Harold's Cross, Crumlin, the Green Hills, Tallaght and Oldbawn

CHAPTER XIX

Harold’s Cross, Crumlin, the Green Hills, Tallaght and Oldbawn

The earliest information available concerning Harold’s Cross would go to show that it formed portion of the possessions of the powerful sept of the Harolds, whose house or castle stood at Harold’s Grange, near the foot of Kilmashogue Mountain, and that from ancient times a common or green existed here on which a gallows was maintained by the Archbishop of Dublin for the execution of criminals.

After the invasion, as soon as the country lying immediately outside the city walls had become sufficiently settled to live in, this neighbourhood began to be colonised by some of the poorer classes from the city, whose descendants, for hundreds of years afterwards, lived in the manner of the original settlement - viz., with their cabins all round the common, on which they reared their children, their cattle, their goats, and their poultry.

About the middle of the 18th, and well into the 19th century, Harold’s Cross began to improve considerably in consequence of its reputation as a rural sanatorium In the “Diary of a Dublin lady in the reign of George I.,” published in the *Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries *for 1898, it is stated that she took lodgings there in 1754, paying 15s. a week, for which she had “two middle rooms, the street closet, use of the parlour and kitchen, with a bed for my man servant, the dairy, and leave to walk when we please in the garden.” Many of the townsfolk sent delicate children there to be nursed, and the parents going out on Sundays to visit them, and perhaps dining in rustic fashion there, initiated a close intimacy between the city and the rural village of Harold’s Cross as it then was, with its invigorating breezes blowing straight down from the mountains. In due time some of the citizens purchased the interest of villagers, erecting comfortable houses on the sites of the old mud cabins, and thus commences the conversion of Harold’s Cross into a suburb - a process that might have continued to the present day had it not been for the establishment of Mount Jerome Cemetery, which acted like a blight on the neighbourhood, and arrested all farther progress.

As might be expected with a locality like Harold’s Cross, which has become all but incorporated with the city, very little of its ancient individuality, either in customs or traditions, has survived to the present day. A Maypole formerly stood on the Green, and the May sports were annually held there amid much enthusiasm, a ceremonial which may possibly be remembered by some of the older inhabitants. The original pole stood beside the road, opposite the entrance to Mount Jerome Cemetery, and remained there until 1820, when it had to be taken down in consequence of its decayed and dangerous condition. It was replaced by a tall poplar pole of unfinished appearance, which, however, served its purpose for several years afterwards. In 1836, the publicans of the locality, desirous, from interested motives, of reviving the ancient glories of the May sports, subscribed the cost of a new Maypole, which was gaily decorated with ribbons and streamers in the orthodox fashion, but the sports were carried on only in a half-hearted fashion, and in a few years ceased altogether, in spite of all efforts to revive them.

Harold’s Cross Green remained, until 1894, in the wild state of nature in which it had existed for hundreds of years, affording precarious livelihood to a number of horses, donkeys, goats, and other animals, which were rudely dispossessed of their ancient patrimony when the Green was taken over by the Rathmines Commissioners and converted into a public park.

In the earlier part of the last century there was a Yeomanry corps called “The Uppercross Fusiliers,” many of whom were workingmen from this neighbourhood; but the uniforms and equipments of these warriors were of a very crude description and made the wearers seem fitter subjects for the ridicule than the admiration of the inhabitants.

Harold’s Cross derives some interesting associations from having been, for a time at least, the residence of the two leaders of the insurrectionary movements of 1798 and 1803

• namely, Lord Edward Fitzgerald and Robert Emmet. Lord Edward is stated to have remained for a month in the house of a Mrs. Jameson, at Parnell Place, on the Canal, although some hold that k was an old house near Lennox Street in which he made his brief sojourn in this neighbourhood. In the case of Robert Emmet it is tolerably certain that he resided in the house of a Mrs. Palmer at Harold’s Cross in March, 1803, under the name of Hewitt. The house, which is mantled with ivy, and can be seen from the passing trams, stands near the western end of Mount Drummond Avenue, a little further out of town than the Canal bridge.

On the western side of the Green is a tall, conspicuous house, rejoicing in the unsavoury soubriquet of “The Buggy Barracks,” which was occupied by the military for some years in the early part of the last century.

