland, who resided here for a few years. When Grierson removed to his new abode in Woodtown the house remained unoccupied for some years until in 1821
it was purchased by the Most Rev. Dr. Murray for the newly founded Loreto
Order.
The foundress Rev. Mother Mary Frances Teresa Ball
made many improvements to the place.
She is said to have added a storey to the old house although there is no evidence from the exterior to support this. Many additions have been made over the years, the church was built in 1840, the novitiate in 1863 and six years later St. Joseph's wing which contains the concert hall and refectory. St. Anthony's wing was erected in 1896, St. Francis Xavier's in 1903 and the Lisieux building in 1932 for the accommodation of visiting prelates to the Eucharistic Congress.
Directly across the road from the Abbey is Beaufort House, which is now the headquarters of the Loreto Order in Ireland. This house was occupied by Robert Hodgens J.P. (1793–1860) and then by his sons, John Conlan Hodgens and Henry Hodgens. On the grounds is Loreto High School Beaufort which was founded in 1925.
This place was the scene of a skirmish at the outbreak of the rising of 1798
. The insurgents of the south county assembled at the Ponds on 24 May 1798 under the leadership of David Keely, James Byrne, Edward Keogh and Ledwich. The latter two had been members of Lord Ely's yeomanry but had taken to the field with the United Irishmen. The insurgents were attacked by the local yeomanry
corps but were able to defend themselves and the yeomanry was forced to retreat. A party of regular troops was then sent against them and a stiff encounter took place. A number of the insurgents were killed or wounded and some prisoners taken including Keogh and Ledwich. The survivors retreated, joining up with a party from Clondalkin
, and a further engagement took place at the turnpike on the Rathcoole
road where the enemy was successfully repulsed.
, which has its gable end to the road. The next is Washington Lodge, its attractive 18th century facade hidden by a shrubbery. In recent years new avenues have been laid out here on both sides of the road. Barton Drive, on the left, occupies the site of a house named Barton Lodge (occupied by William Conlan, a brewer in Dublin, until his death in 1829 - his daughter married into the local Hodgens family, who in the 1870s donated the lands for the Church of the Annunciation). On the other side is Silveracre, once the home of Dr. Henthorn Todd
, Professor of Hebrew in T.C.D.
, who was connected by marriage to the Hudson family of the adjoining Hermitage estate. He was a well known Irish scholar and was the editor and translator of a number of Irish documents as well as the author of a life of St. Patrick. He died here in 1869. About the middle of the last century the name of the house was changed to Silverton but it was later reverted to the original Silveracre. Most of the land is now built on. It was also the home in the early part of twentieth century of Surgeon Croly, who founded Baggot St. Hospital.
The next estate on the same side is Hermitage or Saint Enda
's, the former home of Patrick Pearse
and later of his sister Margaret Mary Pearse. The house, which is entirely faced with cut granite and has an imposing stone portico, was occupied in the eighteenth century by Edward Hudson, an eminent dentist. He had a passion for Irish antiquities, which he demonstrated in an unusual way by the erection of a number of romantic ruins around the estate. He built a small watch tower inside the boundary wall near the entrance gate and further along, a hermit's cave, a dolmen, a ruined abbey and beside a deep well, a tiny chamber with a stone bench and a narrow fireplace. At the corner of the road to Whitechurch the loopholed and crenulated structure known as the Fortification, or Emmet's Fort was another of his creations. South of the house he built a grotto surmounted by a tall stone pillar, a Brehon's Chair
and a fanciful construction consisting of two great boulders, one balanced on top of the other, which has since been demolished. Just inside the boundary wall he cut an inscription in Ogham
on the two faces of a large rock. Translated they read: RIDENT VICINI GLEBASETS A KH A MOVENTEM EDUARDUM HUDSON. In the pretty glen adjoining the Whitechurch road he erected a sort of temple with several small chambers and flights of steps. The estate was at that time known as the “Fields of Oden” and is so called on maps of the period. Within the grounds also, at the corner nearest to Whitechurch is an obelisk
, stated to have been erected by a former owner, Major Doyne, over the grave of a horse that carried him through the Battle of Waterloo
. The date however of Major Doyne's occupation does not support this. Unlike the constructions of Edward Hudson, which were purposely of the roughest material, this monument was of cut stone with small moulded pillars. After having been vandalized and toppled, it has since been re-erected without the pillars which were broken.
Edward Hudson was succeeded by his son William Elliot Hudson, who was born here in 1796. A distinguished scholar, he was a friend of Thomas Davis
and Charles Gavan Duffy
and was a patron of Irish literature and art. Shortly before his death in 1857 he endowed the R.I.A. with a fund for the publication of its Irish Dictionary and he also left the Academy Library a valuable collection of books.
From 1840 to 1858 Hermitage was the home of Richard Moore
, Attorney General
, and in 1859 it came into the possession of Major Richard Doyne, stated to be a veteran of the Waterloo
. From 1872 to 1885 it was occupied by George Campbell, merchant of 58 Sackville St., and after lying vacant for a few years it was tenanted by Major Philip Doyne of the 4th Dragoon Guards. In 1891 Colonel Frederick le Mesurier, barrister is returned as occupier and in 1899 Mr. William Woodburn
.
St. Enda's School
was founded by Padraig Pearse in 1909 and was at first housed in Cullenswood House, Ranelagh
. Pearse felt that the confined surroundings of this house gave no scope for the outdoor life that should play so large a part in the education of youth, so in 1910 he leased Hermitage from Mr. Woodburn and moved his college here. A long billiard room was converted into a study hall and chapel, the drawing room became a dormitory and the stables opening off an enclosed square became class rooms. In “The Story of a Success” Pearse tells of the realisation of one of his life's ambitions and it was from here that he set off for the city on his bicycle for the last time on Easter Sunday 1916. After the rising the college continued to function under the care of Margaret Pearse until it finally closed down in 1935. After the death of Margaret Pearse in 1968 St. Enda's passed into the hands of the state and has since been opened as a public park and home of the Pearse Museum
.
, at the time of Emmet's rising. The house was formerly named Holly Park but when Curran bought it in 1790 he changed the name to Priory. He lived here for 27 years at the peak of his fame and here he was to endure the tragic events, which cast a shadow on his private life. First the untimely death of his daughter Gertrude, followed by the loss of his wife, who left him for another man, and lastly the discovery of the association of his daughter Sarah Curran
with Robert Emmet
. Gertrude Curran died in 1792
at the age of 12 as the result of a fall from a window. Curran had her buried in the grounds of the Priory and over the grave he placed a recumbent slab, on which was fixed a metal plate bearing the inscription:
The position of the grave was clearly marked on the early editions of the O.S. maps. It was about midway along the northern boundary of the corner field facing the fortification, on the north side of the boundary bank and a few yards from it. It was formerly enclosed by a grove of trees, which can be seen in J. J. Reynold's photograph of 1903 but these were cut down about 1928. Some time later the stumps were dug out and the stone slab broken up and thrown on the adjoining bank. The metal plate had already been taken by souvenir hunters. It was Sarah Curran
's desire to be buried here also but to this her father would not agree as he had come in for criticism on the previous occasion for burying his daughter in unconsecrated ground.
In this district nearly every ancient site is associated in tradition with either Sarah Curran
or Robert Emmet
and it is not surprising therefore to find that this burial place has been suggested as the last resting place of Robert Emmet
. This tradition goes back for well over a century and it is rather surprising that this site was not investigated when the search for Emmet's remains was being made at places a great deal less accessible and no less improbable.
In October 1979 the opportunity offered itself to carry out this investigation. The Priory estate was being developed and heavy machinery moved in to lay the roads and sewers. A Mrs. Bernadette Foley of nearby Barton Drive drew attention to the need to carry out this work before the site was buried for ever under a concrete jungle. With the co-operation of Messrs Gallaghers, the developers, a small group undertook to investigate the site. First the exact location was checked on the original large scale manuscript map in the O.S., next the field was carefully chained and the site marked to within a few feet and then a narrow trench 3 foot (0.9144 m) deep was dug through where the burial should have been. The result was a complete blank. A second and a third trench were cut at intervals until a large area had been investigated without finding any burial, timber, brick or stone.
The developers then offered to investigate further with the excavator and carefully cleared an area of 20 yd (18.3 m) long and 10 yd (9.1 m) wide to a depth of 4 feet (1.2 m) without finding any sign of disturbance. They then deepened this area by another two feet with no better result. All the accounts of the burial state that it was made in a vault and it is therefore surprising and disappointing that no evidence whatever was found and there does not seem to be any obvious explanation for it. The builders, Messrs Gallaghers Ltd. were commended for their interest in this aspect of the site and their painstaking excavation work under the supervision of Mr. Leslie Black was expertly carried out.
Priory was occupied by the Curran family until 1875 and subsequently by the Taylors until 1923. At the beginning of the century the house and gardens were still in good repair but after the Taylor's time the place was neglected. Twenty years ago the walls were still standing but little now remains but some heaps of rubble.
Marlay Park
is a large open parkland, with a craft centre near the old "big house"; the park hosts major concerts every year. Aside from St. Enda's, Dodder Park
and Bushy Park (see above) and small green spaces, the area also hosts two golf clubs.
Both fine buildings of Loreto Abbey and Rathfarnham Castle also provide amenity value.
There are a number of schools.
Rathfarnham is served by a range of buses.
The number of people living around the neighbourhoods of Ballyroan and St. Endas fell notably by 8% and 7% respectively. On the other hand, there were minimal increases in the Butterfield and Hermitage areas.
One thing that is clear from the statistics is Rathfarnham is aging, with young couples that moved into the area in the 1960s entering retirement. There is a lack of suitable and affordable homes for young people within Rathfarnham and consequently they are flocking out to neighbouring suburbs such as Templeogue
, Tallaght
and Firhouse
.
