A history of the County Dublin; the people, parishes and antiquities from the earliest times to the close of the eighteenth century

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read the passage as the book has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too.

1. Deaths of the early abbots of Finglas

   Finglas · parish · Dublin · 758–865

   A succession of early abbots associated with the monastery of Finglas are recorded, including Flann, son of Ceallach, who died in 812, and others who followed in the office over subsequent decades.

   Read the passage

   January 27 ; St. Dubhlifcir, who died in 796, and whose festival is May 15; and St. Faelchu, who died in 758, and whose festival is September 24. St. Dubhlitir is said to have held the position of abbot of Finglas, and had as successor Flann, son of Ceallach, who died in 812 ; Fearghus of Mahera, who died in 814 ; and Cuimneach, who died in 823. In addition to the title of abbot, Flann, son of Ceallach, is recorded to have been also a bishop, scribe, and anchorite ; and amongst others having the title of bishop and identified with Finglas, there are found Caencomhrach, who died in 791 ; Bran, who died in 837 ; and Robbartach, who died in 865 ; the last two also bearing the designation of scribe.'

   When Archbishop John Comyn founded in 1190 the collegiate church of St. Patrick, Finglas was constituted its fifth prebend, and when his successor, Archbishop Henry de Loundres, changed in 1219

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 67

2. Plunkett family burial vault at Dunsoghly chapel

   Dunsoghly · street · Dublin · 1675

   An inscription records that the bones of the Plunketts of Dunsoghly are entombed within, set up by heir Nicholas Plunkett and his wife Elizabeth Fisher in 1675, marking the family burial vault within the ruined chapel.

   Read the passage

   The chapel, which is twenty-six feet long by fifteen feet three inches wide, is entered from the west, where the ground has evidently risen considerably. The doorway, which is pointed, with neat, shallow mouldings, has a bold hood, with angular bands. The north corbel of the hood has a rough, flat, human face, and another face projects on the keystone. Above the keystone is a moulded frame of red sandstone, which held once a slab of white marble, bearing the words, "Johannes Plunkett de Dunsoghlia, Miles, Capitalis quondam Justiciarius Regii in Hibernia Banci, hoc struxit Sacellum." In the south wall there were two windows ; the head of the eastern one shows that it had two plain, chamfered, oblong lights, divided by a shaft. In the north wall is set a rude calp slab, greatly worn, with two arched spaces. One of these, that on the right, is now broken, but bore the words, "Ut vos sic fuimus quondam, ut nos sic eritis tandem et cito pede," with a skull at the head, and crossed bones at the foot. The space on the left bore the inscription, "In hoc tumulo tumulantur ossa Plunketorum Dunsoghlia, quorum haeres Nicholaus Pluiiket et uxor ejus Elizabetha Fissher hunc fieri fecerunt Ano 1675."'

   At the south-west corner of the ruins there is a largo modern tomb-house having three Gothic doors, with cleverly designed, and cut, capitular corbels. Further to the south of the ruins thei-e is another large modern mausoleum with elaborate pilasters, renaissance doorway, white marble friezes, and Ionic and composite capitals. The oldest tablet faces the west, being over the principal door, with the remains of a white marble cornice with triglyphs, hour-glasses, and angels. It bears arms of a griflin segreant impaling to the dexter a lion rampant and to the sinister an uprooted tree ; the crest is an eagle's or grifliu's head couped issuing from a wreath; tiie motto: " Regalis et fortis

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 49

3. Cnucha as the Druids' Mound

   Castleknock · street · Dublin

   A poem relating to Cnucha states that the mound was formerly known as the Druids' mound, indicating its earlier use for pagan rites before being associated with Conn of the Hundred Battles.

   Read the passage

   The Druids' mound was its former name Until the first reign of Ingliaine ; Until the reign of Conn in Cnoc Brain ; Until the daughter of Conadh came.