Leaving Harold’s Cross by the Kimmage Road, at the south-western extremity of the Green, we almost immediately emerge into the open country, though, indeed, new houses are so rapidly springing up in this neighbourhood that it cannot hope to retain much longer its rural character. We take the second turn to the right on this road, and enter a narrow winding country lane called “The Captain’s Lane,” from which are obtained glimpses of the mountains on the left and of the western portions of the city on the right. At the end of this lane we turn to the right into Crumlin, still a country village, notwithstanding its proximity to the city, and formerly noted for its horse races, which ceased on the enclosure of the extensive commons by Act of Parliament early in the last century. In 1594 Walter Reagh Fitzgerald, in command of the Wicklow insurgents, raided and burnt the whole village, plundered the church, and carried away the lead off the roof to make bullets. The glare of the conflagration attracted notice in Dublin, from which troopers were despatched with all possible haste, but they arrived too late either to save the village or capture the despoilers. An ecclesiastical report, dated 1615, on the condition of the parish, states that the parishioners were so poor, in consequence of the destruction of their in the raid alluded to, that they were unable yet to repair the church.

Crumlin was one of the four ancient manors in the County Dublin which were the property of the Crown, and in *Hollinshed’s Chronicle *(1577), we read the following quaint notice of it as such: *- *“The Manor of Crumlin payeth a greater chief rent to the prince than any of the other three, which proceedeth of this: the Seneschal, being offended with the tenants for their misdemeanour, took them up very sharply in the court, and with rough and minatory speeches, began to menace them. The lobbish and desperate clobberiousness, taking the matter in dudgeon, made no more words, but knocked their seneschal on the costard, and left him there, sprawling on the ground for dead. For which detestable murder their rent was enhanced, and they pay at this day ninepence per acre, which is double to any of the other three Manors.”

It appears, according to a document of 1496, that a cross was then standing in the village, but no tradition of its existence or site has reached the present day. It may, however, be mentioned in this connection that, from time immemorial, it has been the custom in the neighbourhood for funeral processions to walk bareheaded round the little triangular plot of grass just where the road from the village meets the Dolphin’s Barn and Drimnagh road. No reason is assigned for this practice, and it may possibly be the case that this spot is the site, if not the place of concealment, of the village cross, buried, perhaps, during troublous times, as in the case of the old cross at Finglas, to save it from injury and desecration.

It was from his camp at Crumlin that King William issued his proclamation stopping the currency of the brass money coined by King James, except at a reduced valuation.

Passing out of the village and turning to the left at the far end, we almost at once come in view of the castle of Drimnagh, which is in so much better preservation than most of its contemporaries that it can hardly be described as a ruin. Traces of its once broad and deep fosse, and of its battlemented roof, are still readily distinguishable, while its ancient doorways and balustrades, its massive walls and staircases, proclaim its original purpose, notwithstanding its modern conversion to the uses of a dwellinghouse. Standing in a picturesque position at the head of the winding Lansdowne Vailey, through which the Camac river threads its devious course, the castle commands an unbroken view of the mountains and of the fertile country extending to their bases.

The Lansdowne Valley is the original Cruimghlinn (Crumlin), meaning a crooked glen, from which the village of Crumlin derives its name.

In 1215 Drimnagh with its lands came into possession of the great Anglo-Norman family of Barnewall by a grant from King John, and was held by them for about 200 years, when it was leased to Sir Adam Loftus, nephew of Archbishop Loftus, who built Rathfarnham Castle. It is recorded that Loftus cut down some of the woods around Drimnagh, contrary to the covenant in the lease, and that the King expressed his disapprobation thereat upon complaint being made to him by the owner, Peter Barnewall.

In 1649, immediately before the Battle of Rathmines, the Marquess of Ormonde was about to occupy and fortify this castle in pursuance of his operations against the Parliamentarians who held the city, but was ultimately dissuaded from the project by his principal officers. Leaving Drimnagh and turning back a few paces along the road towards town, we turn to the right along a road, which, in conjunction with that passing through Dolphin’s Barn, formed the ancient highway to Tallaght for hundreds of years before the construction, in the early part of last century, of the more direct route, from the southern side, through Terenure and Templeogue.