Over the last 4 years, there haven't been many apartment block developments in the Rathfarnham area. The figures reflect this reality. Due to the fact that there aren't many suitable sites in the area for apartment building, two analysts including the Rathfarnham Community Website, predict that Census 2010 will publish further decreases.
. Acts in 2007 have included Damien Rice
, Foo Fighters
, Kaiser Chiefs
, Crowded House
, Aerosmith
, Damien Rice
, The Who
and Peter Gabriel
. Muse
, The Killers, Lenny Kravitz
/Alanis Morissette
played in the park during 2008 Metallica
, Fatboy Slim
, Dizzee Rascal
and Calvin Harris
are played there on August 1 & 2 in 2009.
was recorded at Rathfarnham Shopping Centre. In one scene in the movie Ordinary Decent Criminal
, a car is blown up in front of the Pearse Museum in St. Enda's Park.
. John Blake was the first known publican to be granted the licence in 1799.
Situated on Main Street, The Castle Inn is, as its name implies, near Rathfarnham Castle. The interior is made of stone and light wood and is one of the newer pubs in Rathfarnham.
The Eden House pub is situated on Grange Road near Marlay Park
and is one of the highest pubs in the town. The beer garden was a favourite attraction because of the wide open spaces and the elevated view of Dublin. The building was formerly Eden House, one of the 18th century stately houses on Grange Road, before being converted to its present use by Patsy Kiernan who died in recent years. The pub was then sold in 2006 for €5.5m and is now run by owners of The Morgue Pub in Templeogue
Village. The pub was completely renovated by the new owners, who now are awaiting the completion of road works on the Grange Road before opening a new Beer Garden.
The Old Orchard is on Butterfield Avenue near Rathfarnham Shopping Centre. The interior has a very contemporary "European" styling. The 'island' bar is an unusual feature and provides service around the full 360°, earning it its local nickname
of the ""thripp'ny bit
".
The Tuning Fork was an old-style pub situated at the junction of Willbrook Road and Whitechurch Road near the Yellow House pub. It is now closed.
The Blue Haven is a popular meeting spot among young and business people alike, situated on the junction of Ballyroan Road and Butterfield Avenue.
The Yellow House pub is situated at the corner of Willbrook Road and Grange Road, a short distance from Rathfarnham Castle. It is believed that the first pub bearing the name was a thatched cottage standing on the site of the present Roman Catholic church, and that the licence went back as far as the early eighteenth century. Certainly, it was in business at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
. Some say it was used during the rebellion as a meeting room for the rebellion-leaders. The present Yellow House was built in 1825
by Mary Murphy and opened for business in 1827. It was extensively refurbished and extended in 1979. According to local folklore, the poet Francis Ledwidge
worked there for two days as an apprentice before homesickness for his home town of Slane
, County Meath
, caused him to leave.
service links the area with Dublin Airport via the M50 24 hours a day.
Southside (Dublin)
The Southside is not an official administrative area but a colloquial term referring to the area of County Dublin bounded to the north by the River Liffey to the east by Dublin Bay, to the south and west by the boundaries of County Dublin...
suburb of Dublin, Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
. It is south of Terenure
Terenure
Terenure is a mainly residential suburb of Dublin, Ireland, largely in the administrative area of Dublin City Council but with parts in the administrative county of South Dublin County .-Location and transport:...
, east of Templeogue
Templeogue
Templeogue is a suburb of southwest Dublin, Ireland. The original Irish name Teach Mealóg refers to a chapel named after Saint Mel that was built there in about 1273....
, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and 16. It is within the administrative areas of both Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. Located to the south-east of Dublin city, its county seat is the town of Dún Laoghaire. It is one of the four constituent parts of the Dublin Region...
and South Dublin
South Dublin
South Dublin is a county in Ireland. It is one of three smaller counties into which County Dublin was divided in 1994. The county seat is Tallaght, the largest suburb of Dublin and the biggest urban centre in the county. Other important centres of population are Lucan and Clondalkin...
County Councils.
The area of Rathfarnham includes Whitechurch, Nutgrove, Ballyboden
Ballyboden
Ballyboden is a locality within the suburb of Rathfarnham in South Dublin, at the foot of the Dublin mountains between Whitechurch, Ballyroan and Knocklyon....
and Ballyroan. Historical sites in the Rathfarnham townland
Townland
A townland or bally is a small geographical division of land used in Ireland. The townland system is of Gaelic origin—most townlands are believed to pre-date the Norman invasion and most have names derived from the Irish language...
s include: Kilmashogue
Kilmashogue
Kilmashogue is a mountain in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County in Ireland. It is high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The forest plantation on its northern slope, which is composed mainly of Sitka...
, Mount Venus
Mount Venus
Mount Venus is a sacred megalithic site in Edmondstown, County Dublin, Ireland on the Mount Venus Road. It is a national heritage site....
, Tibradden and Taylors Grange.
Features
Rathfarnham is home to several notable historic buildings, including Rathfarnham CastleRathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle is a 16th century castle in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland.-Origins:The earlier Anglo-Norman castle which was replaced by the present building was built on lands which were confiscated from the Eustace family of Baltinglass because of their involvement in the Second Desmond...
and Loreto Abbey, four parks: Marlay Park
Marlay Park
Marlay Park is a suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks...
, Dodder Park
Dodder Park
Dodder Park is a suburban linear park in Dublin, Ireland, consisting of over 100 hectares of fragmented parkland and remnant countryside.-Location:...
, St. Enda's
St. Enda's Park
St. Enda's Park is a large public park in Rathfarnham in Ireland.St. Enda's was not always a public park. Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 used to run a school there, St. Enda's School , in The Hermitage. This magnificent house was built in 1780 for the Dublin...
and Bushy Park
Bushy Park, Dublin
Bushy Park is a large, , suburban public park in Terenure, Dublin, Ireland.- Location :Although situated mainly in Terenure, and listed by the city council with that address, it stretches to the borders of Rathfarnham and Templeogue. It is across the road from Terenure College boys' school and has...
, and several pubs including The Eden, Revels and the landmark Yellow House. Padraig Pearse established St Enda's School for Boys, which is now a museum in his honour situated in St. Enda's Park
St. Enda's Park
St. Enda's Park is a large public park in Rathfarnham in Ireland.St. Enda's was not always a public park. Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 used to run a school there, St. Enda's School , in The Hermitage. This magnificent house was built in 1780 for the Dublin...
.
Early history of Rathfarnham
The name Rathfarnham (Fearnain's RingfortRingfort
Ringforts are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Iron Age , although some were built as late as the Early Middle Ages . They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland...
) suggests an earlier habitation but no remains of prehistoric fortifications, burial places, early churches or old records have been found.
From Norman times
The written history of Rathfarnham begins after the Norman invasion of IrelandNorman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
. Terenurr and Kimmage (Cheming), both described as being in Rathfranham (sic) parish Dublin, are mentioned in an 1175 grant by Henry II to Walter the goldsmith ('Aurifaber') held at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.
In 1199
1199 in Ireland
-Events:*Risteárd de Tiúit, builds one of the largest Motte-and-bailey settlements in Ireland in Granard....
these lands were granted to Milo le Bret. In 1199 he adapted an existing ridge to build a motte and bailey fort at what is now the start of the Braemor Road. It was apparently still in evidence up to the early 20th century.
In the following century no events of great importance are recorded as Rathfarnham, perhaps as it was protected on its south side by the Royal Forest
Royal forest
A royal forest is an area of land with different meanings in England, Wales and Scotland; the term forest does not mean forest as it is understood today, as an area of densely wooded land...
of Glencree
Glencree
Glencree is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is the second closest valley in the mountains to Dublin city, the first being Glencullen. The river Dargle flows down the valley, which rises to a height of abut 400 metres...
. Rathfarnham became more exposed to attack when this deer park was overrun by the Clan
Clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. The kinship-based bonds may be symbolical, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a...
O'Toole
O'Toole (family)
The O'Tooles of Leinster, one of the leading families of that province, are descended from Tuathal mac Augaire, King of Leinster , who belonged to the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty...
from the Wicklow Mountains
Wicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into Counties Carlow, Wexford and Dublin. Where the mountains extend into County Dublin, they are known locally as the Dublin Mountains...
in the 14th century. Rathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle is a 16th century castle in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland.-Origins:The earlier Anglo-Norman castle which was replaced by the present building was built on lands which were confiscated from the Eustace family of Baltinglass because of their involvement in the Second Desmond...
was erected in part to protect the area from such attacks.
The Pale
The Pale or the English Pale , was the part of Ireland that was directly under the control of the English government in the late Middle Ages. It had reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast stretching from Dalkey, south of Dublin, to the garrison town of Dundalk...
's defences ran through the townland of Rathfarnham. Some traces of this are still extant.
From the 1500s
The castle and much of the land around Rathfarnham belonged to the Eustace family of BaltinglassBaltinglass
Baltinglass or Baltinglas is a town in south-west County Wicklow, Ireland. It is situated on the River Slaney near the border with County Carlow and County Kildare, on the N81 road. Its Irish name means "the way of Conglas", Conglas being a member of the mythological warrior collective, the Fianna...
. However, their property was confiscated for their part in the Second Desmond Rebellion
Second Desmond Rebellion
The Second Desmond rebellion was the more widespread and bloody of the two Desmond Rebellions launched by the FitzGerald dynasty of Desmond in Munster, Ireland, against English rule in Ireland...
of 1579
1579 in Ireland
-Events:*Second Desmond Rebellion begins , resulting in the extinction of the Desmond palatinate.*East Breifne is renamed Cavan after the Shire's main town....