   But it was very early in the Christian era one of the residences used by the sovereigns of Ireland. Elim, son of Conn, who is said by the Four Masters to have been slain at Skreen, in the county of Meath, in the first century after Christ, is described as the brave King of Cnucha ; and his successors, Tuathal the Legitimate, and Feidlimid of the Laws, the father of Conn of the Hundred Battles, are mentioned in connexion with the place : —

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 7

4. Death of Marmaduke Coghill from Gout at Drumcondra House

   near Drumcondra · townland · Dublin · 1739

   Marmaduke Coghill, a martyr to gout throughout his life, lost the use of his limbs four years before his death and made his will soon after. He died of gout in his stomach on 9 March 1738/9 at Drumcondra House after a long and painful illness.

   Read the passage

   greatest zeal and abilities, distinguished him in every scene and period of life as the friend of mankind, and caused his death to be justly lamented as a national loss; he died of the gout in his stomach on the 9th day of March, 1738/9, after a long and painful illness, which he supported with patience, fortitude, and resignation ; Mary Coghill hath built this house for the worship of God, and erected this monument to the memory of so valuable a brother, whose body is laid in the vault belonging to his family in St. Andrew's Church, Dublin."

   1 Prerogative Will of Mary Whinrey.

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 97

   As the companion tells it

   Somewhere around here is where Drumcondra House once stood. Marmaduke Coghill died here of gout in his stomach on 9 March 1739, after a long and painful illness which, the record says, he bore with patience, fortitude, and resignation. He had been a martyr to gout all his life, losing the use of his limbs four years before his death and making his will soon after. His sister Mary Coghill erected a monument to his memory, and his body was laid in the family vault at Saint Andrew's Church in Dublin.

5. Death of Richard Luttrell and burial at Clonsilla

   Clonsilla · street · Dublin · 1619

   Richard Luttrell, a cadet of the house of Luttrellstown who occupied the castle on the lands of Spricklestown, died in 1619. His body was carried to Clonsilla to be interred, as recorded in a funeral entry.

   Read the passage

   of Coolatrath, and thence, as a funeral entry records, after his death in 1619, his body was carried to Clonsilla to be interred.'

   During the rebellion some of the Irish forces were stationed at the Ward, and the parish was so devastated that when the Commonwealth was established there were found but the walls of the castles of Ward and Spricklestown and of the church. The habitable dwellings at the Ward comprised only eight cottages, near which an orchard, garden, and grove of trees with some offices, remained to indicate the former importance of the site, and the only dwelling in the parish larger than a cottage v.'as a thatched house with a brick chimney on the lands of Phepockstown. At the time of the Restoration the inhabitants of the parish numbered eight persons of English and eighty-five of Irish descent, and seven years later there were two houses in the village with two hearths each, occupied by Lawrence Purfield and William Rose.-

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball

6. Demolition of Ballycoolen buildings during the 1641 rebellion

   Ballycoolen · townland · Dublin · 1641–1649

   During the rebellion in 1641 all the buildings at Ballycoolen, a possession of the Corporation of Dublin near Cloghran-huddart, were demolished, and the lands lay waste until the Commonwealth period.

   Read the passage

   As appears from the records of the corporation, the profit of Ballycoolen was assigned to the mayor for the better maintenance of the honour of the city. During the rebellion in 1641 all the buildings were demolished, and until the Commonwealth the lands lay waste. On a representation made by the mayor's servant it was decided then to lease to the mayor the possessions of the corporation at Ballycoolen as fully as Robert Hackett, who was a tanner, had enjoyed them. For the first ten years the rent was to be forty pounds, and afterwards fifty pounds. In addition the tenant was to render annually " a brawn, two turkeys, and two couples of capons," and to expend three hundred pounds in " building, enclosing, and quick-setting." By the Commonwealth surveyors there were found on the lands of Ballycoolen a thatched house and four or five cottages with the walls of an old castle, and on the lands of the Grange a thatched house with a stone

   ' Butler's " Register of All Hallows," passim ; Christ Church Deed, no. 150 ; Fiant, Edw. VI, no. 1183.

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 30

7. Destruction of houses in Mulhuddart parish during the wars

   near Damastown · street · Dublin · 1649–1660

   The Commonwealth surveys show that no building of importance escaped destruction in Mulhuddart parish. The Bellings' house was reduced to walls only, as was a house on Damastown lands and the church itself.

