Mud Island, Fairview, Clontarf and its island, Dollymount and the North Bull.

CHAPTER XXIV

Westward of the North Strand, between Nottingham Street and Newcomen Bridge, and extending as far as Ballybough Road, was a locality of evil repute in former times, known as Mud Island, inhabited by a gang of smugglers, highwaymen, and desperadoes of every description, and ruled by a hereditary robber chief rejoicing in the title of “King of Mud Island.” For about 200 years down to the middle of last century, this den of robbers was a plague spot in the district, enjoying an extraordinary immunity from molestation in consequence of what had at length come to be regarded as a sort of prescriptive right and sanctuary attaching to the locality, until at last no officer of the law durst show his nose within its sacred precincts unless backed up by an overwhelming force of military or police.

The settlement of Mud Island is said to have originated at the time of the Plantation of Ulster, when three brothers, driven out of their ancestral patrimony, came southwards and settled in the neighbourhood of Dublin, one of them taking up his abode by the sea here on what was then a waste tract of land, to which his descendants by virtue of long occupation, in time acquired a squatter’s title. Then and for long afterwards, open country intervened between this place and the city, the North Strand was under water, and a rough bridle track extended along the shore some distance eastward of Ballybough Road, which was, until the building of Annesley Bridge in the highway to Malahide, Howth, and Clontarf. In the course of time as the population of the colony increased, a considerable village of mud cabins grew up, and some of the inhabitants even departed so far from professional etiquette as to engage occasionally in honest occupations, such as carting sand, &c., when there was insufficient business in their own 5pecial line to go round.

At the time of its colonisation, Mud Island was no doubt, as its name indicates, an island off the slob lands along the estuary of the Liffey, and probably accessible on foot at low water from the shore.

A hundred years ago, it was so usual an occurrence to find a dead body in one of the lanes or alleys of “The Island,” that it occasioned little or no comment, and if any of the “islanders” had the bad taste to mention the matter, he would be told significantly - “‘Tis a wise man that never saw a dead one.” The murdered persons were usually excisemen, bailiffs, or other limbs of the law, but be the victim who he might, the murderers were rarely brought to justice.

In the early part of last century this was a favourite landing place for smuggled goods, the contraband vessels usually lying out in Clontarf Pool or the Poolbeg; then, when night had fallen and the way was signalled clear, boats were run ashore under Annesley Bridge to what was called “The Little Sea,” between the Tolka and Fairview Strand, for at that time the road from Annesley Bridge to Fairview Corner was an elevated causeway, with the sea on both sides, and Fairview Strand really deserved its name. Encounters between the smugglers and the preventive men were frequent, not unusually attended with loss of life and even so recently as 1850, smuggling was carried on in a desultory way in this neighbourhood, although the presence of the police barrack at Fairview was a serious obstacle to the operations.

A reference to the newspapers of the 18th century will furnish ample evidence of the extraordinary lawlessness of this neighbourhood - a condition of affairs which seems to have been acquiesced in if not actually connived at by the authorities, notwithstanding the fact that murders, robberies and outrage5 of every description were of constant occurrence.

Crossing the Tolka at Annesley Bridge, we pass on our left the unattractive locality known as Ballybough, once an isolated village, situated on the old coast line, and washed by the Sea waves when they rolled in pure and undefiled upon the Open Fairview Strand. The bridge here is of rather ancient design, consisting of five plain low arches, evidently constructed more with a view to strength than elegance, and adjoining, down to a few years ago, might be seen some portions of the old sea wall originally built to protect the village of Ballybough from the inroads of the sea. Not far from the bridge is a Jewish cemetery, enclosed by a high wall, and containing a number of headstones bearing Hebraic inscriptions.

