Rathfarnham Castle
Encyclopedia
Rathfarnham
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...
, 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...
, 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,...
.
Origins
Anglo-Norman
The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
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 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...
.
It defended the Pale
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...
from the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
clans in the nearby 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...
.
It is believed the present castle was built around 1583 for Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
man, Adam Loftus
Adam Loftus (Archbishop)
thumb|right|200px|Archbishop Adam LoftusAdam Loftus was Archbishop of Armagh, and later Dublin, and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1581. He was also the first Provost of Trinity College, Dublin.-Early life:...
, then Lord Chancellor of Ireland
Lord Chancellor of Ireland
The office of Lord Chancellor of Ireland was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801 it was also the highest political office of the Irish Parliament.-13th century:...
and Protestant Archbishop of Dublin
Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)
The Archbishop of Dublin is the title of the senior cleric who presides over the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough in the Church of Ireland...
. Originally a semi-fortified and battlemented structure, extensive alterations in the 18th century give it the appearance of a Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
house.
The castle consisted of a square building four stories high with a projecting tower at each corner, the walls of which were an average of 5 feet (1.5 m) thick. On the ground level are two vaulted apartments divided by a wall nearly 10 feet (3 m) thick which rises to the full height of the castle. On a level with the entrance hall are the 18th century reception rooms and above this floor the former ballroom, later converted into a chapel.
Rathfarnham was described as a "waste village" when Loftus bought it. His new castle was not long built when in 1600 it had to withstand an attack by the 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...
clans during the Nine Years War (Ireland).
Civil war
Archbishop Loftus left the castle to his son, Dudley and it then passed to his son Adam in 1616. During Adam's ownership, the castle came under siege in the 1641 rebellionIrish 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...
. It was able to hold out against the Confederate army when the surrounding country was overrun. Adam Loftus opposed the treaty of cessation in order the stop the fighting between the Irish Confederates
Confederate Ireland
Confederate Ireland refers to the period of Irish self-government between the Rebellion of 1641 and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1649. During this time, two-thirds of Ireland was governed by the Irish Catholic Confederation, also known as the "Confederation of Kilkenny"...
and the English Royalists. Consequently, he was imprisoned in Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle off Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, was until 1922 the fortified seat of British rule in Ireland, and is now a major Irish government complex. Most of it dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland...
.
During the subsequent 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....
(1641-53), the castle changed hands several times. From 1641 to 1647, it was garrisoned by English Royalist troops. In 1647, Ormonde, commander of the Royalists in Ireland, surrendered Dublin to the English Parliament and Parliamentary troops were stationed at the castle until 1649 when a few days 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...
, the castle was stormed and taken without a fight by the Royalists. However, the Roundheads re-occupied it after their victory at the Battle of Rathmines. It has also been reported that 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....
held council there during his campaign in Ireland
Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland refers to the conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell landed in Ireland with his New Model Army on behalf of England's Rump Parliament in 1649...
before going south to besiege 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...
. Adam Loftus, who recovered his castle and lands under Cromwell, sided with the Parliamentarians and was killed at the Siege of Limerick
Siege of Limerick (1650-51)
Limerick, in western Ireland was the scene of two sieges during the Irish Confederate Wars. The second and largest of these took place during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland in 1650-51. Limerick was one the last fortified cities held by an alliance of Irish Confederate Catholics and English...
in 1651.
After the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, the Loftus family retained ownership of the castle. In 1659, Dr. Dudley Loftus
Dudley Loftus
Dudley Loftus was an Irish jurist and noted orientalist.Loftus was born the second son of Sir Adam Loftus, into a family of 17 siblings on his great-grandfather’s estate of Rathfarnham Castle, Dublin. He graduated from Trinity College, Dublin when 18, then entered Oxford University in 1639 on the...
, great grandson of Archbishop Loftus, took over the castle. During his lifetime, Dudley held the posts of Commissioner of Revenue, Judge Admiralty, Master in Chancery, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Kildare
Kildare
-External links:*******...
and 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 MP for Bannow
Bannow (Parliament of Ireland constituency)
Bannow was a constituency represented in the Irish House of Commons to 1800.- Boundaries and Boundary Changes :This constituency was the borough of Bannow in County Wexford.-History:...
and Fethard. His body is interred at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The eighteenth century
Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton
Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton , powerful Jacobite politician, notorious libertine and rake, profligate, and alcoholic, was one of the few people in English history, and the first since the 15th century, to have been raised to a Dukedom whilst still a minor and not closely related to the...