A cross-roads is presently passed, after which a long ascent commences, and the road at length attains a height of over 200 feet, affording a comprehensive view of the flat country to the north and west. Up to about twenty-five years ago there was, around this point, a range of grassy sand hills called “The Green Hills,” over which the road was carried; the highest of these, standing immediately to the left, rose to a height of 300 feet, and formed a most picturesque object in this neighbourhood, clothed to the top with a short green sward as smooth and as close as a carpet. Gabriel Beranger (1780) thought that the Green Hills were artificial tumuli like those at Dowth and Newgrange. These hills have gradually been excavated and carted away for sand, until the only portion of them which survives at the present day is that over which the road passes, but their memory is perpetuated in the name of the adjoining village of Green Hills.

Instead of proceeding the whole way to Tallaght by the foregoing route it would be well to go by Tymon Lane, a pretty secluded by-road which diverges to the left from the main road at the entrance to the village of Green Hills, and entails an addition of only about a mile to the journey. This is a very ancient road, running along the ridge of the sandhills so as to avoid the marshes which formerly surrounded Tymon Castle. From the highest point, overlooking the village, the prospect is a striking one - the meadows and bright green in the immediate vicinity, the blue waters of the Bay in the distance, flecked here and there with a sail or the blur of smoke of a passing steamer, Howth and the Bailey, Killiney, and the whole range of mountains trending away to the westward.

From this point the road descends to the course of a little stream close to which is a slight elevation called “The Fairy Hill,” and beside it “The Fairy Well,” surrounded by luxuriant vegetation and a wealth of wild flowers. A few paces further along this sequestered by-way will be seen the picturesque ivied ruin of Tymon or Timothan Castle, situated on a grassy knoll in a commanding position above the adjoining road. It is a rather small edifice, but, standing as it does on an eminence rising from the plain, is a conspicuous object for some distance around. It had apparently only two apartments, one above the other and both arched, communicating by winding staircase. It must be remembered, however, that class of castle was merely intended as the fortress of -household, for defence in case of attack, and that its limited accommodation was usually supplemented by a number of wooden structures beside it for the use of the family and servants.

Over the entrance to the castle, on its western side, is a small machicolation or projecting gallery for Pouring melted lead, boiling water, or other suitable matters on the attacking party. No trace of bawn, fosse, or outworks can be distinguished, and if such ever existed they were probably very small, as the surrounding land was in ancient times an impassable marsh, making approach to the castle, except by the road, so difficult a matter as to render outworks almost unnecessary. The little stream flowing in a winding course through the adjoining fields now drains the locality and forms a tributary to the Poddle.

There is little of interest to chronicle in regard to Tymon. In 1247 it was constituted a prebend of St. Patrick’s, and in an Inquisition of 1547 it is referred to as being in a ruinous condition, so that it is remarkable that it has lasted so long even as a ruin.

In 1798 a party of soldiers attacked Ballymanagh House, near Oldbawn, occupied by insurgents, and killed one of them. The defending party then left the house and crossed the fields in the direction of Tymon Castle, leaving the body of their comrade on the way. The soldiers followed, and finding the body, hung it from one of the windows of the castle.

Emerging on the steam tram road at Balrothery, there is nothing worthy of notice until we reach the ancient village of Tallaght, about a mile further. The earliest notices of Tallaght date from a period when historical narrative was largely blended with fable, and so remote that it is impossible to place any reliance upon their authenticity. It seems, however, that at some early date in the world’s history, the whole population of the adjacent country, consisting of a colony from Greece, were wiped out by pestilence, and that they were buried wholesale in this neighbourhood. These pestilenrial outbreaks, which are so frequently recorded in the early histories of most countries, were doubtless due to the insanitary conditions under which people lived in those rude times.

Some confirmation of these traditions about Tallaght is to be found in the great number of burial mounds, stone circles, cairns, and other ancient places of sepulture which, from time to time, have been discovered on the Tallaght and Saggart hills.