Long before the establishment of the Vitriol Works here, their site was occupied by a famous flint glass factory, where plate glass for coaches was made and polished, and so high a degree of artistic excellence attained by the artificers in the manufacture of fancy articles, that considerable demand existed for their goods, even on the Continent. This factory was established a few years after the Treaty of Limerick by Captain Philip Roche, an Irishman of good family and considerable property, who, in consequence of being included in the Articles to the Treaty, was enabled to retain his estates. Participating for a time in the fortunes of the Irish Brigade abroad, he at length returned to his native land, and finding himself debarred by his religion from obtaining Government employment, he turned his attention to commercial pursuits with a success beyond his expectations.

At the close of the 18th century there was an extensive iron foundry at Ballybough in which were manufactured spades, shovels, and other agricultural implements, as well as a variety of kitchen utensils, equal in quality to the best articles of the kind imported.

In early times the boundary of the City of Dublin in this direction was defined as ”running through the middle of the road of the village of Ballybough, unto an ancient path of an old mill,” and in the accounts of the course taken by the Corporation at the annual ceremony of riding the franchises this portion of the route is thus alluded to:- “Leaving the stone well on the left hand, they proceeded southward until they came into the highway going into Ballybough; and from the gate of Ballybough they came to the water of Tolka, by the bridge of Ballybough, there passing over the water, keeping by the water side southward as far as they might ride, until they came unto St. Mary’s Abbey,” &c., &c.

Down to a hundred years ago Ballybough was a noted burial place for suicides, the bodies being interred in the time-honoured fashion, transfixed with stakes, in a waste plot of ground adjoining the cross roads at the bridge. Notwithstanding the widespread belief that this barbarous process of transfixing effectually prevented these unhappy beings from wandering abroad at unseemly hours and alarming the public, not a few of the inhabitants in those days would have gone a considerable round rather than pass this unhallowed spot after nightfall.

Pursuing our route across Ballybough Bridge and turning to the right, we enter upon the thoroughfare known as Fairview Strand - a name now strangely out of keeping with the place, though accurate enough in former times when the sea washed up to the road here, and the residents enjoyed a “fair view” of the bay and river, now shut off by the railway embankment.

We next pass on our left the entrance gate of Marino, with centre and wings of cut granite, surmounted by sculptured representations of the arms of the Charlemont family, and the motto “Deo duce, ferro comitante” (“With God as my guide, my sword by my side”). The house was built towards the close of the 18th century for the celebrated Lord Charlemont, who amassed here an almost unique collection of works of ancient and modern art. In the grounds is a highly embellished temple of the Doric order, originally designed and furnished as a study by its patriotic owner, who made the whole place as attractive as possible, so that he might have every inducement to live in the country of his birth.

Adjoining the grounds of Marino is the terrace known as Marino Crescent, built in 1792, where the Malahide and Howth roads diverge, and, according to current tradition in the neighbourhood, erected in this position for the purpose of intercepting the view from Marino, the builder having entertained some private grudge against Lord Charlemont. A short distance along the Howth Road, just beside Clontarf station, is a spot noted in former years for its romantic wildness, called “The Black Quarries,” now enclosed within the grounds of Mount Temple.

A few paces farther along the shore road, passing under the railway, we come into view of the Bay, with the Pigeonhouse and the two river lighthouses in front, to the right of these the hills of Dalkey and Killiney, the wooded country rising behind Blackrock and Kingstown, and in the background the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains in profile, their bases obscured by the smoke and haze of the city.

In 1749 a Charter School was opened at Clontarf to accommodate a hundred scholars, but, having been discontinued early in the last century, it was converted into a bathing establishment, which is still remembered by many of the inhabitants. The building may still be seen near the railway bridge over the tram road.

All this district is of great historic interest as the scene of the great battle in 1014, at which the Danes were completely vanquished by the Irish under King Brian Boru; but this battle has been so exhaustively dealt with elsewhere as to render unnecessary any description of it here. It may, however, be mentioned that, in some of the old sagas the battle is styled “The Battle of the Fishing Weir of Clontarf,” and that there is little doubt that this weir occupied the same site as the existing one near the Dublin Whiskey Distillery at Richmond Road. Around this place, consequently, the thickest of the battle must have raged, rather than in the modern district of Clontarf.