   Read the passage

   The Commonwealth surveys show that no building of importance escaped destruction. • Of the Bellings' house only the walls remained, and of one that had stood on the lands of Damastown and of the church a similar record had to be made. On Powerstown, which had belonged to William Freeme, Paslickstown, Buzzardstowu, and Cruiserath houses are mentioned, but they were small and roofed with thatch. At the time of the Restoration the inhabitants of full age in the parish numbered twenty-nine persons of English and a hundred

   ' "Description of Ireland in 1598," edited by llev.E. Hogan, p.3'J; Imjuisitions; Smyth's "Law Oliicers"; State Papers, Ireland, passiw, Carew, 1389-lGOO, p. :» ; Gilbert's " History of Affairs in Ireland," i, ?«, 79 ; Funeral Entry.

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 27

8. Devastation of the Ward parish during the rebellion

   The Ward · street · Dublin · 1641–1649

   During the rebellion Irish forces were stationed at the Ward, and the parish was so devastated that by the establishment of the Commonwealth only the walls of the castles of Ward and Spricklestown and of the church remained standing.

   Read the passage

   During the rebellion some of the Irish forces were stationed at the Ward, and the parish was so devastated that when the Commonwealth was established there were found but the walls of the castles of Ward and Spricklestown and of the church. The habitable dwellings at the Ward comprised only eight cottages, near which an orchard, garden, and grove of trees with some offices, remained to indicate the former importance of the site, and the only dwelling in the parish larger than a cottage v.'as a thatched house with a brick chimney on the lands of Phepockstown. At the time of the Restoration the inhabitants of the parish numbered eight persons of English and eighty-five of Irish descent, and seven years later there were two houses in the village with two hearths each, occupied by Lawrence Purfield and William Rose.-

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 34

9. Fever kills vicar William Hill and his family at Finglas

   Finglas · parish · Dublin · 1667

   William Hill, vicar of Finglas and former master of the City Free School, was carried off by fever in the autumn of 1667 along with his wife and son, before reaching fifty years of age.

   Read the passage

   in the autumn of 1667, carried off, when not fifty years of age, with his wife and son, by fever.^

   While Power held the vicarage the southern aisle of the church was assigned for the purposes of a school, and separated from the church, and in it William Hill, who probably was attracted to Finglas partly by the prospect, taught gentlemen's children. In Hill's time the services of the church were, however, not neglected, and the vestry provided for the church a Bible and two copies of the Book of Common Prayer, as well as holly and ivy at Christmas, and rushes at the other festivals. The linen was also washed, the plate scoured, am^ the church cleaned, and the church-floor levelled and the churchyard fenced.-

   Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 70

10. Smith Steele dies of violent fever as sheriff of Dublin county

    Hampstead · street · Cork · 1787

    Smith Steele, second son of Sir Richard Steele who inherited Hampstead, died of a violent fever only two years after his father while serving as sheriff of Dublin county.

    Read the passage

    Glasnevin House was occupied after the death of Henry Mitchell, which occurred in the same year as that of Delany, 1768, by his widow and his son. In the nineteenth century it became the residence of the Right Rev. Charles Dalrymple Lindsay, Bishop of Kildare, and it is now the Convent of the Holy Faith.^ Hampstead after the death of Charles Davys became the residence of Sir Richard Steele, who was created a baronet in 1768, while representing Mullingar in Parliament. He died in 1785, and the baronetcy was held by his descendants, who assumed the name of Steele-Graves, until 1878, when it is supposed to have become extinct. Hampstead was bequeathed by him to his second son, Smith Steele, who survived him for only two years, and died of a violent fever while serving as sheriff of Dubhn county.' Although Mrs. Delany hoped that Delville would become the residence of the lord chancellor or an archbishop, it came after Delany's death into the possession of an untitled landowner, John Westlake, who died in 1799 while in possession of it. It is said to have been occupied for a time by the editor of the " Reliques of Ancient English Poetry," Thomas Percy, Bishop of Dromore, and subsequently was the residence of Sir Marcus Somerville, the father of the first Lord Athlumney.* Amongst other residents in or near Glasnevin in the closing decades of the eighteenth century there appear :— Miles Strickland, " a gentleman of considerable fortune in Yorkshire and Westmoreland," who died in 1770 ; Robert Edgeworth, who died in 1772 ; Edward Netterville, who died in 1777 ; John Cotton, an alumnus of Lincoln College, Oxford, who died in 1777; Gerald Dillon, who died in 1782; Thomas Taylor, a large

