POOLBEG LIGHTHOUSE

Poolbeg lighthouse is an active aid to navigation at the mouth of the River Liffey, near Poolbeg in Dublin, Ireland. First established in 1767, it initially operated on candlepower but this was changed to oil in 1786. It was re-designed and re-built into its present form in 1820 continue reading

ARTANE CASTLE

Artane Castle was the medieval seat of the Holywood (Hollywood aka Holywode) family.

At the time of the Silken Thomas rebellion of 1534, Thomas St. Lawrence of Artane Castle (aka Baron Howth) gave refuge to those escaping the siege of Dublin Castle.

In 1825, this medieval castle was demolished and replaced by a new Artane Castle aka Artane House.

By 1870, it became the newly-founded St. Joseph’s Industrial School for Boys… continue reading

RATHFARNHAM CASTLE

Rathfarnham Castle is a 16th-century fortified house in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland. Rathfarnham was described as a “waste village” when Loftus bought it. The earlier Irish castle was occupied by the Harold family, who held it as tenants of the le Bret family. It was replaced by the present building built on lands confiscated from the Eustace family of Baltinglass, to whom it had passed, because of their involvement in the Second Desmond Rebellion.

DRUMCONDRA HOUSE

The main house is an eleven-bay three-storey building and appears to have been built around 1710 by Edward Lovett Pearce with a further ornate south facade added by Allesandro Gallilei in around 1726. The later elements include the striking Portland stone features including corinthian pilasters and platband which contrast with other darker calp stone used in construction.

BALLYFERMOT CASTLE
Ballyfermot Castle was constructed on the site of a Norman motte and baily. Located northwest of the intersection of Le Fanu and Raheen Roads, it was the centre of the Upper (west) and Lower (east) Ballyfermot townships. Built in stone by Wolfram De Barneval in the fourteenth century, it was a stronghold against the formidable O’Byrnes and O’Tooles. Continue reading…

MARTELLO TOWER

Martello towers, sometimes known simply as Martellos, are small defensive forts that were built across the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the French Revolutionary Wars onwards. Most were coastal forts. Continue reading…

ST. NAHI CHURCH

St. Nahi church contains some interesting artefacts including the baptismal font of the Duke of Wellington who was baptised in 1769, donated to Taney Parish in 1914 by the closing of St. Kevin’s Church in Camden Row, and altar tapestries depicting scenes from the Bible. The tapestries illustrating the Last Supper were made by the two Yeats sisters Lily and Lolly Yeats, both of whom are interred in the graveyard. Continue reading

CASTLEKNOCK CASTLE

The castle was founded by the Norman knight, Hugh Tyrrel, who was later created Baron of Castleknock. He chose this location near the end of the esker which stretches from Galway to Dublin. Built on two mounds of the esker, it commanded the route into Dublin from the west. Castleknock was the final rallying point for the forces of the last High King of Ireland, Rory O’Connor. He failed to drive the Cambro-Normans from the area around Dublin in 1171. Continue reading

STARDUST MEMORIAL PARK

Stardust Memorial Park  is a memorial park located in the Bonnybrook townland of Coolock, Dublin built to commemorate the lives of those who died during the Stardust fire at the Stardust night club in nearby Artane on 14 February 1981. The park was officially completed and opened on 18 September 1993 by the then Lord Mayor of Dublin, Tomás MacGiolla. The park comprises 22 acres along the Santry River and the land was originally a 12th-century monastic site.

The memorial represents a circular pool with a bronze sculpture of a dancing couple in the middle and the memorial was designed by the sculptor, Robin Buick. Water is pumped by 48 jets in the illuminated fountain which surrounds the sculpture.The fountain is enclosed by 48 fence panels, each panel representing a person lost in the tragedy.

JAMES JOYCE TOWER

The James Joyce Tower and Museum is a Martello tower in Sandycove, Dublin, where James Joyce spent six nights in 1904. The tower was leased from the British War Office by Joyce’s university friend Oliver St. John Gogarty, with the purpose of “Hellenising” Ireland. Joyce left after an incident in which Gogarty fired a gun in his direction. The tower now contains a museum dedicated to Joyce and displays some of his possessions and other ephemera associated with Ulysses (e.g. an empty pot of “Plumtree’s Potted Meat”). The living space is set up to resemble its 1904 appearance (with a ceramic panther to represent one seen in a dream by a resident). It is a place of pilgrimage for Joyce enthusiasts, especially on Bloomsday.