Clontarf Island, now entirely submerged at high water, stood about 150 yards off the most easterly point of the East Wall or Wharf Road, adjoining Messrs. Gouldings’ Manure Works. In former times when the coastline ran by what are now the North Strand, Amiens Street and Beresford Place, the Island stood a considerable distance out at sea, and must have then been a conspicuous object in the Bay, but the reclamation of the lands along the northern bank of the Liffey, together with the gradual silting up of the estuary, enabled it in its later years to be easily reached from the shore. Its name, however, and the fact that it formed portion of the lands of Clontarf, indicates that it must at one time have been nearer to Clontarf than to any other point on the shore of Dublin Bay.

In 1538 the Prior of Kilmainham granted a lease of the lands of Clontarf with this island, to Mathew King, in whose family the property remained until the Commonwealth, when it was confiscated and granted to John Blackwell, a friend of the Protector, from whom it passed into possession of the Vernon family.

Rocque’s Map (1753), shows the island to be of considerable area, and containing a residence called “The Island House.”

In later times a man named Christopher Cromwell built a wooden house on the island, using it as a sort of summer residence, but in 1844 the structure was swept away during one of the greatest storms on record, when Cromwell and his son were drowned. It appears that on the night of the occurrence, a constable watching the storm from a safe point of vantage near the East Wall, saw the light in Cromwell’s house go out at 10 o’clock - nothing more of course could then be ascertained, but next day the bodies of Cromwell and his son were found on the Island. The storm - a south-easterly one - carried off their boats to Annesley Bridge, while the frail wooden structure in which they were sheltering, was swept away and dashed to pieces against the Railway embankment *(North Dublin City and Environs, *by Rev. Dillon Cosgrav, O.C.C.)

Clontarf Island was used as a refuge and place of isolation during an epidemic of plague in 1650, and about a hundred years ago enjoyed a brief popularity as a place of recreation for the citizens. Its disappearance is partly due to the continual carting away of its sands. At low tide it can still be distinguished by its stony surface and slightly higher elevation than its surroundings, as well as by the remains of some wooden structures which stood on its western extremity.

Continuing our journey along the shore road, we presently reach the locality known as “The Sheds,” adjoining which stood the old village of Clontarf, now entirely merged in this populous district. The name originated with some sheds or stages erected over a hundred years ago for the convenience of such of the inhabitants as were engaged in the curing and drying of fish, there being at that time a considerable colony of fishermen in the locality. About the same time a Mr. Weekes, a local resident, built a water reservoir on the beach for the use of the public.

In 1641 Luke Netterville and some of his adherents having seized and plundered a vessel which lay at Clontarf, the Earl of Ormonde was instructed to take retaliatory measures against them. He accordingly despatched Sir Charles Coote with some troops to the neighbourhood, where they burnt a considerable portion of the village, destroyed all the boats they could find, and burnt the house of Mr. George King, proprietor of the village and manor. The latter act was all the more remarkable inasmuch as Mr. King had been invited into Dublin but the day before by the Government, from whom he had received an assurance that he might safely go there “without danger of any trouble or stay whatsoever.” It was, however, alleged, that most of the plundered vessel’s cargo was found in his house, and, true or untrue, this charge turned out a serious one for him, as he was immediately afterwards attainted, and his estates confiscated.

As we round the curve beyond “The Sheds,” we come into view of the approach to the Bull Wall, where a wooden foot-bridge crosses the creek known as “Crab Lake Water.” Before reaching the Bull Wall we pass, inside a wall on the left, an almost indistinguishable elevation known as “Conquer Hill,” conjectured, though with little reason, to be identified in some way with the Battle of Clontarf.

The bridge leading to the Bull Wall was originally Wide enough for vehicles, but was many years ago reduced to its present dimensions, since when all vehicles have had to ford the creek in order to reach the Bull.

The Bull Wall extends a distance of 3,200 yards into the Bay, forming a wide roadway without parapets, but not so strongly constructed as the great South Wall, it being much less exposed to the action of the wind and waves. The portion near the end is submerged at high water, and is terminated by a wrought iron lighthouse of a bright red colour, rising from a masonry base. The construction of this breakwater was carried out between the years 1820 and 1823.