Tallaght is interesting as having been for a time the country residence of the Protestant Archbishops of Dublin. In 1729 Archbishop Hoadley took down the extensive ruins of the ancient Castle of Tallaght which stood on the site of an earlier monastic establishment, and with the materials built a large episcopal mansion, thus described by Austin Cooper, the antiquary, in 1779: -

“For a thing of the kind it is the poorest ever I saw. It is a large piece of patchwork, so devoid of either order or regularity that it is past describing.” Brewer in his *Beauties of Ireland *(1826), gives the following of it as it existed shortly before its demolition:-“The present structure is a spacious, but long and narrow, building, composed of the grey stone of the country, and is destitute of pretensions to architectural beauty. The interior contains many apartments of ample proportions, but none that are highly embellished. The hall into which the visitor is conducted by a lofty flight of double stone steps in the centre of the building measures 21 feet square, and is lighted by two tiers of windows … The date is 1729, and above is the crest, a hawk perched upon a round ball. Underneath the coat of arms is the following inscription - ‘Johannes Hoadley, hanc domum reficit.’ … The library is a small apartment, having a large window, from which, as from all the windows of the reception rooms, fine views are obtained of Mountpelier Hill and the surrounding country.”

Having regard to the above descriptions by such writers as those mentioned, it is impossible not to conclude that the well-known engraving in possession of the Dominican Fathers at Tallaght, and reproduced on opposite page, representing this structure as a lordly pile of imposing proportions, was largely due to the imagination of the artist who depicted it.

The palace having fallen into ruinous condition early in the last century, and there being no funds wherewith to repair it, an Act of Parliament was passed in 1821 divesting the See of the responsibility for its maintenance. It was thereupon sold to a Major Palmer, who took it down and built himself a large house out of the materials. In 1842 the site was leased to the Dominicans, who established a large monastery here, and in more recent times erected the handsome Church as a memorial to Father Burke, the eloquent and distinguished member of that Order.

Tallaght village or town as an outpost of the Pale, was, in early times, enclosed by a wall, towards the construction of which the inhabitants in 1310 received a grant from the crown, while fourteen years later the Archbishop of Dublin received a similar grant in consideration of building a castle for the defence of the place.

Situated as Tallaght was, on the borders of a wild mountain tract, with a small population, these defences availed little against the fierce Irish septs, who for hundreds of years preyed ruthlessly upon the colonists, despoiling them of their cattle, plundering their dwellings, and laying waste the adjoining country.

In 1331, O’Toole of Imaal with a numerous force swooped down from the fastnesses of his native hills upon Tallaght, looting the castle and taking away 300 sheep, besides killing a number of the Archbishop’s servants, and defeating in a pitched battle Sir Philip Brett and a body of Dublin citizens who had marched out against him. After this incident, efforts were made to put the town into a better state of defence, and the inhabitants ceaselessly kept watch and ward, so as to be in readiness for any future attack, but ultimately, recognising the insecurity of their position and the inadequacy of their defences, they came to an agreement with the O’Tooles, whereby the latter undertook not to molest the Marches, from Tallaght to Windgate, at Bray, and to defend them if necessary from any of the mountain septs.

This compact with the O’Tooles does not seem to have been a success, as we read that in 1378 Mathew de Bermingham was sent to Tallaght with 120 hobillers (cavalry) to resist the attacks of the O’Byrnes, and it is recorded that in the same year John de Wade received £20 compensation for the loss of two horses and other property burnt here by the O’Nolans.

In 1538, Archbishop Browne, who resided here for some years, made bitter complaint to the Government, of the treatment he received from Lord Leonard Gray, the Lord Deputy, and of the oppression of his tenantry by the O’Tooles. In 1540 that powerful sept devastated Tallaght and the adjoining royal manors of Crumlin, Saggart, and Newcastle, laying waste the whole countryside.

This raid was provoked by a gross breach of faith on the part of the Lord Deputy, who, having appointed a meeting with Turlough O’Toole, on the borders of the County Dublin, proceeded thither with an armed force, and after a pretence of parleying with the Irish chieftain made an attempt to take him prisoner. This piece of treachery, however, failed, owing to the fleetness of O’Toole’s horse, which outdistanced his pursuers after a chase lasting till dark.

This discreditable act was one of a number of charges subsequently brought against Lord Deputy Gray in connection with his government of Ireland. (State Papers, Hen. VIII.)

In 1662 the Churchwardens of Tallaght were, on petition to the House of Lords, awarded £100, to be levied off the estate of a Captain Alland, who wantonly wrecked the church when quartered here with his troop.