-83
1583 in Ireland
-Events:*Dermot O'Hurley, Archbishop of Cashel lands in Ireland.*8 October - Dermot O'Hurley is arrested and imprisoned in Dublin Castle.*Second Desmond Rebellion ends , resulting in the extinction of the Desmond palatinate....
. The castle and its lands were then granted to the Loftus family.
In the 1640s, the Loftus family was at the centre of the Irish Confederate Wars
Irish Confederate Wars
This article is concerned with the military history of Ireland from 1641-53. For the political context of this conflict, see Confederate Ireland....
arising out of the Irish Rebellion of 1641
Irish Rebellion of 1641
The Irish Rebellion of 1641 began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule...
. In 1649
1649 in Ireland
-Events:* January 30** King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is beheaded in London.** Prince Charles Stuart declares himself King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland...
, the castle was seized by the Earl of Ormonde's Catholic and Royalist forces before the battle of Rathmines
Battle of Rathmines
The Battle of Rathmines was fought in and around what is now the Dublin suburb of Rathmines in August 1649, during the Irish Confederate Wars, the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
. However they were granted it back by the English parliamentarians after their victory in that battle. Reputedly, Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
stayed in Rathfarnham Castle on his way south to the Siege of Wexford.
Economic activity in Rathfarnham was stepped up in the 17th century and in the early 18th century many gentlemen's residences were erected. Two key examples were Rathfarnham Castle and Ashfield.
Rathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham CastleRathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle is a 16th century castle in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland.-Origins:The earlier Anglo-Norman castle which was replaced by the present building was built on lands which were confiscated from the Eustace family of Baltinglass because of their involvement in the Second Desmond...
itself was re-modelled from a defensive stronghold into a stately home. Lower Dodder Road is still marked by a triumphal arch
Triumphal arch
A triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...
, from this era, which originally led to the castle.
Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely
Henry Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely KP, PC , styled The Honourable from 1751 to 1769 and known as Henry Loftus, 4th Viscount Loftus from 1769 to 1771, was an Irish peer and politician....
, Earl of Ely
Earl of Ely
Earl of Ely is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of Ireland for members of the Loftus family. This family descended from Nicholas Loftus, who was raised to the Peerage of Ireland as Baron Loftus, of Loftus Hall in the County of Wexford, in 1751. In 1756 he was further...
from 1769
1769 in Ireland
-Births:*1 May - Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, soldier and statesman .*May - Nicholas Tuite MacCarthy, Jesuit preacher ....
to 1783
1783 in Ireland
-Events:* 17 April - The Renunciation Act, is passed by Westminster. It acknowledges the exclusive right of the Parliament of Ireland to legislate for Ireland.* Full date unknown - First Waterford Crystal glassmaking business established.-Births:...
who was also responsible for the classical work on the castle itself. The arch is named the new gate on Frizell's map of 1779
1779 in Ireland
-Births:*28 May - Thomas Moore, poet, singer, songwriter and entertainer .*17 August - William Corbet, member of the United Irishmen, soldier, Commander-in-Chief to French forces in Greece ....
. After the division of the estate in 1913 the arch became the entrance to the Castle Golf Club but was later abandoned in favour of the more direct Woodside Drive entrance. The area around the Arch is a haven for wildlife, with the nearby River Dodder
River Dodder
The River Dodder is one of the three main rivers of the Dublin region in Ireland, the others being the Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the Tolka.-Course and system:...
home to Brown Trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
, Otter
Otter
The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....
and many water-birds & Woodside Estate home to Red Fox
Red Fox
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
, Rabbits and Grey Squirrels.
Ashfield
Ashfield, the next house on the same side, was occupied during the 18th century by Protestant clergy. In the early part of the 19th century it became the home of Sir William Cusac Smith, Baron of the Exchequer and from 1841 of the Tottenham family who continued in residence until 1913. After this the Brooks of Brooks Thomas Ltd. occupied it until about twenty years ago when the estate was divided up and houses built along the main road. A new road was later built along the side of the house and named Brookvale after the last occupants.Industrial revolution
An industrial revolution, especially in the production of paper, began on the Owendoher and Dodder rivers and many mills were erected. In the beginning of the 19th century most of them switched to cotton and wool and later were converted to flour mills. The introduction of steam engines marked the end of this era and replaced the need for mills. Many of the old buildings fell into disrepair and were demolished, and their millraces filled in.A millpond and extensive mill buildings formerly occupied the low-lying fields on the west side of the main Rathfarnham road, just beside the bridge. On a map by Frizell dated 1779 it is called the Widow Clifford's mill and mill holding and in 1843 it is named the Ely Cloth Factory. A Mr. Murray then owned it but in 1850, it passed into the hands of Mr. Nickson who converted it into a flour mill. His family continued in occupation until 1875 when John Lennox took over. In 1880 this mill closed down, the buildings were demolished and not a trace now remains.
Military Road
See main article: R115 roadR115 road
The R115 road is a regional road in counties Dublin and Wicklow in Ireland. It follows the Military Road for its entire length. The R115 is long; the full length of the Military Road is...
R115 road
The R115 road is a regional road in counties Dublin and Wicklow in Ireland. It follows the Military Road for its entire length. The R115 is long; the full length of the Military Road is...
.
This road through the Wicklow Mountains
Wicklow Mountains
The Wicklow Mountains form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into Counties Carlow, Wexford and Dublin. Where the mountains extend into County Dublin, they are known locally as the Dublin Mountains...
(still in use mainly for tourist traffic) was built at the beginning of the 19th century to open up the Wicklow Mountains to the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
to assist them in putting down the insurgents who were hiding there following the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
. Rathfarnham itself was the scene of some skirmishes in the early days of the Rising.
Construction commenced on 12 August 1800 and was completed in October 1809. The road starts outside the Yellow House, passes the head of Glencree
Glencree
Glencree is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is the second closest valley in the mountains to Dublin city, the first being Glencullen. The river Dargle flows down the valley, which rises to a height of abut 400 metres...
, with a spur down that valley to Enniskerry
Enniskerry
Enniskerry is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It had a population of 2,672 at the 2006 census.- Location :...
, rises to the Sally Gap and then dips down to Laragh
Laragh, County Wicklow
Laragh is a small picturesque village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies at the junction of three roads through the Wicklow Mountains and is primarily known for its proximity to the monastic settlement of Glendalough...
, over the hills into Glenmalure
Glenmalure
Glenmalure is a valley in the Wicklow Mountains in eastern Ireland. It is a u-shaped glacial valley, with only one road leading into it, which connects to the 'Military Road' at the mouth of the valley....
, and finishes at Aghavannagh
Aghavannagh
Aghavannagh is a small village and townland in south County Wicklow, Ireland in the barony of Ballinacor South. It is located on the Military Road originally constructed between 1804 and 1809, in the wake of the 1798 rebellion...
. Well known sections also include the Featherbed Mountain, the section below Kippure Mountain
Kippure
Kippure is a granite mountain that straddles the county boundaries of South Dublin and Wicklow. It is popular for hill walking and outdoor leisure activity owing to its proximity to Dublin city, with its fine views over Dublin Bay towards Howth Head. It has convenient access and easy terrain...
. The total distance was 34 Irish Miles, of which the spur to Enniskerry
Enniskerry
Enniskerry is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It had a population of 2,672 at the 2006 census.- Location :...
was 5 Irish Miles.
The engineer in charge was Alexander Taylor (born in 1746), who was responsible for many other roads in the country, including some "Turnpike Roads
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
", which are Toll Roads
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
.
Rathfarnham Road
According to many writers the road to Rathfarnham follows the same route as the Slighe chualannSlíghe Chualann
Slíghe Chualann was an ancient roadway which stretched from the residence of the High King of Ireland at Tara to the lands of Cuala. Cuala is the area that is seen today as from South County Dublin to North County Wicklow including Bray...
, the ancient highway, which in the time of Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
was used by travellers between Dublin, Wicklow
Wicklow
Wicklow) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. Located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island, it has a population of 10,070 according to the 2006 census. The town is situated to the east of the N11 route between Dublin and Wexford. Wicklow is also connected to the rail...
and Wexford
Wexford
Wexford is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. It is situated near the southeastern corner of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to Dublin via the M11/N11 National Primary Route, and the national rail network...
. This road is believed to have crossed the Dodder at the Big Bridge, now Pearse Bridge, and re-crossed it again near Oldbawn
Oldbawn
Oldbawn is a small suburban area now within Tallaght on Dublin's Southside. Formerly a small village in its own right, it is situated near the River Dodder.-History:...
, an unnecessarily inconvenient route, considering that a road through Templeogue
Templeogue
Templeogue is a suburb of southwest Dublin, Ireland. The original Irish name Teach Mealóg refers to a chapel named after Saint Mel that was built there in about 1273....
to Oldbawn
Oldbawn
Oldbawn is a small suburban area now within Tallaght on Dublin's Southside. Formerly a small village in its own right, it is situated near the River Dodder.-History:...
would not necessitate any crossing. The first record of a bridge being built here was in 1381
1381 in Ireland
-Events:*McDonaghs take possession of Ballymote Castle, County Sligo from the Mac Diarmada...
and in 1652
1652 in Ireland
-Events:* 12 May - Siege of Galway - Thomas Preston, the military governor of Galway, surrenders the city to English Parliamentarians commanded by Charles Coote...
it was described by Gerard Boate
Gerard Boate
Gerard Boate was a Dutch physician, known for his Natural History of Ireland.-Life:...
in his A Natural History of Ireland as a wooden bridge which 'though it be high and strong nevertheless hath several times been quite broke and carried away through the violence of sudden floods.' After three bridges had been demolished by the river, between 1728
1728 in Ireland
-Births:*18 August - James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont, statesman, first President of the Royal Irish Academy, president of the volunteer convention in Dublin, 1783 ....
and 1765
1765 in Ireland
-Deaths:*29 December - John Alexander, minister and writer .*31 December - Samuel Madden, clergyman and writer ....