    1 Faulkner's "Dublin Journal," 1761, June 2-6.

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball

11. Tombstone inscriptions in the ruined church of Finglas record Eyves and Bagshawe deaths

    Finglas · parish · Dublin · 1647–1657

    Two tombstones in the ruined church of Finglas record the burials of George Eyves, judge of the prerogative court, who died in 1647, his daughters Mary and Dorothy who died the following January, and Sir Edward Bagshawe, who died in 1657.

    Read the passage

    -' Two tombstones in the ruined church of Finglas bear these inscriptions : — " Underneath this stone lie interred the bodies of George Eyves, late doctor of laws, judge of the prcrot,'ative court, and one of the masters of the chanceryin-ordinary, and (one) of the sons of Sir William IJyves, Knight, who departed this life the 27''' day of March, 1647, and of Mary and Dorothy, two of the dangliters of the said George and Anne, his wife, one of the daughters of Sir Edward Bagshawe of Finglas, Knight, which said Mary and Dorothy died in January next following."— " Hereunder lieth the body of Sir Kdward Bagshawe, Knight, who departed this life the Otii day of October. 1(;.57." Sec State Papers, Ireland, 1025-1(341, 7«/.ssiw ; i\Iorrin's Patent Bolls, Charles I, passim; Records of Dublin, iii, 01; ICj^iniont Jlanuscripts, i, Gl, 124; Shaw's " Book of Knights'"; " The Bagshawes of Ford," by W. H. G. Bagshawe, p. 3 ; Stokes's "Worthies of the Irish Church," p. 50 ; Funeral Entry.

    94 SOUTHERN FINGAL.

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 56

12. Tombstone of Sir Daniel Treswell records service and death at Finglas, 1670

    Finglas · parish · Dublin · 1670–1672

    A tombstone in the churchyard at Finglas records Sir Daniel Treswell, commander of the battle-axe corps, who faithfully served the king in England and Ireland and died on 24 May 1670; a nearby stone commemorates his wife's nephew who died in 1672.

    Read the passage

    " Here under lieth the body of Sir Daniel Treswell, knight and baronet, who faithfully served his Majesty in honourable employments during the whole war in England and Ireland and died the 24* day of May, 1670 " ; and near it there is another tombstone to the memory of his wife's nephew: "Hie jacet Eicardus Plowden Treswell cujus anima requiescat in pace qui obiit decimo quarto die August! anno domini 1672."

    ^Falkiner's "Illustrations of Irish History," p. 8G ; Complete Baronetage, iv, 200 ; Carte Papers, iii, 514, iv, 190, Ixviii, 159 ; State Papers, Domestic, passim ; Harleian Society Publications, i, 92 ; Prerogative Will.

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 60

13. Vicar Robert Wilson's losses in the rebellion

    Finglas · parish · Dublin · 1641–1642

    Robert Wilson, vicar of Finglas, was chiefly resident there where he celebrated marriages and granted Lenten licences to parishioners, but he suffered great loss at the time of the 1641 rebellion.

    Read the passage

    While Ussher held the rectory, in 1615, the church is returned as in good order ; and fifteen years later, in 1630, it is said to have been in "very good repair and decency," and to have been attended by a large congregation, the number of communicants at Easter being no less than a hundred and fifty. The vicarage was then held by Robert Wilson, a bachelor of divinity, who was also dean of Ferns and prebendary of Donoughmore in St. Patrick's. He appears to have been chiefly resident at Finglas, where he is seen celebrating marriages and obtaining licences for his parishioners to eat meat during Lent, and where he suffered great loss at the time of the rebellion. On his death, in 1642, the place of vicar, as well as of rector, was filled by the chancellor of St. Patrick's, the Honourable Ambrose Aungier, whose father, as master of the rolls in Ireland, was created Baron Aungier, and whose son became the first Earl of Longford of the Aungier creation.^

    During the years that followed the church became probably more

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 69

14. Castleknock's Mote Bailey Used as a Cemetery

    Castleknock · street · Dublin

    The bailey of the mote-castle at Castleknock, measuring roughly a hundred feet by sixty feet, is described as being in current use as a cemetery, its irregular western face formed of a series of angled bends.