. The young man lost his money in the South Sea Bubble and in 1723 the castle was sold to the Right Hon. William Connolly, speaker of the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
House of Commons
Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland, that existed from 1297 until 1800. The upper house was the House of Lords...
for £62,000.
In 1742, the castle was sold to Dr. Hoadly
John Hoadly
John Hoadly was an Anglican divine in the Church of Ireland. He served as Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin from 1727 to 1730 and as Archbishop of Dublin from 1730 to 1742 and Archbishop of Armagh from 1742 until his death.-References:...
, Archbishop of Armagh
Archbishop of Armagh (Church of Ireland)
The Anglican Archbishop of Armagh is the ecclesiastical head of the Church of Ireland, the metropolitan of the Province of Armagh and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Armagh....
, and on his death four years later it passed to his son-in-law Bellingham Boyle. In 1767, he sold the property to Nicholas Hume-Loftus, second 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...
, a descendant of Adam Loftus
Adam Loftus
Adam Loftus may refer to:*Adam Loftus , Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh*Adam Loftus, 1st Viscount Loftus , nephew of the above, Irish peer...
, the original builder of the castle.
Nicholas died within a few years, probably as an indirect result of great hardships which he had suffered in his youth, and the estate passed to his uncle, Hon. Henry Loftus, who was created 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...
in 1771. In commemoration of regaining ownership, the Loftus family constructed another entrance for the castle in the form of a Roman 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...
. The arch can still be viewed from nearby Dodder Park Road. Henry Loftus, Earl of Ely was responsible for much of the conversion of the medieval fortress into a Georgian mansion and employed renowned architects Sir William Chambers
William Chambers (architect)
Sir William Chambers was a Scottish architect, born in Gothenburg, Sweden, where his father was a merchant. Between 1740 and 1749 he was employed by the Swedish East India Company making several voyages to China where he studied Chinese architecture and decoration.Returning to Europe, he studied...
and James 'Athenian' Stuart
James Stuart (1713-1788)
James "Athenian" Stuart was an English archaeologist, architect and artist best known for his central role in pioneering Neoclassicism.-Early life:...
to carry out these works. The mullion
Mullion
A mullion is a vertical structural element which divides adjacent window units. The primary purpose of the mullion is as a structural support to an arch or lintel above the window opening. Its secondary purpose may be as a rigid support to the glazing of the window...
ed windows were enlarged and the battlements replaced by a coping with ornamental urns. A semi-circular extension was added to the east side and an entrance porch approached by steps, on the north. The interior was decorated in accordance with the tastes of the period and leading artists, including Angelica Kauffmann
Angelica Kauffmann
Maria Anna Angelika/Angelica Katharina Kauffman was a Swiss-Austrian Neoclassical painter. Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.- Early years :She was born at Chur in Graubünden, Switzerland,...
were employed in the work. Writers of the period who visited the house have left extravagant descriptions of its splendour.
Henry died in 1783 and was succeeded by his nephew Charles Tottenham. He subsequently became Marquess of Ely
Marquess of Ely
Marquess of Ely, of the County of Wexford, is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1800 for Charles Loftus, 1st Earl of Ely. He was born Charles Tottenham, the son of John Tottenham, who had been created a Baronet, of Tottenham Green in the County of Wexford, in the Baronetage of...
as a reward for his vote at the time of the Union.
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries
In 1812, the family leased the estate to the Ropers and removed their valuable possessions to Loftus HallLoftus Hall
Loftus Hall is a large mansion house on the Hook peninsula, County Wexford, Ireland that is said to have been haunted both by the devil and by the ghost of a young woman....
in 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...