, the present structure of a single stone arch was erected in the latter year. This was widened on the west side in 1953 when it was renamed in commemoration of Patrick
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
and William Pearse.
In 1912 during the construction of a main drainage scheme to Rathfarnham, a stone causeway was uncovered 23 ft (7 m) below the road level. It was 9 ft (2.7 m) wide and built of great blocks crossing the course of the river. Cut into the surface of the stone were a number of deep parallel grooves, as from the action of wheeled traffic over a long period. This was evidence for the existence here of a busy thoroughfare even before the construction of the earliest bridge.
The Old Graveyard
Next to Ashfield is the old graveyard containing the ruins of a church that was dedicated to SaintSaint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
s Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
. This was a medieval church used for Protestant worship until 1795
1795 in Ireland
-Events:*5 June - The Royal College of St Patrick established at Maynooth by Act of Grattan's Parliament to provide university-level education for Roman Catholic ecclesiastical and lay students.*21 September...
when it was found to be too small for the congregation and a new one was erected a short way off. The end walls of the old church still stand, the west gable containing a bell turret and the east pierced by a chancel arch, the chancel itself having disappeared. The north wall is gone and all that remains of the south wall is an arched opening.
Near the entrance to the burial ground is the grave of Captain James Kelly, an old Fenian
Fenian
The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...
who was associated with the Fenian Rising
Fenian Rising
The Fenian Rising of 1867 was a rebellion against British rule in Ireland, organised by the Irish Republican Brotherhood .After the suppression of the Irish People newspaper, disaffection among Irish radical nationalists had continued to smoulder, and during the later part of 1866 IRB leader James...
of 1867
1867 in Ireland
-Events:*11 February – Abortive Fenian attempt to seize Chester Castle.*5 March – Fenian rising in County Dublin, County Cork, County Limerick, County Tipperary and County Clare....
. He was organiser for the Rathfarnham district and was known in the area as The Knight of Glendoo. On one occasion when he was on the run he was hiding in the cellar of his business premises in Wicklow Street
Wicklow Street
Wicklow Street is a well known shopping street located in the heart of Dublin city centre, running from Grafton Street in the east to Exchequer Street and South William Street in the west....
when police raided it. An employee named James Fitzpatrick who strongly resembled Capt. Kelly in appearance was arrested in error and was tried and sentenced to six months imprisonment, which he served without betraying his identity. Capt. Kelly died on 8 March 1915, aged 70.
On the opposite side of the road is Crannagh Park and Road, Rathfarnham Park and Ballytore Road, all built on part of the old Rathfarnham Estate. In the garden of a house formerly named Tower Court in Crannagh Road is an ancient circular pigeon house, a relic of Lord Ely's occupation of Rathfarnham Castle. The entrance to this curious structure is by a low door on level with the ground and the inside is lined from floor to roof with holes for the pigeons. A floor of more recent date has been inserted half way up, so as to make two rooms, and a second door broken through the wall at that level.
Rathfarnham Village
In the castle grounds were several fish ponds which were supplied by a mill race taken from the stream which rises up at KilmashogueKilmashogue
Kilmashogue is a mountain in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County in Ireland. It is high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The forest plantation on its northern slope, which is composed mainly of Sitka...
and flows down through Grange Golf Links
Marlay Park
Marlay Park is a suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks...
and St. Enda's Park
St. Enda's Park
St. Enda's Park is a large public park in Rathfarnham in Ireland.St. Enda's was not always a public park. Patrick Pearse, one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916 used to run a school there, St. Enda's School , in The Hermitage. This magnificent house was built in 1780 for the Dublin...
. This served several mills before entering the fish ponds, whence it ran through the golf links while a smaller branch was conducted under the road to the flour mills which stood at the corner of Butterfield Lane, on the site later occupied by Borgward Hansa Motors Ltd.
Described in 1836 as Sweetman's Flour Mills, it frequently changed hands before closing down in 1887. It was later operated as a saw mill. The dry mill race can still be seen here on the north side of Butterfield Avenue.
Rathfarnham Protestant Parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
Church on the Main St. was built in 1795 to replace the church in the old graveyard. Beside the church is the old school house that dates from early in the nineteenth century.
Immediately adjoining is Church Lane at the corner of which is a bank built on the site of an Royal Irish Constabulary
Royal Irish Constabulary
The armed Royal Irish Constabulary was Ireland's major police force for most of the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin Metropolitan Police controlled the capital, and the cities of Derry and Belfast, originally with their own police...
barracks that was burned down by Anti-Treaty IRA forces in September 1922 during the Irish Civil War
Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire....
. In the lane is an old blocked up doorway of an early eighteenth century type. Church Lane leads to Woodview cottages, which are built partly on the site of an old paper mill. The mill race previously mentioned passed under Butterfield Lane to the paper mill and continued on below Ashfield to turn the wheel of the Ely Cloth Factory. It was later turned into the Owen Doher River at Woodview Cottages. Until recently, when the new road was made to Templeogue, the old mill race could still be traced through the grounds of Ashfield where its dry bed was still spanned by several stone bridges.
The paper mill, of which some old walls and brick arches still survive, has been described as the oldest in Ireland but there does not appear to be any evidence to support this. The earliest reference to a paper mill here is 1719 when William Lake of Rathfarnham presented a petition for financial aid but we hear of one at Milltown as far back as 1694
1694 in Ireland
-Arts and literature:*Jonathan Swift appointed to the prebend of Kilroot, near Carrickfergus in County Antrim .-Births:*8 August - Francis Hutcheson, theologian and philosopher .*5 November - Sir Robert Blackwood, 1st Baronet ....
. In 1751
1751 in Ireland
-Births:*September - William Hare, 1st Earl of Listowel, peer and MP .*19 October - Charles Edward Jennings de Kilmaine, soldier in France .*30 October - Richard Brinsley Sheridan, playwright and statesman .-Full date unknown:...
William and Thomas Slater whose works were destroyed by fire in 1775
1775 in Ireland
-Events:*Henry Flood accepts a seat on the Privy Council of Ireland and becomes vice-treasurer.*Henry Grattan enters the Irish Parliament and becomes leader of the "patriot party".-Births:*3 March - Henry Prittie, 2nd Baron Dunalley, politician ....
made paper here. Archer's survey of 1801
1801 in Ireland
-Events:* January 1 - Legislative union of Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland completed under the Act of Union 1800, bringing about the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland....
mentions two paper mills here, Freemans and Teelings, and both Dalton in 1836
1836 in Ireland
-Events:*February, foundation of the Ulster Bank in Belfast*Foundation of the Royal Bank of Ireland see Allied Irish Banks.*August following one of the coldest summers in over fifty years there is widespread failure of the potato crop.-Births:...
and Lewis in 1837
1837 in Ireland
-Events:* Shaw's Bank merges with the Royal Bank of Ireland .* August - Following a very cold summer there is widespread failure of the potato crop, as in 1836, leading to famine later in the year.-Births:...
state that one paper mill was still working and from 1836 to 1839 the name Henry Hayes, Rathfarnham Mill appears in the directories. If this can be identified with the mill at Woodview cottages it must have become idle soon afterwards as it is designated “Old Mill” on the 1843 edition of the O.S. map. In 1854 when this mill had neither water wheel nor machinery an attempt was made to re-open it for the manufacture of paper but it came to nothing. The mill race has now been completely removed to make way for a housing development.
At the end of the main street, on the right, the road to Lower Rathfarnham passes the site of the earliest Constabulary barracks. This closed down in 1890 when the establishment was transferred to a house named Leighton Lodge near Loreto Abbey.
Rathfarnham Lower
The CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Church of the Annunciation
Annunciation
The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to Virgin Mary, that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus the Son of God. Gabriel told Mary to name her...
was erected in 1878 to replace the old chapel in Willbrook Road. Outside the church door is a primitive type of font on a pedestal bearing the inscription FONT USED IN MASS HOUSE OF PENAL TIMES IN PARISH OF RATHFARNHAM FROM 1732
1732 in Ireland
-Births:*15 May - John Blaquiere, 1st Baron de Blaquiere, soldier and politician .*25 November - Robert Clements, 1st Earl of Leitrim, politician .-Deaths:*2 December - Constantia Grierson, editor, poet and classical scholar ....
. The appearance of this font would suggest that it was originally a stone bullaun
Bullaun
A bullaun is the term used for the depression in a stone which is often water filled. Natural rounded boulders or pebbles may sit in the bullaun...
dating back to a period much earlier than the penal times.
On the opposite corner is the well-known Yellow House, a licensed premises built near the site of an inn of the same name which is marked on Taylor
Taylor
- People :* Taylor , a Scottish/English surname* Taylor , the given name of a male or female* See also List of people with surname Taylor* Taylor Lautner star of Twilight- Australia :* Electoral district of Taylor, state electoral district...
's map of 1816
1816 in Ireland
-Events:* The Year Without a Summer - Famine and typhoid kills 65,000 people * Belfast Savings Bank founded .*Templemore Market House is built, County Tipperary* The Ha'penny Bridge is built over Dublin's River Liffey...
. (The Catholic Church of the Annunciation (see above) is on the site of the original Yellow House). A tradition has been recorded by Mr. Hammond that in 1798
1798 in Ireland
-Events:* March - Great Britain's Irish militia arrest the leadership of the Society of United Irishmen marking the beginning of the 1798 Rebellion. * 19 May - Rebel leader Lord Edward FitzGerald is arrested in Dublin....
a Michael Eades, who sheltered wanted men in his house, owned it. It was also frequented by the soldiers of the Rathfarnham Guard whose careless talk was carefully noted by the United Irishmen hiding on the premises. In 1804
1804 in Ireland
-Births:*7 April - James Emerson Tennent, politician and traveller .*25 December - Frederic Trench, 2nd Baron Ashtown, peer .*26 December - Sir Joseph Napier, 1st Baronet, Conservative Party MP and Lord Chancellor of Ireland ....
when the truth came to be known, the same military wrecked the place. Following Wilbrook road down between the Yellow House and the Annunciation, a large set of wrought iron gates can be observed. These gates, which now act as the pedestrian entrance to the Beaufort Downs housing estate, were originally the entrance to the Beaufort estate of the 1700s.