    Read the passage

    " The bailey, which is now used as a cemetery, is a hundred feet from east to west, and sixty feet from north to south. It is irregular in plan, its west face not being curved, but being a series of bends forming slight angles with each other. There also remain eight of these reaches on the north, measuring thirty, twenty-two, thirty, fifteen, thirty, twelve, twelve, and fifteen feet. In the fourth reach there is the drain of a garde-robe. The broken end of the drain shows that, in consequence of the destruction of the wall to the south, much of the platform has gone. The alteration of the size of the platform at the north-east end of the upper fosse, from the ring of which it projects forty feet, makes its character uncertain. A well was found close to the keep inside the bailey. Such wells have been found in other motes, and at Castleknock, as there are outflows from the mound lower down, a good supply of water must have been secured. As the keep and bailey are on the summit of the mound, the description of the

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 6

15. Drowning of the fifth Earl of Drogheda

    Finglas · parish · Dublin · 1758

    The fifth Earl of Drogheda, who kept a country residence in the parish, drowned in 1758 while returning from England to Ireland.

    Read the passage

    At that time Little Cabragh was occupied by Neill Segrave, who had married a sister of Miss Ambrose, Lord Chesterfield's dangerous Papist ; and another house in the parish afforded a country residence for the fifth Earl of Drogheda, who was drowned in 1758 while

    1 "Pue's Occurrences," 1735, July 29-Aug. 2; "Dublin Intelligence," 1729-30, March 17, 1730, March 31 ; Chetwood's " History of the Stage," p. 187 ; Faulkner's "Dublin Journal," 1753, Oct. 27-30; Mason's Manuscripts; Diocesan Kecords ; Winstanley's " Poems," p. 184.

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball

16. Jewish Burying-Ground Established at Fairview

    Fairview · street · Dublin · 1718

    Early in the eighteenth century, in 1718, a Jewish burying-ground was made at Fairview, within the parish of Clonturk. This established a distinct burial site for the Jewish community in the area.

    Read the passage

    About the middle of the eighteenth century residents in the parish began to increase in number, and the suburban districts of Richmond and Fairview developed. Early in the century, in the year 1718, a Jewish burying-ground had been made at Fairview, and later on, about 1748, Joseph Dioderici, matei-nal grandfather of Thomas Elriugton, sometime provost of Trinity College and bishop of Ferns, came to live there. In the spring of 1762 a new house, on rising ground, between Ballybough Bridge and Marino, was advertised to be let. This house, which had been occupied by a Mrs. Donnellan, had attached to it a large garden, which contained " all necessaries for the kitchen as well as for pleasure," including two fish-ponds well stocked with trout, and " choice fields " with running water in them. Five years later, in 1766, the parishioners comprised many persons of distinction. In a return of those made then there appear, besides Lord Bowes and Lord Charlemont, the Earl of Wandesford, Lord Longford, the Hon. Henry Loftus, afterwards Earl of Ely, who has been noticed under Rathfarnham, the Bishop of Meath, and Sir George Tuite, the seventh baronet of his line.-

    But the most remarkable resident at that time was the patriot physician, Henry Lucas, then in the zenith of his strange career: —

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 98

    As the companion tells it

    Along here in Fairview, within the parish of Clonturk, a Jewish burying-ground was made in 1718. It established a distinct burial site for the Jewish community in this area, early in a century when the parish was just beginning to grow. Residents here increased as the century went on, and the suburban districts of Richmond and Fairview developed around it.

17. The Death and Burial of Cnucha

    Castleknock · street · Dublin

    According to an early poem, Cnucha, daughter of Concadh Cas, died in the house on the hill and was buried within it, giving the place its name forever after. The mound was said to have earlier been called the Druids' mound, associated with pagan rites.