. The lands and castle were then used for dairy farming and fell into disrepair. To quote a contemporary account from 1838:
Crossing the Dodder by a ford, and proceeding along its southern bank towards Rathfarnham, a splendid gateway at left, accounted among the best productions of that species of architecture in Ireland, invites the tourist to explore the once beautiful grounds of Rathfarnham Castle, but they are now all eloquently waste, the undulating hills covered with rank herbage, the rivulet stagnant and sedgy, the walks scarce traceable, the ice-houses open to the prying sun, the fish-pond clogged with weeds, while the mouldering architecture of the castle, and the crumbling, unsightly offices in its immediate vicinity,…The castle, so long the residence of the Loftus family, and still the property of the Marquis of Ely, subject, however, to a small chief rent to Mr. Conolly, is an extensive fabric,.....The great hall is entered from a terrace, by a portico of eight Doric columns, which support a dome, painted in fresco with the signs of the Zodiac and other devices. This room was ornamented with antique and modern busts, placed on pedestals of variegated marble, and has three windows of stained gloss, in one of which is an escutcheon of the Loftus arms, with quarterings finely executed. Several other apartments exhibited considerable splendour of arrangement, and contained, until lately, numerous family portraits, and a valuable collection of paintings by ancient masters. But, when it is mentioned, that this structure has been for years a public dairy, and the grounds to the extent of 300 acres (1.2 km²) converted to its uses, some notion may be formed of their altered condition.
In 1852 it was bought by the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, Francis Blackburne
Francis Blackburne
Francis Blackburne PC KS was an Irish judge and eventually became Lord Chancellor of Ireland.-Background:...
whose family resided there for three generations.
The property developers Bailey & Gibson acquired the castle in 1912 and divided up the estate. The eastern part became the Castle Golf Club, the castle and the southwestern portion were bought in 1913 by the Jesuit Order and the northwestern part was devoted to housing.
The Jesuits are an order renowned for their education and one of them; Father O'Leary S.J. constructed a seismograph. This machine could detect earth tremors and earthquakes from anywhere in the world and for a time, Rathfarnham Castle became a source of earthquake information for the national media.
To the north of the castle was a long vaulted chamber formerly known as 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....
’s Court or Fort. This was apparently a barn or storehouse erected as part of the castle farm and had narrow loopholes in its 5 feet (1.5 m) thick walls. In 1922, it was incorporated into the new retreat house, to which it formed the ground story and its character concealed from the outside by a uniform covering of cement plaster.
Not far from the Golf Club House was an attractive little temple built of stone and brick, another relic of Lord Ely’s occupation of Rathfarnham. Although rather out of repair, if restored, it would have added much to the charm of this part of the links. Unfortunately, by decision of the committee, it was demolished in 1979.
In 1986, the Jesuits sold Rathfarnham Castle but before leaving, they removed the stained glass windows, made in the famous Harry Clarke
Harry Clarke
Harry Clarke was an Irish stained glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement.- History :...
studios, from the chapel and donated them to Tullamore
Tullamore
Tullamore is a town in County Offaly, in the midlands of Ireland. It is Offaly's county town and the centre of the district.Tullamore is an important commercial and industrial centre in the region. Major international employers in the town include 'Tyco Healthcare' and 'Boston Scientific'. In...
Catholic Church which had been destroyed by fire in 1983. The other windows were donated to Our Lady's Hospice
Our Lady's Hospice
Our Lady's Hospice is a Hospice with its main centre in Harold's Cross, Dublin and a specialist palliative care unit in Blackrock, County Dublin in Ireland. The Hospice was founded and run by the Religious Sisters of Charity, a congregation themselves founded by Mary Aikenhead. They provide...
, Harold's Cross and Temple Street Children's Hospital, Dublin.
Preservation
The castle was sold to Delaware Properties in 1985 and it was feared that it was facing demolition. After immense public pressure to save the building, it was purchased by the state in 1987 and was declared a National MonumentNational Monument (Ireland)
The Irish state has officially approved the following List of National Monuments of Ireland. In the Republic of Ireland, a structure or site may be deemed to be a "National Monument", and therefore worthy of state protection, if it is of national importance...
. Currently, by the Office of Public Works
Office of Public Works
The Office of Public Works is a State Agency of the Department of Finance in the Republic of Ireland...
, there is an extensive refurbishment going through the castle but it is still open to the public during the summer months (5th May - 12th October). The Castle is presented as a castle undergoing active conservation, where visitors can see, at first hand, tantalising glimpses of layers of its earlier existence uncovered during research.
External links
- Rathfarnham Castle - official site at Heritage Ireland
- The Ely Papers, PRONI
Much of the text in this article is taken, with permission, from
- Rathfarnham On-Line
- http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/jorgenpfhartogs/Rathfarnham_Castle.html&date=2009-10-26+01:01:04
- South Dublin Libraries and Archeology, Early Christian Remains and Local Histories, Chapter 10, by Patrick Healy.