Nutgrove Avenue
A short distance past the church is Nutgrove Avenue, widened and extended during the 1960's to link up with ChurchtownChurchtown, Dublin
Churchtown is a largely residential suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland, between Dundrum and Rathfarnham. It is in the postal districts Dublin 14 and Dublin 16.- Ely's Arch :...
. The old quiet tree shaded avenue has been completely swept away, along with the narrow lanes a cramped passage bounded on both sides by towering walls and full of right angled bends, which wended its crooked course between Loreto Convent cemetery and the garden of Nutgrove House. A massive gateway stood at the entrance to this avenue until about 1911, which bore the inscription Nutgrove School Established 1802
1802 in Ireland
-Events:*First Christian Brothers' school founded by Edmund Rice in Waterford.*Linen Hall Library moves into permanent premises in the White Linen Hall in Belfast.-Births:...
. In 1839 the school was under the supervision of Mr. Philip Jones, who continued to hold the post of principal until 1866 when the position was held by Mrs. Anne Jones. In 1876 the school closed down and the house was occupied as a private residence by various tenants down to recent years becoming the parish councilheadquarters. The new avenue was laid through the former school grounds and the house, shorn of its ornamental gardens, stood with its front against the footpath. At some time the house had been disfigured with a rather unsightly concrete porch and the old brickwork covered with cement plaster, concealing the fact that this was a very interesting eighteenth century building containing a fine stairs and coved ceilings with good plaster decoration. Unfortunately the house fell into very bad repair and eventually was demolished. Joyce in his Neighbourhood of Dublin states that this house was at one time the dower house
Dower house
On an estate, a dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the estate-owner. The widow, often known as the "dowager" usually moves into the dower house from the larger family house on the death of her husband if the heir is married, and upon his marriage if he...
of Rathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle is a 16th century castle in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland.-Origins:The earlier Anglo-Norman castle which was replaced by the present building was built on lands which were confiscated from the Eustace family of Baltinglass because of their involvement in the Second Desmond...
but in this he is almost certainly mistaken, as Frizell's map of 1779 shows that it was outside the estate. It is possible that he confused it with the other old house on the opposite side of the avenue which was formerly named Ely Cottage, later altered to Ely Lodge, and which was shown to be within the boundary of the estate. This house was in very bad repair but has recently been restored in a very tasteful manner.
Whitehall
1742 in Ireland
-Events:* c. March - Newry Canal opened.* 13 April - First performance of Handel's Messiah staged in Dublin....
in imitation of the better constructed Wonderful Barn
The Wonderful Barn
The Wonderful Barn is a corkscrew-shaped barn built on the edge of Castletown House Estate of the Conolly family, which borders Leixlip and Celbridge, Ireland. It was built in 1743 on the Leixlip side of the Castletown Estate...
erected about the same period near Leixlip
Leixlip
-Politics:Since 1988 Leixlip has had a nine member Town Council , headed by a Cathaoirleach , which has control over many local matters, although it is limited in that it is not also a planning authority...
. The floors and other timber work have long disappeared and the winding stone steps are not considered safe to ascend. While the ground floor may have been used as a barn, the first and second floors appear to have been residential as they are both fitted with fireplaces. A smaller structure behind the barn, built on somewhat similar lines was a pigeon house.
The old house named Whitehall, which was demolished some years ago, stood adjacent to the barn. It was also built by Major Hall around the same time. In 1778 it became the residence of Rev. Jeremy Walsh
Jeremy Walsh
For the suffragan bishop of Tewkesbury see Jeremy Walsh Jeremy R. Walsh is an astronomer working for the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility where he is leading the Advanced Data Products group...
, curate of Dundrum
Dundrum, Dublin
Dundrum , originally a town in its own right, is now a suburb of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, Ireland.The area is located in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16.-History:...
, and in 1795 it was converted into a boarding house by Mr. Ml. Kelly. A newspaper advertisement in 1816 invites enquiries from prospective visitors. In a description written in the last century the old-fashioned kitchen and panelled staircase are specially noted.
Berwick House
1766 in Ireland
The year 1766 in Ireland is characterised by certain events, arts and literature occurrences, births and deaths. For a fuller date context the year should be termed 1766 AD in Ireland.-Arts and literature:...
of Mr. John Lamprey. In 1836 it was known as Hazelbrook, a name which was later transferred to the nearby, now defunct, Hughes Brothers
HB (Unilever)
HB Ice Cream is an ice cream brand in Ireland and is part of the Unilever Group's Heartbrand ice cream brand....
milk bottling plant. The Hughes Brothers original house, built 1898, and called Hazelbrook House, was rebuilt in the Bunratty Folk Park
Bunratty Castle
Bunratty Castle is a large tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It lies in the centre of Bunratty village , by the N18 road between Limerick and Ennis, near Shannon Town and its airport. The name Bunratty, Bun Raite in Irish, means the 'bottom' or end of the 'Ratty' river. This river, alongside...
in 2001. From 1844 to 1899 it was known as Bachelor's Hall, after which it became the headquarters of a Charitable Institution under the name of Berwick Home. In 1944 it again became a private residence and the name was changed to Berwick House.
Loreto Abbey
The imposing buildings of Loreto Abbey in Lower Rathfarnham form a landmark visible for many miles south of the city. It served as the headquarters of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin MarySisters of Loreto
The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more commonly known as the Loreto Sisters , is a women's Catholic religious order founded by an Englishwoman, Mary Ward, in 1609 at Saint-Omer in northern France...
.
William Palliser
Major Sir William Palliser CB MP was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1880 until his death.-Early life:...
about 1725
1725 in Ireland
-Births:*24 September - Arthur Guinness, brewer and founder of the Guinness Brewery business and family ....
. No expense was spared in its construction and decoration, as can still be judged by the beautifully preserved interior, the polished mahogany and, in one room, embossed leather wallpaper. William Palliser died in 1768
1768 in Ireland
-Births:*7 May - Alexander Arbuthnot, Church of Ireland Bishop of Killaloe .*9 May - Nathaniel Clements, 2nd Earl of Leitrim, nobleman and Whig MP .-Full date unknown:*Edward Donovan, writer, traveller and amateur zoologist...
without issue and Rathfarnham House passed to his cousin the Rev. John Palliser, who was rector of the parish.
After his death in 1795
1795 in Ireland
-Events:*5 June - The Royal College of St Patrick established at Maynooth by Act of Grattan's Parliament to provide university-level education for Roman Catholic ecclesiastical and lay students.*21 September...
the house was purchased by George Grierson, the Kings Printer
Queen's Printer
The Queen's Printer is a position defined by letters patent under the royal prerogative in various Commonwealth realms...
in Ireland, who resided here for a few years. When Grierson removed to his new abode in Woodtown the house remained unoccupied for some years until in 1821
1821 in Ireland
-Events:*28 December - Sandycove Lifeboat disaster - four lifeboatmen drowned attempting to rescue Ellen of Liverpool-Births:*20 January - Dennis Mahony, one of the founders of the Dubuque Herald , a newspaper in Dubuque, Iowa .*20 February - Miles Gerard Keon, journalist, novelist, colonial...
it was purchased by the Most Rev. Dr. Murray for the newly founded Loreto
Loreto House
Loreto House was established in 1842 by the Sisters of Loreto belonging to the institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is the oldest and the first Loreto institution to be established in India and one of the few all-girls catholic schools at that time in India.There are two school buildings, one...
Order.
The foundress Rev. Mother Mary Frances Teresa Ball
Mother Frances Mary Teresa Ball
Mother Frances Mary Teresa Ball was the foundress of the Irish Branch of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary .- Early life :...
made many improvements to the place.
She is said to have added a storey to the old house although there is no evidence from the exterior to support this. Many additions have been made over the years, the church was built in 1840, the novitiate in 1863 and six years later St. Joseph's wing which contains the concert hall and refectory. St. Anthony's wing was erected in 1896, St. Francis Xavier's in 1903 and the Lisieux building in 1932 for the accommodation of visiting prelates to the Eucharistic Congress.
The Ponds
Loreto Terrace on the north side of the Abbey was formerly known as The Ponds, a name originating apparently from the large pond which two hundred years ago occupied the low lying field between Loreto Terrace and Nutgrove Avenue. This area was described in Weston St. John Joyce's The Neighbourhood of Dublin in 1912 as "the dilapidated locality known as the Ponds" but it has since been largely rebuilt. An old photograph from Larry O'Connor's collection shows what it looked like at that time. The last of the old houses was demolished in the mid 1980s. It was a very early 18th century gabled residence named Grove Cottage.This place was the scene of a skirmish at the outbreak of the rising of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
. The insurgents of the south county assembled at the Ponds on 24 May 1798 under the leadership of David Keely, James Byrne, Edward Keogh and Ledwich. The latter two had been members of Lord Ely's yeomanry but had taken to the field with the United Irishmen. The insurgents were attacked by the local yeomanry
Yeomanry
Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units or sub-units of the British Territorial Army, descended from volunteer cavalry regiments. Today, Yeomanry units may serve in a variety of different military roles.-History:...
corps but were able to defend themselves and the yeomanry was forced to retreat. A party of regular troops was then sent against them and a stiff encounter took place. A number of the insurgents were killed or wounded and some prisoners taken including Keogh and Ledwich. The survivors retreated, joining up with a party from Clondalkin
Clondalkin
-Today:Modern Clondalkin is a busy satellite town of Dublin, with a population of 43,929 in 2006. Retail facilities include Tesco Ireland- and Dunnes Stores-led shopping centres, and Aldi and Lidl stores on the Fonthill Road and New Nangor Road respectively, and the village centre is a base for...
