Rathfarnham () The civil parish contains 11 townlands. or 'fort of the alders') suggests an earlier habitation, but no remains of prehistoric fortifications, burial places, early churches or old records have been found.
The written history of Rathfarnham begins after the Norman invasion of Ireland. Terenure and Kimmage (Cheming), both described as being in 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, and he adapted an existing ridge to build a motte and bailey fort at what is now the start of the Braemor Road.
In the 13th century, no events of great importance are recorded at Rathfarnham. However, their property was confiscated, from James Eustace, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass, for his support of the Second Desmond Rebellion of 1579–1583. The Eustace lands at Rathfarnham were then granted to the Loftus family, who built a fortified house on the site of an earlier structure.
Economic activity in Rathfarnham was stepped up in the 17th century, and the village was granted a patent in 1618 to hold horse and cattle fairs. occupied it until the 1990s when the estate was divided up and houses built along the main road. The local historian Patrick Healy notes that "a new road was later built along the side of the house and named Brookvale after the last occupants".
Industrial revolution
New industries, especially the production of paper, developed on the Owendoher and Dodder rivers, and many mills were erected during the 18th and 19th centuries. This mill closed down in 1880 and the buildings were demolished. This road is believed to have crossed the Dodder at the Big Bridge, now Pearse Bridge, and re-crossed it again near Oldbawn.
Near the entrance to the burial ground is the grave of Captain James Kelly. Kelly, who was associated with the Fenian Rising of 1867, was the Fenian 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.
Rathfarnham village
thumb|Grange Golf Club in the early 20th century
In the castle grounds were several fish ponds which were supplied by a mill race taken from the stream which rises up at Kilmashogue and flows down through Grange Golf Club and Saint 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 sawmill.
The Protestant parish church, on Rathfarnham's Main Street, was built in 1795 to replace the church in the old graveyard. Beside the church is the old schoolhouse that dates from early in the 19th century. Immediately adjoining is Church Lane at the corner of which is a bank built on the site of a 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 18-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. According to the local historian, Patrick Healy, "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 Samuel 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. Healy (2005) notes that, 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 millrace was subsequently 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.
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 18th century.
Nutgrove Avenue
A short distance past the church is Nutgrove Avenue, widened and extended during the 1960s to link up with Churchtown.
The previous tree-shaded Nutgrove Avenue, along with the adjoining narrow lanes and passages, was replaced. The former avenue was described by local historian Patrick Healy as having wound a "crooked course between Loreto Convent cemetery and the garden of Nutgrove House". A large gateway, which bore the inscription "Nutgrove School Established 1802", stood at the entrance to the avenue until . The Nutgrove School closed in 1876 and the house became a private residence and was later used as the parish council headquarters. Additions have been made over the years, including a church (built in 1840), the novitiate (in 1863) and St Joseph's wing (built ) 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. In the 1920s, novice Agnes Bojaxhiu (later to become Mother Teresa) came to Loreto Abbey to learn English. This was the language the Sisters of Loreto used to teach school children in India.<br />
thumb|Beaufort House
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.
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 previously 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. The last of the old houses were 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 1798 Rebellion. 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 were 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.
Harold's Grange and Taylors Grange
The road to Harold's Grange continues southward from Loreto Abbey. The first site is Snugborough, which has its gable end to the road. The next is Washington Lodge, its 18th-century facade hidden by shrubbery. In later 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 Trinity College, who was connected by marriage to the Hudson family of the adjoining Hermitage estate. 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 the twentieth century of Surgeon Croly, who founded Baggot St Hospital.
St Enda's
thumb|The Hermitage, site of St Enda's
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. 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. WE Hudson, a scholar, 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 Royal Irish Academy with a fund for the publication of its Irish Dictionary and he also left the Academy Library a 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 Battle of 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, a barrister returned as occupier and in 1899 Mr. William Woodburn was recorded as a resident.