In 1691, according to Dean Story’s *Impartial History, *“a party of rapparees, coming near Tallaght, took away several horses and four men belonging to Colonel Donep’s regiment of Danish horse. This being easily believed could not be done without the knowledge of the inhabitants of the adjacent villages, the Colonel ordered several of them to be taken up, and threatened to hang them all, unless the horses and men were brought back by such a day, which was accordingly done, and some of the men that stole them delivered up.”

The ancient cross of Tallaght formerly stood at the end of the village in the middle of the road leading to Oldbawn, and on account of the traditions attaching to it was greatly venerated by the people; but in 1778 Archbishop Fowler removed it for the purpose of using it as building materials in the construction of a bathroom attached to the palace. It was only when the building was being dismantled about 182626 that this act of vandalism was brought home to the right person, through the discovery of the shaft and pedestal among the ruins of the bathroom.

The extensive gardens of the old palace still remain, and are kept in good order as an appanage of the monastery. They contain an immense walnut tree hundreds of years old, called St. Maelruan’s tree after the Patron Saint of Tallaght.

The Protestant Church, at the far end of the village, is built on the site, and partly of the materials of a much more ancient edifice, which seems to have been originally enclosed by a kind of circumvallation, traces of which still remain. The old ivy-clad belfry tower beside the modern structure is portion of the old church which was taken down in 1829. In the interior of the church are a monument and memorial tablet to Sir Timothy Allen, who was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1762, and who lived near Oldbawn in a house which has since been called Allenton.

St. Maelruan’s patron, or “pattern,” was every year celebrated here from a remote period on the 7th July, but in later years the original Saint’s name was lost sight of altogether, and replaced by the corrupted form, “Moll Rooney,” under which title the “pattern” continued to be annually held, until it came to be such a nuisance, owing to drunkenness and debauchery, that it was suppressed in 1874. The proceedings consisted in making a kind of effigy supposed to represent the Saint, and carrying it about from house to house in procession, headed by a fiddler or piper. The occupants of each house then came out as they were visited, and danced to the music, after which a collection was made to be spent on drink. Few went to bed that night; many slept in ditches on the way home, and drinking, dancing, and fighting went on intermittently till morning. Another item in the performance in recent times was to visit the grave of an old village piper named Burley O’Toole, who had expressed a dying wish to that effect, and to dance and fight around his grave.

The degeneration of this patron is unfortunately only typical of others throughout the country, which explains why so many of them have been discontinued through the influence of the clergy and others.

At the far end of the village where the road turns to the right, it crosses a small stream that supplied the castle and palace with water This place is called Talbot’s Leap from a tradition that when Cromwell was on one of his marauding expeditions in this neighbourhood he paid a visit to Talbot’s castle at Belgard while the owner was out, and helped himself as he pleased. When Talbot returned he was naturally enraged, and collecting a few retainers gave chase to Cromwell and his soldiers, overtaking them at Tallaght. Finding, however, that the Ironsides were more than a match for his company, he hastily retired, and finding the drawbridge, which then stood here, raised, he, by a supreme effort, jumped his horse across the fosse, and thus saved his life.

In the 18th century there appears to have been a considerable number of parish officers in Tallaght, and one cannot help wondering where all their salaries came from, even considering that rates were struck on the acreage of districts so distant as Whitechurch and Cruagh to provide the necessary revenue. There was a special vestry whose function it was to issue licences to paupers to beg, and a parish officer, known as “Bang-beggar,” was appointed to supervise the practice of this profession in the town, and to repress sternly any poaching by unlicensed members of the craft.

Leaving Tallaght by the road to the left at the end of the village, we cross Watergate bridge and presently reach a rough stony lane on the right, leading up to Oldbawn, an interesting old house, now in very ruinous condition, built about 1630, by Archdeacon Bulkeley, to whom the lands had been ceded some years previously by grant of Charles .1. In the dining room was, until recently, a very remarkable stucco chimneypiece, now in the National Museum, Dublin, bearing the date 1635, representing the building of Jerusalem, as told in the 3rd and 4th chapters of Nehemiah. The accompanying illustration is from a photograph which was taken about 20 years ago, when the place was in a much better state of preservation than at present. Many of the figures have since been somewhat defaced, and the whole overmantel, which reached to the ceiling, was becoming so much blackened by smoke that it would, in a short time, have been worthless as a relic, if it had not been removed to a place of safety. Considering that the figures are in such high relief, it is wonderful that this interesting piece of work has lasted so long.