, and a further engagement took place at the turnpike on the Rathcoole
Rathcoole
Rathcoole may refer to:* Rathcoole, Dublin, a village in south Dublin, Republic of Ireland* Rathcoole , a large housing estate in Newtownabbey, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK* Rathcoole Aerodrome Co. Cork, Republic of Ireland...
road where the enemy was successfully repulsed.
Grange Road to Harold's Grange and Taylors Grange
The road to Harold's Grange continues southward from Loreto Abbey, past some very old houses, which have been restored in recent years. The first is SnugboroughSnugborough
Snugborough is a townland in the Parish of Tomregan, Barony of Tullyhaw, County Cavan, Ireland. The older Irish name of the townland was ‘Kealloge’ which was an anglicisation of the Gaelic placename ‘Coill Og’, which means ‘"The New or Little Wood" and it is depicted with this name on the 1609...
, which has its gable end to the road. The next is Washington Lodge, its attractive 18th century facade hidden by a shrubbery. In recent years new avenues have been laid out here on both sides of the road. Barton Drive, on the left, occupies the site of a house named Barton Lodge (occupied by William Conlan, a brewer in Dublin, until his death in 1829 - his daughter married into the local Hodgens family, who in the 1870s donated the lands for the Church of the Annunciation). On the other side is Silveracre, once the home of Dr. Henthorn Todd
James Henthorn Todd
James Henthorn Todd was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Protestantism, and for his endeavours as an educator, librarian, and scholar in Irish...
, Professor of Hebrew in T.C.D.
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, who was connected by marriage to the Hudson family of the adjoining Hermitage estate. He was a well known Irish scholar and was the editor and translator of a number of Irish documents as well as the author of a life of St. Patrick. He died here in 1869. About the middle of the last century the name of the house was changed to Silverton but it was later reverted to the original Silveracre. Most of the land is now built on. It was also the home in the early part of twentieth century of Surgeon Croly, who founded Baggot St. Hospital.
St Enda's
Enda of Aran
Saint Enda of Aran is an Irish saint in the Roman Catholic Church. His feast day is March 21.-Overview:...
's, the former home of Patrick Pearse
Patrick Pearse
Patrick Henry Pearse was an Irish teacher, barrister, poet, writer, nationalist and political activist who was one of the leaders of the Easter Rising in 1916...
and later of his sister Margaret Mary Pearse. The house, which is entirely faced with cut granite and has an imposing stone portico, was occupied in the eighteenth century by Edward Hudson, an eminent dentist. He had a passion for Irish antiquities, which he demonstrated in an unusual way by the erection of a number of romantic ruins around the estate. He built a small watch tower inside the boundary wall near the entrance gate and further along, a hermit's cave, a dolmen, a ruined abbey and beside a deep well, a tiny chamber with a stone bench and a narrow fireplace. At the corner of the road to Whitechurch the loopholed and crenulated structure known as the Fortification, or Emmet's Fort was another of his creations. South of the house he built a grotto surmounted by a tall stone pillar, a Brehon's Chair
Brehon's Chair
Brehon's Chair is a sacred megalithic site in Rathfarnham, County Dublin, Ireland in the grounds of a private gated condominium. It is a national heritage site...
and a fanciful construction consisting of two great boulders, one balanced on top of the other, which has since been demolished. Just inside the boundary wall he cut an inscription in Ogham
Ogham
Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...
on the two faces of a large rock. Translated they read: RIDENT VICINI GLEBASETS A KH A MOVENTEM EDUARDUM HUDSON. In the pretty glen adjoining the Whitechurch road he erected a sort of temple with several small chambers and flights of steps. The estate was at that time known as the “Fields of Oden” and is so called on maps of the period. Within the grounds also, at the corner nearest to Whitechurch is an obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
, stated to have been erected by a former owner, Major Doyne, over the grave of a horse that carried him through the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. The date however of Major Doyne's occupation does not support this. Unlike the constructions of Edward Hudson, which were purposely of the roughest material, this monument was of cut stone with small moulded pillars. After having been vandalized and toppled, it has since been re-erected without the pillars which were broken.
Edward Hudson was succeeded by his son William Elliot Hudson, who was born here in 1796. A distinguished scholar, he was a friend of Thomas Davis
Thomas Osborne Davis (Irish politician)
Thomas Osborne Davis was a revolutionary Irish writer who was the chief organizer and poet of the Young Ireland movement.-Early life:...
and Charles Gavan Duffy
Charles Gavan Duffy
Additional Reading*, Allen & Unwin, 1973.*John Mitchel, A Cause Too Many, Aidan Hegarty, Camlane Press.*Thomas Davis, The Thinker and Teacher, Arthur Griffith, M.H. Gill & Son 1922....
and was a patron of Irish literature and art. Shortly before his death in 1857 he endowed the R.I.A. with a fund for the publication of its Irish Dictionary and he also left the Academy Library a valuable collection of books.
From 1840 to 1858 Hermitage was the home of Richard Moore
Richard Moore (Irish lawyer)
Richard Moore PC was an Irish lawyer and judge.Moore was Attorney-General for Ireland during part of Lord John Russell's Whig Government 1846-1852, holding that office from 16 July 1846 to 21 December 1847. He was then appointed as a judge of the Irish Queen's Bench and remained a judge until his...
, Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
, and in 1859 it came into the possession of Major Richard Doyne, stated to be a veteran of the Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
. From 1872 to 1885 it was occupied by George Campbell, merchant of 58 Sackville St., and after lying vacant for a few years it was tenanted by Major Philip Doyne of the 4th Dragoon Guards. In 1891 Colonel Frederick le Mesurier, barrister is returned as occupier and in 1899 Mr. William Woodburn
William Woodburn
William Woodburn was an American politician and a member of the United States House of Representatives from Nevada. He immigrated with his parents to the United States in 1849. He attended St. Charles College, Maryland, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1866. He commenced the practice of...
.
St. Enda's School
St. Enda's School
St. Enda's School, or Scoil Éanna, was a Secondary school for boys set up by Irish nationalist Patrick Pearse in 1908.-Background:Pearse, generally known as a leader of the Easter Rising in 1916, had long been critical of the educational system in Ireland, which he believed taught Irish children to...
was founded by Padraig Pearse in 1909 and was at first housed in Cullenswood House, Ranelagh
Ranelagh
Ranelagh is a residential area and urban village on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the postal district of Dublin 6. It is in the local government electoral area of Rathmines and the Dáil Constituency of Dublin South-East.-History:...
. Pearse felt that the confined surroundings of this house gave no scope for the outdoor life that should play so large a part in the education of youth, so in 1910 he leased Hermitage from Mr. Woodburn and moved his college here. A long billiard room was converted into a study hall and chapel, the drawing room became a dormitory and the stables opening off an enclosed square became class rooms. In “The Story of a Success” Pearse tells of the realisation of one of his life's ambitions and it was from here that he set off for the city on his bicycle for the last time on Easter Sunday 1916. After the rising the college continued to function under the care of Margaret Pearse until it finally closed down in 1935. After the death of Margaret Pearse in 1968 St. Enda's passed into the hands of the state and has since been opened as a public park and home of the Pearse Museum
Pearse Museum
The Pearse Museum is dedicated to the memory of Patrick Pearse and his brother, William. Patrick Pearse was an educationalist and nationalist who was executed for his part in the 1916 Rising. It is situated in the suburb of Rathfarnham on the south side of Dublin, Ireland.It was formerly an Irish...
.
Priory
Directly opposite to St. Enda's was Priory, the home of John Philpot CurranJohn Philpot Curran
John Philpot Curran was an Irish orator, politician and wit, born in Newmarket, County Cork. He was the son of James and Sarah Curran.-Career:...
, at the time of Emmet's rising. The house was formerly named Holly Park but when Curran bought it in 1790 he changed the name to Priory. He lived here for 27 years at the peak of his fame and here he was to endure the tragic events, which cast a shadow on his private life. First the untimely death of his daughter Gertrude, followed by the loss of his wife, who left him for another man, and lastly the discovery of the association of his daughter Sarah Curran
Sarah Curran
Sarah Curran was the youngest daughter of John Philpot Curran, an eminent Irish lawyer. She lived in the priory in Rathfarnham and was the great love of Irish nationalist Robert Emmet.-Biography:...
with Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
. Gertrude Curran died in 1792
1792 in Ireland
-Events:*Belfast Reading Society, becomes the Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge, later to become the Linen Hall Library.-Births:*30 January - John Henry Hopkins, first bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Vermont and eighth Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America...
at the age of 12 as the result of a fall from a window. Curran had her buried in the grounds of the Priory and over the grave he placed a recumbent slab, on which was fixed a metal plate bearing the inscription:
- Here lies the body of Gertrude Curran
- fourth daughter of John Philpot Curran
- who departed this life October 6, 1792
- Age twelve years.
The position of the grave was clearly marked on the early editions of the O.S. maps. It was about midway along the northern boundary of the corner field facing the fortification, on the north side of the boundary bank and a few yards from it. It was formerly enclosed by a grove of trees, which can be seen in J. J. Reynold's photograph of 1903 but these were cut down about 1928. Some time later the stumps were dug out and the stone slab broken up and thrown on the adjoining bank. The metal plate had already been taken by souvenir hunters. It was Sarah Curran
Sarah Curran
Sarah Curran was the youngest daughter of John Philpot Curran, an eminent Irish lawyer. She lived in the priory in Rathfarnham and was the great love of Irish nationalist Robert Emmet.-Biography:...