    Read the passage

    The woman was buried, a grief it was.

    In the very middle of the hill ;

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 7

18. Turnpike Gates Stolen Near Marino

    near Marino · townland · Dublin · 1787

    In 1787, turnpike gates that stood near Marino were carried away, another sign of the criminal activity affecting the district in the late eighteenth century.

    Read the passage

    Tourists in the closing years of the eighteenth century dwell on the rural beauty of the approaches to Marino, especially Summer Hill; and the isolation of Marino from the life of Dublin is evident from the fact that Charlemont was robbed while walking in his grounds no less than three times — in 1774, in 1787, and in 1790 — and that lead to a weight of fifteen hundred pounds was in 1789 carried oli' by robbers from the roof of the casino or the temple. Charlemont was not the only one who sullered from such outrages. In 1779 a fellow of Trinity College was knocked ofi" his horse and robbed by " pinking dinders " near Marino ; and in 1787 turnpike gates, which then stood near to it, were carried away.'-

    To a house on the site of Drumcondra Castle there came as a resident, about the year 1780, Sir Edward Newenham, one of the members of the county of Dublin, and a most prominent public man. He succeeded there his aunt, Mrs. O'Callaghan, a lady of great wealth, who had died in the year 1779 ; and afterwards the house had a number of owners before it passed to the trustees of St. Joseph's Asylum for the Blind. About the year 1778 Drumcondra House was leased by the Countess of Charleville to Alexander Kirkpatrick, a leading Dublin citizen, and in the nineteenth century it had as one of its occupants Lord Edward FitzGerald's son-in-law. Sir Guy Campbell ; and afterwards passed to the trustees of All Hallows College. Amongst other houses prominent in the close of the eighteenth century and opening of the nineteenth century there may be mentioned High Park, the residence of Thomas Ball, a master in chancery ; Hartfield, and Sion Hill.'

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball, Chapter 100

19. Sir John Hely dies suddenly on circuit at Ennis, 1701

    Ennis · town · Clare · 1701

    Sir John Hely, chief justice of the common pleas and tenant at Ballygall, died at an early age in 1701 while on circuit at Ennis.

    Read the passage

    During the reign of William there appears at Ballygall as tenant of Squire Ball, one of the chief justices, Sir John Hely, who died at

    'Southwell Papers (lot 371) in I'ublic Record Oflicc ; GriCfyth's "Villarc Ilibcrnicura."

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20. Death of Lord Bowes at Belvedere

    near Belvedere · street · Waterford · 1767

    Lord Bowes, who had entertained the Lord Lieutenant at Belvedere and pursued a career marked by opposition to Roman Catholic claims, died in 1767, after which Belvedere passed from his representatives.

    Read the passage

    After the death of Lord Bowes, in 1767, Belvedere was purchased from his representatives by John Leigh, a barrister, and was occupied

    '"The Irish Times," 1886, Sept. 16 ; "The Irish Builder," 1894, pp. 50, 51; Chambers's "Treatise on Civil Architecture," 4th ed., p. 158; "Charlemont Manuscripts," i, 283.

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball

21. Finglas church chosen as place of interment in the 1470s

    Finglas · parish · Dublin · 1474–1475

    Towards the close of the fourteenth century (recte fifteenth), the church of St Canice, the abbot, at Finglas was designated by Alice, wife of Patrick Russell, and by Thomas Finglas as the place of their interment.

    Read the passage

    occupied with other preferments and business to pay attention to the spiritual welfare of a country parish, and are only mentioned as drawing the fruits of the prebend. There is indication that in the early part of the fourteenth century the church was regarded as a convenient place to execute legal transfers, as in 1336, on Sunday, November 25, the owner of Dunsoghly is found perfecting a deed at Finglas ; and towards the close of the fourteenth century, in 1474 and 1475, the church of St. Canice, the abbot, at Finglas is designated

    ' Mason's " History of St. Patrick's," p, 37 ; " Crede Mihi," p. 138.

    Internet Archive historyofcountyd06ball