The North Bull, a large sandbank island, extends over a considerable area in a north-easterly direction, and in fine weather is well worthy of exploration by the pedestrian; it is covered in parts by a short green sward fringed by a range of sand dunes, and along its eastern shore extends a beautiful strand little known except to local residents.

In the days of duelling, the North Bull was a favourite place for these encounters.

From Dollymount and the Bull, the most conspicuous object in the view is the Hill of Howth, which, with its bright green fields, pretty villas, and patches of furze and heather, forms a pleasing and attractive picture.

Immediately beyond the approach to the Bull Wall is Dollymount, comprising the locality formerly known as Blackbush or Heronstown, which name survived until recently in the designation of Heronstown Road or Blackbush Lane, now known as Mount Prospect Avenue, turning inland immediately beyond Dollymount. The name of Dollymount would seem to have originated with a house bearing that title which stood on or adjoining the site of Sea Park in Mount Prospect Avenue, and which is shown in Duncan’s *Map *of 1820. “Dollymount House” appears in the *Dublin Directory *up to 1836, after which it disappears, doubtless having been re-named, and in 1838 the name appears for the first time as that of a district, under the heading of “Green Lanes, Dollymount.” It is stated that the designation was adopted in the first instance by a member of the Vernon family as a compliment to his wife, by name Dorothy, or Dolly Vernon.

A few hundred yards further a rivulet known as the Naniken river, flows out on the shore at Naniken Bridge, but this, and other local names, are gradually becoming forgotten with the extension of the city in this direction.

From Mount Prospect Avenue an ancient roadway and field-path leads to Raheny, passing, by a tunnel, under Lord Ardilaun’s grounds, and crossing the Naniken river by a ford; this route is, however, passable only in dry weather.

Continuing along the seashore we presently meet a road leading to Raheny, and just at this point is a quaint old thatched residence called Watermill Cottage, noted, by Dalton, for its picturesque appearance, when he described it in his *History of the County Dublin, *over seventy years ago. It was ten occupied by a Mr. Papworth, and bore in its outer wall a tablet, of which the accompanying sketch is a representation, containing the arms of St. Lawrence impaled with those of Plunket, the date, 1572, and the letters, C. E. The arms in question are those of Christopher, 20th Baron of Howth, who died in 1589, and his wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Plunket of Beaulieu, Co. Louth; and the initials, C. E., are those of their Christian names. Their altar-tomb may be seen in the chancel of Howth Abbey, where they are represented by recumbent figures - his effigy in armour, and that of his wife in the costume of the period.

The tablet in question was subsequently transferred to the wall on an adjacent house named “Bettyville,” but has recently been removed.

The sluggish waters of the Santry river discharge themselves on the shore at this point, under Watermill Bridge, and here, in former times, stood a small mill, from which circumstance the cottage and bridge derived their names.

The extension of the tram line to Howth considerably altered the appearance of this neighbourhood, and rendered it much less secluded than formerly. A hundred years ago a road ran along the beach from here to the point known as “The Whip of the Water,” where the Howth Road descends to the Shore, and, although it has long since been obliterated by the action of the tides, some traces of it were visible up to the time the tram line was constructed.

A group of dilapidated cottages, insanitary, no doubt, but picturesque, as insanitary dwellings frequently are, stood on the shore near the position now occupied by the tram sheds, but were all taken down during the alterations consequent on the construction of the line. This group formed the subject of many a picture, both in public galleries and private collections; but it is doubtful if its identity was frequently recognised.

From the Howth road the reader can either return to Clontarf, take the train back from Raheny, or continue his journey to Howth or elsewhere as desired.

The authorities consulted in the preparation of this chapter are, Dalton’s *History of the County Dublin; *Warburton, Whitelaw & Walsh’s *History of the City of Dublin, *and for “Mud Island,” two articles by “T. P.S.,” which appeared in the *Irish Times *about February, 1911.

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