's desire to be buried here also but to this her father would not agree as he had come in for criticism on the previous occasion for burying his daughter in unconsecrated ground.
In this district nearly every ancient site is associated in tradition with either Sarah Curran
Sarah Curran
Sarah Curran was the youngest daughter of John Philpot Curran, an eminent Irish lawyer. She lived in the priory in Rathfarnham and was the great love of Irish nationalist Robert Emmet.-Biography:...
or Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
and it is not surprising therefore to find that this burial place has been suggested as the last resting place of Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet
Robert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
. This tradition goes back for well over a century and it is rather surprising that this site was not investigated when the search for Emmet's remains was being made at places a great deal less accessible and no less improbable.
In October 1979 the opportunity offered itself to carry out this investigation. The Priory estate was being developed and heavy machinery moved in to lay the roads and sewers. A Mrs. Bernadette Foley of nearby Barton Drive drew attention to the need to carry out this work before the site was buried for ever under a concrete jungle. With the co-operation of Messrs Gallaghers, the developers, a small group undertook to investigate the site. First the exact location was checked on the original large scale manuscript map in the O.S., next the field was carefully chained and the site marked to within a few feet and then a narrow trench 3 foot (0.9144 m) deep was dug through where the burial should have been. The result was a complete blank. A second and a third trench were cut at intervals until a large area had been investigated without finding any burial, timber, brick or stone.
The developers then offered to investigate further with the excavator and carefully cleared an area of 20 yd (18.3 m) long and 10 yd (9.1 m) wide to a depth of 4 feet (1.2 m) without finding any sign of disturbance. They then deepened this area by another two feet with no better result. All the accounts of the burial state that it was made in a vault and it is therefore surprising and disappointing that no evidence whatever was found and there does not seem to be any obvious explanation for it. The builders, Messrs Gallaghers Ltd. were commended for their interest in this aspect of the site and their painstaking excavation work under the supervision of Mr. Leslie Black was expertly carried out.
Priory was occupied by the Curran family until 1875 and subsequently by the Taylors until 1923. At the beginning of the century the house and gardens were still in good repair but after the Taylor's time the place was neglected. Twenty years ago the walls were still standing but little now remains but some heaps of rubble.
Amenities
Rathfarnham has a wide range of shops and businesses, including two bank branches, notably in the Nutgrove Shopping Centre, which also hosts one of Dublin's Motor Tax offices. The area's other shopping centre is the small Rathfarnham Shopping Centre. The area also has a Garda Station and two post offices, and is home to the city's main animal shelter.Marlay Park
Marlay Park
Marlay Park is a suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks...
is a large open parkland, with a craft centre near the old "big house"; the park hosts major concerts every year. Aside from St. Enda's, Dodder Park
Dodder Park
Dodder Park is a suburban linear park in Dublin, Ireland, consisting of over 100 hectares of fragmented parkland and remnant countryside.-Location:...
and Bushy Park (see above) and small green spaces, the area also hosts two golf clubs.
Both fine buildings of Loreto Abbey and Rathfarnham Castle also provide amenity value.
There are a number of schools.
Rathfarnham is served by a range of buses.
Organisations and Sport
- Rathfarnham is home to the 13th Dublin, the 14th Dublin, the 31st Dublin (which was founded in 1917) and the 68th Dublin ScoutScouting IrelandScouting Ireland is the World Organization of the Scout Movement-recognised Scouting association in the Republic of Ireland, although it also has Scout Groups in Northern Ireland. Scouting Ireland is a voluntary, non-formal educational movement for young people...
troops and the Rathfarnham Girl Guides - The area is also home to the Rathfarnham Concert Band
- For Gaelic sports, there is the Ballyboden St. Enda'sBallyboden St. Enda'sBallyboden St. Enda's is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in Knocklyon, Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is named after Saint Enda of Aran. The Club serves the Knocklyon, Ballycullen, Rathfarnham, Ballyboden, Ballyroan, Firhouse areas.Their homeground is Pairc Uí Mhurchú, located on the Firhouse...
GAAGaelic Athletic AssociationThe Gaelic Athletic Association is an amateur Irish and international cultural and sporting organisation focused primarily on promoting Gaelic games, which include the traditional Irish sports of hurling, camogie, Gaelic football, handball and rounders...
Club - Rathfarnham has a number of soccer teams including Nutgrove Celtic, Rathfarnham Punters, Rathfarnham Rovers, Leicester Celtic, Broadford Rovers, and Whitechurch United.
- Rathfarnham has a number of boxing clubs including Whitechurch Boxing Club
Falling population
According to the 2006 Census, Rathfarnham has a population of 17,333 – a drop of 2.1% since 2002. The population has gradually decreased over the years from 17,760 in 1996 to 17,717 in 2002.The number of people living around the neighbourhoods of Ballyroan and St. Endas fell notably by 8% and 7% respectively. On the other hand, there were minimal increases in the Butterfield and Hermitage areas.
One thing that is clear from the statistics is Rathfarnham is aging, with young couples that moved into the area in the 1960s entering retirement. There is a lack of suitable and affordable homes for young people within Rathfarnham and consequently they are flocking out to neighbouring suburbs such as Templeogue
Templeogue
Templeogue is a suburb of southwest Dublin, Ireland. The original Irish name Teach Mealóg refers to a chapel named after Saint Mel that was built there in about 1273....
, Tallaght
Tallaght
Tallaght is the largest town, and county town, of South Dublin County, Ireland. The village area, dating from at least the 17th century, held one of the earliest settlements known in the southern part of the island, and one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres.Up to the 1960s...
and Firhouse
Firhouse
Firhouse is a small outer suburb of Dublin, in South Dublin County, Ireland, developed from what was historically a rural village. It is located just south of the River Dodder, and is in the postal district of Dublin 24...
.
Over the last 4 years, there haven't been many apartment block developments in the Rathfarnham area. The figures reflect this reality. Due to the fact that there aren't many suitable sites in the area for apartment building, two analysts including the Rathfarnham Community Website, predict that Census 2010 will publish further decreases.
Music
Rathfarnham has become the focal point of the summer music festival scene in Ireland. Between May and August every year, high profile acts put on concerts for thousands of people at Marlay ParkMarlay Park
Marlay Park is a suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks...
. Acts in 2007 have included Damien Rice
Damien Rice
Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....
, Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
, Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
, Crowded House
Crowded House
Crowded House are a rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia and led by New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn. Finn is the primary songwriter and creative director of the band, having led it through several incarnations, drawing members from New Zealand , Australia and the United States...
, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
, Damien Rice
Damien Rice
Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....
, The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
. Muse
Muse (band)
Muse are an English alternative rock band from Teignmouth, Devon, formed in 1994. The band consists of school friends Matthew Bellamy , Christopher Wolstenholme and Dominic Howard...
, The Killers, Lenny Kravitz
Lenny Kravitz
Leonard Albert "Lenny" Kravitz is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and arranger, whose "retro" style incorporates elements of rock, soul, R&B, funk, reggae, hard rock, psychedelic, folk and ballads...
/Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
played in the park during 2008 Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, Fatboy Slim
Fatboy Slim
Norman Quentin Cook better known by his former stage name Fatboy Slim, is a British DJ, electronic dance music musician, and record producer. He is a pioneer of the big beat genre that achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s...
, Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee Rascal
Dylan Kwabena Mills , better known by his stage name Dizzee Rascal, is a Ghanaian British rapper, songwriter and record producer. His music is a blend of garage, hip hop, grime, ragga, pop and electronic music, with eclectic samples and more exotic styles...
and Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris
Calvin Harris is a Scottish singer-songwriter, record producer and DJ. His gold-selling debut album, I Created Disco, was released in 2007 and contained the top ten singles "Acceptable in the 80s" and "The Girls"...
are played there on August 1 & 2 in 2009.
Film location
Over the last decade, a number of films have shot some of their scenes in Rathfarnham. The opening scene in Intermission (film)Intermission (film)
Intermission is a 2003 Irish comedy crime film directed by John Crowley which tells a story of a young couple and people surrounding them. The film is set in Dublin, Ireland and is filmed in a TV drama style with several storylines crossing over one another during the course of the film.Mark O'Rowe...
was recorded at Rathfarnham Shopping Centre. In one scene in the movie Ordinary Decent Criminal
Ordinary Decent Criminal
Ordinary Decent Criminal is a 2000 crime/comedy film, directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, written by Gerard Stembridge. The film is loosely based on the story of Martin Cahill, a famous Irish crime boss.- Plot :...
, a car is blown up in front of the Pearse Museum in St. Enda's Park.
Pubs
Buglers pub is situated in Ballyboden House on the Ballyboden Road in BallybodenBallyboden
Ballyboden is a locality within the suburb of Rathfarnham in South Dublin, at the foot of the Dublin mountains between Whitechurch, Ballyroan and Knocklyon....
. John Blake was the first known publican to be granted the licence in 1799.
Situated on Main Street, The Castle Inn is, as its name implies, near Rathfarnham Castle. The interior is made of stone and light wood and is one of the newer pubs in Rathfarnham.
The Eden House pub is situated on Grange Road near Marlay Park
Marlay Park
Marlay Park is a suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks...
and is one of the highest pubs in the town. The beer garden was a favourite attraction because of the wide open spaces and the elevated view of Dublin. The building was formerly Eden House, one of the 18th century stately houses on Grange Road, before being converted to its present use by Patsy Kiernan who died in recent years. The pub was then sold in 2006 for €5.5m and is now run by owners of The Morgue Pub in Templeogue
Templeogue
Templeogue is a suburb of southwest Dublin, Ireland. The original Irish name Teach Mealóg refers to a chapel named after Saint Mel that was built there in about 1273....