This house was originally surrounded by orchards and plantations, as well as a deer park, the enclosing wall of which is still to be seen beside the road along the Dodder. In the grounds are a number of evergreens and hollies of immense size; one of these, a large cypress, is called Informer’s Tree,” from the fact that in 1798 a rebel, who was about to be hanged on it, was pardoned for giving information. The stumps of three other trees, where his companions were hanged, are still pointed out by the people.

According to popular traditions of this neighbourhood, the ghost of Archdeacon Bulkeley at times revisits his patrimony in a cumbrous, old-fashioned coach, drawn by six headless horses. But woe to the luckless wayfarer who looks on this fearsome equipage, for within a year and a day he passes to that shadowy land from whose bourn no traveller returns.

At the time that Oldbawn was in its prime, a great number of persons were employed in connection with it, and a village of the name, now only represented by a few cottages, stood here adjoining the Dodder.

A paper mill was for many years worked in this place, but was eventually burnt, and the remains of the sheds and machinery may still be seen beside the old house. Nearly all the original plantations have been cut down for firewood - the fate, unfortunately, of many plantations and orchards attached to old Irish mansions. An eccentric resident in the 18th century imported a herd of reindeer from Lapland, and kept them in the deer park; but, almost needless to say, they died out rapidly, as the climate was much too warm for them.

About a quarter of a mile from Oldbawn bridge, on the bank of the Dodder, will be seen a little old house, nearly concealed by trees. The adjoining fields were the scene of a remarkable concourse in 1816, when thousands of the country people assembled to witness the execution of three men named Kearney - a father and his two sons - for the murder of one John Kinlan, steward to Ponsonby Shaw of Friarstown, Bohernernabreena. The conviction was not, strictly speaking, for murder, but for conspiracy to murder under an Act then newly passed. Kinlan had somehow incurred the enmity of Kearneys, who, on the Sunday prior to the victim’s disappearance, were heard to say that they would have his life. A hatchet was found in the vicinity of the Kearneys’ house with blood on it, and hair that resembled Kinlan’s, but the body was never found, and it was said at the time that it was burnt to ashes. It is more probable, however, that it was buried in one of the bogs in the neighbourhood.

On the night of the murder, Kinlan was in the house of one of Shaw’s gamekeepers, who remonstrated strongly with him as to the folly of going home alone and his refusal to accept an armed escort of his friends. He, however, ridiculed the suggestion of danger, and set out alone. He had not gone more than five minutes when the stillness of the night was disturbed by a shot, whereupon the occupants of the house hastily seized their arms and rushed out along the road in the direction from which the sound proceeded. Not a human being was to be seen, however, but, on a subsequent examination of the road by the light of a lantern, one spot appeared much disturbed as if a struggle had taken place there, and part of a suspender was found which was afterwards identified as belonging to Kinlan.

Lundy Foot, of the well known tobacco firm, an energetic magistrate in this neighbourhood, residing at Orlagh, took a prominent part in the investigation and prosecution of this case, and his own murder, which took place at Rosbercon, Co. Kilkenny, nineteen years afterwards, was by many attributed to motives of revenge on the part of friends or relatives of the condemned men *(See *Index).

The three Kearneys were, after conviction, brought out from town, escorted by a troop of dragoons, to the field in which the gallows had been erected, and their remains were conveyed back the same day to Kilmainham Gaol where they were buried.

It is stated that some horrible scenes took place at the execution, as the hangman was rather unskilful at his task, and that the crowd were with difficulty restrained from attacking him.

The return journey may be made by crossing Oldbawn Bridge, and either taking the road to Firhouse or continuing straight by Oldcourt Lane until the Military road is reached at a point three and a half miles distant from Rathfarnham.

In the preparation of this chapter, information has been obtained from Handcock’s *History and Antiquities of Tallaght, *Dalton’s *History of the County Dublin, *and Rambles near Dublin.

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