In the area near the house, a number of sites have been associated by tradition with either Sarah Curran or Robert Emmet and some sources suggested that it may have been the "last resting place" of Emmet. In October 1979, The Hermitage estate was being developed and heavy machinery used to lay the roads and sewers. With the co-operation of the developers and using an excavator, a small group undertook an investigation of the site. A number of trenches were dug at the reputed site of Emmet's burial - as indicated on some maps. Though a number of successively wider and deeper trenches were excavated, and an area long and wide was cleared to a depth of , no signs of disturbance or evidence of a burial was discovered. Those involved reportedly found the outcome to be "surprising and disappointing" as a number of accounts of Emmet's purported burial suggested that it had been made in a vault.
The Priory was occupied by the Curran family until 1875 and subsequently by the Taylors until 1923. As of the 21st century, the only remains of the house are "ruins on the green in Hermitage Estate". On Rathfarnham's main street, near Rathfarnham Castle, is "The Castle Inn".
"The Yellow House", is at the corner of Willbrook Road and Grange Road. It was refurbished and extended in 1979.
Schools
There are six schools in Rathfarnham: St Marys BNS, Loreto High School, Loreto Primary, Gaelcholáiste an Phiarsaigh, Rathfarnham Parish National School and Educate Together Rathfarnham.
St Columba's College, a co-educational independent day and boarding school, is located in nearby Whitechurch.
Organisations and sport
thumb|Signage for the 2016 Rathfarnham 5 km Run, organised by Rathfarnham WSAF Athletic Club
Rathfarnham is home to the 13th Dublin, the 14th Dublin, the 31st Dublin (which was founded in 1917) and the 68th Dublin Scout troops and a branch of the Irish Girl Guides. The area is also home to the Rathfarnham Concert Band.
Local Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) clubs include Ballinteer St John's GAA and Ballyboden St. Enda's GAA. Rathfarnham also has a number of soccer teams including Nutgrove Celtic, Rathfarnham Punters, Rathfarnham Rovers, Leicester Celtic, Broadford Rovers and Whitechurch United.
Demographics
As of the 2006 census, Rathfarnham then had a population of 17,333 – a drop of 2.1% since 2002. At that time, the population had gradually decreased over the years from 17,760 in 1996 to 17,717 in 2002.
The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Rathfarnham, as of the 2022 census, totalled 23,276.
Culture and entertainment
Music
Concerts are routinely held in Marlay Park. Acts to play the venue in have included Guns N' Roses, Foo Fighters, Kaiser Chiefs, Crowded House, Aerosmith, Damien Rice, The Who and Peter Gabriel. Marley Park has also hosted the Longitude Festival every July since 2013.
Film location
A number of films have shot some of their scenes in Rathfarnham. The opening scene in Intermission 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. The Secret Scripture was filmed in Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham in 2015.
Transport
Rathfarnham is served by the Dublin Bus route numbers 16 (Ballinteer to Dublin Airport via Dublin city centre), 15B (Stocking Avenue to Grand Canal Dock via the city centre), 74 to Dundrum and Go-Ahead Ireland route numbers S6 (to Tallaght) and 161 (to Rockbrook).
The Dublin, Dundrum and Rathfarnham Railway planned to build the Harcourt Street railway line as far as Dundrum, with a branch line from Ranelagh to Rathfarnham. However they failed to complete the railway and the Dublin and Wicklow Railway took over the line works. They never built the line to Rathfarnham, but Dundrum did serve as the nearest station until the line's closure in 1959.
Rathfarnham used to serve as the terminus for the Dublin tramways 16 and 17 routes from the 22 June 1879 until they both closed on 1 May 1939.
In 2007, it was proposed that a Luas tram line (mentioned in a feasibility study as 'Line E') would be routed through Rathfarnham. However, it was found that the proposal would not be feasible, as road widening would be required, necessitating the compulsory purchase of a significant number of homes and gardens on the route. Because of this, the project was not progressed.
Notable people
See also
- List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Dublin)
- List of castles in Ireland
- List of towns and villages in Ireland
References
Sources
Notes
External links
- South Dublin County Council
- Rathfarnham community website
- South Dublin County History (archived 2007)