The Tower became a museum through the efforts of the Dublin artist, John Ryan. Ryan also rescued the front door to 7 Eccles Street (now at the James Joyce Centre) from demolition and organised, with Brian O’Nolan, the first Bloomsday Celebration in 1954.

IRISHTOWN CASTLE

This modest castle was constructed in 1601 by Alderman Patrick Browne on lands passed to him. He and his wife resided there but its term of use was quite short. During the rebellion in 1642 the castle then defended by a garrison of 10 men found themselves conscripted into the confederate army and the Castle as with nearby Deansrath Castle (see earlier post here ) was lay siege to by English forces and no doubt suffered the same fate as Deansrath which was almost destroyed. A view of Irishtown Castle by the artist Gabriel Beranger from 1772 shows the Castle Roofless and pretty much in ruin.

Today the castle remains are surrounded by a modern housing estate and serve as a kind of monument within the estate given its own little corner in a cul-de-sac.

The door on the East side is boarded up and there is a single small window in the South wall other than that it is featureless. The Castle in relation to the 1772 print looks decidedly shorter so it must have diminished over time. It remains anonymous in its surroundings but still I wonder how many residents know what history is literally on their doorstep.

To find the ruin take the R113 heading Northwards from Newlands Cross and drive for approx.3.5KM until you reach a roundabout with a sign pointing left for Fonthill Retail Park. Take the 3rd exit on the right onto the R833 (Coldcut Road) and then the first left turn onto Greenfort Avenue. You will see the Ruin ahead of you. At the top of Greenfort Avenue turn Left and then take the first right onto Old Tower Crescent. This leads you directly to the Castle.

CLONDALKIN VILLAGE

It’s also close by the Grand Canal, which is about a five-minute walk from the village and includes a greenway standard pathway for cyclists and pedestrians that stretches into Dublin city. It is also adjacent to the beautiful Corkagh Park, a 290-acre regional park that stretches from the edge of Clondalkin village adjacent to the Naas Road (N7). It incorporates lands of the former Corkagh Demesne, with a rich heritage of specimen trees, woodlands, natural water features and attractive parklands. It also contains a pet farm, a fairy trail, angling lakes, a cycling track, numerous acres of woodland and wildflower meadows that attract much wildlife.

Visible from all directions, the dominant feature of Clondalkin village is its round tower. The Annals of Ulster record that the relics of St Kevin and St Mochua were taken on tour in 790 AD. It is thought that the Clondalkin Round Tower was built around this period. A visitor centre and gardens opened at the tower in June 2017, telling its 1,200-year story.

TALLAGHT MONASTERY

Tallaght Monastery was a Christian monastery founded in the eighth century by Máel Ruain, at a site called Tallaght, a few miles south west of present-day Dublin, Ireland. It operated until the Protestant Reformation.

The site of the monastery was given to Máel Ruain “in honour of God and St. Michael” by Cellach (d. 18 July, 771) of Ui Donnchada, grandson of a Leinster king, Donogh (d. 726). The monastery withstood an attack by Vikings in AD 811 and survived as a discrete entity to the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169.

Subsequent to the turmoil of that period, Pope Alexander III issued a bull dated 20 April 1179, by which Tallaght, along with its subsidiary chapels of Killohan and St. Bride’s, was united to the Archdiocese of Dublin. Then, in 1223, Archbishop Henry de Loundres attached the deanery of Tallaght to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Gradually, the town of Tallaght grew up around the monastery, and the English-appointed archbishop of Dublin, built (or possibly restored) a palace there. In 1324, the palace was fortified to protect the English in Tallaght from the marauding O’Byrne clan, exposing a need for protection and triggering the building of an Anglo-Norman castle, Belgard, just to the east of the monastery site. In 1324 Alexander de Bicknor built or restored an archiepiscopal manor at Tallaght, which was fortified later to protect the English in Dublin from the attacks of the O’Byrnes.

During the Dissolution of the monasteries at the Reformation, the Protestant archbishops took charge of Tallaght. However, in 1812, the castle was sold to the Dominicans, who erected a Catholic novitiate and church there. The Dominican Retreat Center stands on the site today.

The monastery having deteriorated in the seventeenth century, the archbishop had it torn down in 1729, replacing it with an archiepiscopal residence. The tower is all that remains of the castle.

Only two reminders of the ancient monastery are visible today, both of which were roughly carved from granite boulders: an immense font, five feet in diameter, and a three-foot tall cross, referred to as St. Máelruain’s Cross. Today the site is the location of St. Máelruain’s Church of Ireland, which was built in 1829. The church, along with the Dominican Retreat Center, make Tallaght the site of Christian worship for nearly 1,300 years.