Village. The pub was completely renovated by the new owners, who now are awaiting the completion of road works on the Grange Road before opening a new Beer Garden.
The Old Orchard is on Butterfield Avenue near Rathfarnham Shopping Centre. The interior has a very contemporary "European" styling. The 'island' bar is an unusual feature and provides service around the full 360°, earning it its local nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
of the ""thripp'ny bit
British Threepence coin
The threepence or thrupenny bit was a denomination of currency used by various jurisdictions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, until decimalisation of the pound sterling and Irish pound in 1971...
".
The Tuning Fork was an old-style pub situated at the junction of Willbrook Road and Whitechurch Road near the Yellow House pub. It is now closed.
The Blue Haven is a popular meeting spot among young and business people alike, situated on the junction of Ballyroan Road and Butterfield Avenue.
The Yellow House pub is situated at the corner of Willbrook Road and Grange Road, a short distance from Rathfarnham Castle. It is believed that the first pub bearing the name was a thatched cottage standing on the site of the present Roman Catholic church, and that the licence went back as far as the early eighteenth century. Certainly, it was in business at the time of the Irish Rebellion of 1798
Irish Rebellion of 1798
The Irish Rebellion of 1798 , also known as the United Irishmen Rebellion , was an uprising in 1798, lasting several months, against British rule in Ireland...
. Some say it was used during the rebellion as a meeting room for the rebellion-leaders. The present Yellow House was built in 1825
1825 in Ireland
-Events:*The Unlawful Societies Act proscribed both the Catholic Association and the Orange Order.*Foundation of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, see Allied Irish Banks-Births:*13 April - D'Arcy McGee, journalist, politician in Canada, assassinated ....
by Mary Murphy and opened for business in 1827. It was extensively refurbished and extended in 1979. According to local folklore, the poet Francis Ledwidge
Francis Ledwidge
Francis Edward Ledwidge was an Irish war poet from County Meath. Sometimes known as the "poet of the blackbirds", he was killed in action at the Battle of Passchendaele during World War I.-Early life:...
worked there for two days as an apprentice before homesickness for his home town of Slane
Slane
Slane is a village in County Meath, in Ireland. The village stands on a steep hillside on the left bank of the River Boyne at the intersection of the N2 and the N51 . In 2006 Slane's population was 1,099, having grown from 823 in 2002. The population of the village and the surrounding rural area...
, County Meath
County Meath
County Meath is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Mide . Meath County Council is the local authority for the county...
, caused him to leave.
Transport
An AircoachAircoach
Aircoach is a Republic of Ireland based subsidiary company of the United Kingdom based FirstGroup. It provides airport bus express coach services from Cork, Greystones, Bray, South Dublin and Dublin City Centre to Dublin Airport. It also operates contracted bus service for airport car parks...
service links the area with Dublin Airport via the M50 24 hours a day.
People born in Rathfarnham
- Damien DuffDamien DuffDamien Anthony Duff is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012...
- Stephen Gwynn (1864–1950), journalist, biographer, author, poet and Nationalist politician.
- Robert WilksRobert WilksRobert Wilks was a British actor and theatrical manager who was one of the leading managers of Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in its heyday of the 1710s...
, 18th century actor - J. M. SyngeJohn Millington SyngeEdmund John Millington Synge was an Irish playwright, poet, prose writer, and collector of folklore. He was a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival and was one of the cofounders of the Abbey Theatre...
, playwright
People associated with Rathfarnham
- Adam ClaytonAdam ClaytonAdam Charles Clayton is a musician, best known as the bassist of the Irish rock band U2. Clayton has resided in County Dublin since the time his family moved to Malahide when he was five years old in 1965...
– Bought Danesmoate House in Rathfarnham in 1984 for €380,000 (around $487,000). - Adam LoftusAdam LoftusAdam Loftus may refer to:*Adam Loftus , Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh*Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus , nephew of the above, Irish peer...
- Anne DevlinAnne DevlinAnne Devlin was an Irish republican who acted as housekeeper to Robert Emmet and who was also a cousin of two leading United Irish rebels, Michael Dwyer and Arthur Devlin.-Revolutionary involvement:Devlin was born in Rathdrum Co...
- Barbara WoodhouseBarbara WoodhouseBarbara Kathleen Vera Woodhouse , was a well known British dog trainer, author and television personality. Her 1980 television series Training Dogs the Woodhouse Way made her into a household name in the UK...
- Bulmer HobsonBulmer HobsonJohn Bulmer Hobson was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood before the Easter Rising in 1916...
lived in Mill House - Damien DuffDamien DuffDamien Anthony Duff is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012...
- EoinEoin MacNeillEoin MacNeill was an Irish scholar, nationalist, revolutionary and politician. MacNeill is regarded as the father of the modern study of early Irish medieval history. He was a co-founder of the Gaelic League, to preserve Irish language and culture, going on to establish the Irish Volunteers...
and James McNeillJames McNeillJames McNeill was an Irish politician and diplomat, who served as first High Commissioner to London and second Governor-General of the Irish Free State.... - Grace KellyGrace KellyGrace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
- Hilda Roberts HRHA (1901–1982) – artist, lived here.
- Joe McKinneyJoe McKinneyJoe McKinney is an Irish stage, screen/television actor and voice-over artist.Dublin-born McKinney trained and worked as a hairdresser for four years, before joining fringe theatre...
- John CastilloJohn CastilloJohn Castillo , often referred to as the "Bard of the Dales", from his first published book - "The Bard of the Dales - Poems by John Castillo" was a poet who lived for much of his life in the village of Lealholm...
- Stephen HineyStephen HineyStephen Hiney is a Hurling player for Dublin and Ballyboden St. Enda's. Stephen is the current captain of the Dublin Senior Hurling team. Hiney won his first Dublin Senior Hurling Championship medal with his club Ballyboden St Endas in October 2007 his second in 2008, his third in 2009 and his...
- Mother TeresaMother TeresaMother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
- James Henthorn ToddJames Henthorn ToddJames Henthorn Todd was a biblical scholar, educator, and Irish historian. He is noted for his efforts to place religious disagreements on a rational historical footing, for his advocacy of a liberal form of Protestantism, and for his endeavours as an educator, librarian, and scholar in Irish...
- Joseph Plunkett
- Morris GravesMorris GravesMorris Cole Graves was an American expressionist painter. Along with Guy Anderson, Kenneth Callahan, William Cumming, and Mark Tobey, he founded the Northwest School. Graves was also a mystic.-Early years:...
(1910–2001) – artist, lived here - Pádraig HarringtonPadraig HarringtonPádraig P. Harrington is an Irish professional golfer who plays on The European Tour and The PGA Tour. He has won three major championships: The Open Championship in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Championship, also in 2008.-Background:...
- Paul McGinleyPaul McGinleyPaul McGinley is an Irish golfer who plays on the European Tour. He is most famous for holing the winning putt for the European team in the 2002 Ryder Cup. He currently resides in Sunningdale, England....
- Padraig Pearse
- Robert EmmetRobert EmmetRobert Emmet was an Irish nationalist and Republican, orator and rebel leader born in Dublin, Ireland...
- Sarah BolgerSarah BolgerSarah Lee Bolger is an Irish actress. She is known for her role as Princess / Lady Mary Tudor on The Tudors and for her role as Mallory Grace in The Spiderwick Chronicles.-Early life:...
- Sarah CurranSarah CurranSarah Curran was the youngest daughter of John Philpot Curran, an eminent Irish lawyer. She lived in the priory in Rathfarnham and was the great love of Irish nationalist Robert Emmet.-Biography:...
- Sir William Chambers
- Sir William Cusac Smith
- Thomas MacDonaghThomas MacDonaghThomas MacDonagh was an Irish nationalist, poet, playwright, and a leader of the 1916 Easter Rising.-Early life:MacDonagh was born in Cloughjordan, County Tipperary...
- Thomas TaylorThomas TaylorThomas Taylor was an English translator and Neoplatonist, the first to translate into English the complete works of Aristotle and of Plato, as well as the Orphic fragments.-Biography:...
- Robert Bentley ToddRobert Bentley ToddRobert Bentley Todd was an Irish-born physician who is best known for describing the condition postictal paralysis in his Lumleian Lectures in 1849 now known as Todd's palsy. He was the younger brother of noted writer and minister James Henthorn Todd.- Early life :He was the son of physician...
- U2U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
spent many days at Danesmoate House when they were working on the Joshua TreeThe Joshua TreeThe Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release The Unforgettable Fire, U2 aimed for a harder-hitting sound on The Joshua...
album in the 1980s. - William Butler YeatsWilliam Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
- Willie PearseWillie PearseWilliam "Willie" Pearse was an Irish republican executed for his part in the Easter Rising. He was a younger brother of Patrick Pearse, a leader of the rising.-Background:...
Landmarks
- Rathfarnham CastleRathfarnham CastleRathfarnham Castle is a 16th century castle in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland.-Origins:The earlier Anglo-Norman castle which was replaced by the present building was built on lands which were confiscated from the Eustace family of Baltinglass because of their involvement in the Second Desmond...
- The Bottle Tower
- Ely's Arch
- The Yellow House
- Beaufort House
- Berwick House
- Rathfarnham House
- Marlay ParkMarlay ParkMarlay Park is a suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in the administrative area of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in Co. Dublin, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres from Dublin city centre. The parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks...
- Hellfire ClubHellfire Club, DublinMontpelier Hill is a hill, high in County Dublin, Ireland. It is commonly referred to as the Hell Fire Club , the popular name given to the ruined building at the summit. This building – a hunting lodge built around 1725 by William Conolly – was originally called Mount Pelier and since its...
See also
- List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Dublin)
- List of castles in Ireland
- List of towns and villages in Ireland