Orlagh

Orlagh.

This house was built and the woods planted about 1790 by Lundy Foot. He was the eldest brother of Geoffrey Foot, then the head of the celebrated firm of Lundy Foot & Co., snuff merchants, of Westmoreland Street and Essex Street, in Dublin. Their snuff was used all over the kingdom, being as famous in its way as Guinness’s porter is now. Lundy Foot had been called to the bar, but, being very wealthy, did not practise. He was an active, fearless magistrate, and was the means, as before mentioned, of bringing the Kearneys to justice. He lost his life in consequence. He was fired at subsequently in the County Kilkenny, and, though actually riddled by slugs, he recovered.

Afterwards, on the 2nd of January, 1835, while superintending some planting at his place near Rosbercon, in Kilkenny, he was stoned, and almost hacked to pieces. [Mr. John P. Prendergast, in a letter to Mr. Handcock, dated March 13th, 1880, says: “The first conviction I ever saw for murder was for that of old Mr. Foote, murdered at Rosbercon, a suburb of New Ross, Co. Wexford. The culprit was a strong young man of 28. He fully expected to escape; but a girl of 12 or 13 was produced unexpectedly who had seen him running away from the scene, and convicted him. He was surprised - overpowered - and fell senseless in the dock. I remember there seeing Mr. Foote, Hon. Secretary of the Royal Dublin Society, prosecuting his father’s murderer.” There is a picture of Mr. Foot’s house in *The Dublin Penny Journal *for 1834-35, p. 381. Some particulars of the family will be found in Blacker’s *Sketches of Booterstown, *pp.73, 153, 355] He was buried at Rower Church, at Kilkenny; but, some two years after, his remains were removed to St. Matthew’s Church, Irishtown, where a tombstone records these facts.

[Note from Dublin Penny Journal, 1834-5, p.381.  The view is taken from that side of Mr. Foot’s house, which stands opposite the river at Rosbercon, near   Ross. There is a melancholy interested attached to the place from the circumstances connected with the death of its owner. He was in excellent health and spirits on the morning of the day in which he met his death, walking as usual through his grounds. He was met in a retired situation by the assassin who perpetrated the deed, and shot him dead upon the spot. The murderer had long entertain a deep rooted animosity against Mr. Foot, on account of his having had him ejected from a farm for non-payment of rent. He had sworn to be revenged. Although fondly thinking that no eye had visited the deed of blood, he was traced through various circumstances, tried, and condemned to die - a little girl being the principal evidence against him… . sooner or later the almighty vengeance will fall on the murderer, be he rich, or be he poor; and that however he may endeavour to conceal his crime, it will at length “find him out.” KF.]

Mr. Lundy Foot, while living at Footmount, had the new road made from Ballycullen up to his gate. This is three times as wide as necessary, and runs parallel to, and about 300** **yards distant from, the old road. He planted trees along this road and in other places; but he cut down these before leaving the place, not being granted a renewal of his lease at the former rent. At one time he sought to have this made the coach road to Wicklow; but, though direct, it was too hilly.

He got the beautiful bridge at Poulaphouca built where there was formerly only a dangerous ford. The name of this place was changed from Footmount to Orlagh in his time.

Carew O’Dwyer succeeded Mr. Foot as tenant of Orlagh. He held an office in the Four Courts, and was a great friend of Dan O’Connell. When his post was abolished, he was asked to state the average profits for the previous five years. He had sufficient interest to have this average spread over seven years. He thus included the time of the tithe war, when his income was a very large one. The last five were not worth more than £500 a year. He got thus a pension of £3,300, which he received until his death. He built the large banqueting-room at Orlagh, where on one occasion he sumptuously entertained Dan O’Connell and the Corporation of Dublin. Many Corporators slept in the ditches by the roadside that night, (or the coachmen got drunk as well as their masters, and upset their carriages, making it a night to be remembered.

Mr. O’Dwyer has long resided in England, and Orlagh was leased for some time to wealthy Scotch people named Brodie. Mr. Brodie died, and the place has come into the hands of a monastic order. Its members have added a story to the house, and have turned the banquetingr-room into a chapel.

Opposite Orlagh is Mount Venus, a prettily wooded round hill. Here was a comfortable house, and large farming establishment, at one time owned by George Grierson, as before mentioned. It was called Woodtown, and is now in the occupation of Mr. Hayes.

At the entrance of the road up to Dolly Mount is the farm of Old Court. Its history I have not been able to trace further than that the name is mentioned in various patents and grants for the last 300 years. Here, in old times, were a village and chapel; hardly a trace of these now remains.

Mr. J. Magrane has an extensive and well-managed farm here, and a very comfortable house, with large offices. The adjoining farms are those of Ballycullen and Ballycra, formerly Ballycruagh, mentioned in Sir Adam Loftus’s Patent of 1619. There is still a good house at Ballycullen, and on the grounds a Danish fort, already mentioned. Ballycra House is completely ruined, though it was formerly a good two-story dwelling. It once belonged to a certain Hal Smith, who served in the Yeomanry in 1798. He had a lease from the Conolly family of eighty acres of prime land here, at 8s. an acre. He was a dead shot, and rather a well-known man in his time. He lived to a great age.

The lands of Knocklyon, or Knocklyn, next adjoin The casltle of Knocklyon is probably about 300** **years built. It is a small, square, three-storied edifice, with round towers at the two opposite corners. The towers are part of the house, which has been greatly modernized by new windows, doorway, and roof Formerly there was an arched entrance, which led into the main room, at the end of which was an immense fireplace. The flew sleeping-rooms were overhead. The name Knocklyn the Hill of the Pool, is derived from the little isolated hill close to the castle on Mount Prospect, and the stream hereafter mentioned flows close to the front of the house. About 100 years ago it was owned by the Ledwiches; but for the past fifty years it has been held by the Magranes. [In the charter granted by Earl Richard (Strougbow), Walter de Rideleford was the largest new grantee in this district. In this grant Clohun is represented by Cnocklin and Cnockflyn, in later charters, and is apparently Knocklyon. Balmelise appears still on the Ordnance map as Ballymaice, north of Ballinascorney, which perhaps it originally included. Tachonicde and Chilmechetda form two of a group of lands associated with the still surviving Killininny and others adjoining frequently mentioned in connection with Walter, and lying north of the Hill now called Mont Pelier, near Old Court. The names subsequently settled down into the forms Tagony and Kilmakethe. A much-injured inquisition seems to identify the latter with Killakee. Cruagh appears to have been given to Richard de St. Michael, about 1207.-Journal *R.S.A.L, *1894 p. 163.]

Mount Prospect was originally a small farm-house on the side of the high road to New Bawn and Templeogue. About 1800, Mr. Hore and Mr. Birmingham, the proprietors of this place and of Delaford, then Springfield, made a new road dividing their lands, and shut up the old road. The house has been enlarged from time to time. Dr. M’Donnell, Provost of Trinity College, lived here for many years, and much improved the place, which is now very pretty, with plantations and ponds. It is held by the representatives of the late Captain Roberts, of the Ballast Office.

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