Rathdown, Greystones, Killincarrig, Delgany and the Glen of the Downs

CHAPTER VIII

Cyclists and pedestrians desirous of making this excursion should proceed to Bray, making their way up the main street and keeping to the left at the Markethouse, whence the road gradually ascends to Kilruddery, the entrance gate of which will be seen on the right, bearing in high relief the motto, “Vota vita mea,” and surmounted by the arms of the Meath family. Immediately opposite this gate, at the other side of the road, is the entrance to the walk and carriage drive round the top of the Head, admission to which can be obtained by signing one’s name at the gate lodge, and, if accompanied by a bicycle, paying a toll of 3d. Entering at the gate, we pass a succession of plantations, largely composed of Scotch firs and other evergreens, and continuing the track, at length reach the open mountainside, where in summer may be seen in profusion the purple splendour of the heather, interspersed with the gay colouring of the gorse, the brilliant contrast enhanced by the varying shades of sward and bracken.

The track now sweeps to the seaward, and looking over the adjoining wall, we can see, far below, the railway and path overhanging the deep green water, with, perhaps, a border of white surf showing boldly against the dark rocks. From this point, our view comprises Dalkey and Killiney, Dublin city under its pall of smoke, portions of the southern suburbs, and the familiar forms of the tall twin chimneys at Ringsend, a conspicuous landmark even at this distance. As we proceed, an extensive view inland is obtained, including the Two and Three Rock Mountains, Prince William’s Seat, the Scalp and the Sugar Loaves, with the long open valley of Glencree. Not far off is Bray Head summit, on which stands a small monument, erected to commemorate the Jubilee of the late Queen Victoria.

Continuing the ascent, we arrive at a high ledge, where we unexpectedly come into view of the entire coast as far as Wicklow Head, readily identified by its three lighthouses, while on the curve of the coastline may be dimly discerned the town of Wicklow. From this point the pathway begins to descend, considerable portions being practicable for cycles, and we presently enter another pine plantation, ultimately reaching the exit on the main road, where the key of the gate can be obtained at the adjoining lodge.

On reaching the road we turn to the left up the hill, presently arriving at the little hamlet of Windgate on the very summit, about 400 feet over sea level, and from here a long descent of about two miles conducts us to Greystones. About half a mile from Windgate, a laneway called Rathdown Lane will be seen on the left, leading down to the site of the ancient castle of Rathdown. For pedestrians it is somewhat of a short cut to Greystones, but cyclists will find it rather difficult, and would be well advised to avoid it and keep to the main road.

Near the end of the lane will be seen in a field a little to the southward, the ruins of the church of St. Crispin, thickly enveloped with ivy. The adjacent ground now shows no indication of having been a graveyard, although it certainly was such during the period when the church was in use, and the last interment known to have taken place there was that of the body of a sailor which was washed ashore early in the last century. When the ancient village of Rathdown in course of time disappeared, the local proprietor removed all the tombstones, disinterred the bones, and buried them in one heap at the eastern end of the church. Some tradition of this act of vandalism survived when Eugene O’Curry visited the place in 1838.

The church is 23 feet long by 14 feet wide, and the entrance was by a porch at the western end. In the eastern gable is a window 6 feet square, and in the southern wall there is another about 3 feet square. The ruin bears several indications of comparatively recent repair, and does not look more than about three hundred years old, having been probably used as a chapel during the existence of the village of Rathdown.

A short distance north-east of the church, on a slight eminence, and facing the lonely sea-beaten shore, stood the ancient castle of Rathdown that in time gave name to the Barony. No portion of the building now remains, and its site is partly occupied by a limekiln, which, as well as the adjoining railway bridge, was probably constructed out of the materials of the walls. The ruin, which is still marked as existent on the Ordnance Survey maps, was taken down some sixty years ago, and at that time consisted of some massive outer walls from 5 to 8 feet in height. The castle was built on an ancient fort or rath, portions of which are yet discernible to the south and east of the site.

The village of Rathdown stood a short distance to the northwest, and in draining one of the fields there during the last century, the remains of a paved street were discovered. Adjoining the site of the castle is a clear spring well which probably supplied the household with water.

Resuming our journey, we presently enter Greystones, some thirty years ago only an insignificant village consisting of a group of cottages around the Coastguard station, but now bidding fair to become one of the first watering-places in Ireland.

The following interesting notice of this place appears in Atkinson’s *Irish Tourist, *published in 1815, and it should be remembered that there was then no village here, and that the name Greystones applied only to the reef of rocks still called “The Grey Stones,” jutting out into the sea immediately north of the railway station. “Between Bray and the village of Killincarrig, I looked at a spacious indenture in the coast, which I had heard spoken of as the native outline of a harbour, and which, considering its favourable position, and the advantages which would result to that neighbourhood from the suitable accommodation of shipping, I was not surprised to hear had become an object of attention to some public spirited gentlemen in that neighbourhood. Some idea may be conceived of the character of this half-formed harbour, from the circumstance of a vessel in distress having been towed in there, as the best which was to be met in that part of the coast, and though incapable in its present form of protecting a ship from the effects of a storm, its favourable position for a harbour may in some degree be inferred from the above circumstance.” The hopes entertained by the writer of the above, have unfortunately not been realised, and the harbour, as it now stands, may be regarded for all practical purposes as useless.

Greystones possesses an irregular sea frontage of nearly a mile from length, and extends inland from the sea in a south-westerly direction to within a short distance of the hamlet of Killincarrig, which it threatens to absorb, as also, in time, the more distant village of Delgany. The sea is visible for a considerable distance inland, as the ground gradually rises from the shore. There is ample accommodation for bathing, both off the ; tacks, and at the pretty strand immediately south of “The Grey Stones” already alluded to. The houses are for the most part detached or semi-detached, instead of being built in terraces.

The great charm of Greystones consists in its unconventionality and the absence of the features which go to make up the typical modern watering-place, while its golf-links, its picturesque surroundings, and the pleasing combinations of rural and seaside scenery in its neighbourhood, combine to render it a most attractive and restful holiday resort.

From the top of the Killincarrig road a field-path leads by the golf-links, through a wood, to the village of Killincarrig, entering the latter beside the grim, ivy-clad ruins of an old mansion popularly known as “Killincarrig Castle,” which appears to date from about the Elizabethan period. There was a tradition current that Cromwell slept a night in it, which may have had some foundation in fact, as his troop5 were engaged in several skirmishes in this neighbourhood during the troubled times of 1641-2.

Killincarrig stands upon a considerable eminence, commanding views both of the sea and of the mountains inland, and although the village is of considerable antiquity, the old houses have nearly all disappeared, and have been replaced by dwellings of a modern type.

In 1641 some troops were quartered in a temporary barrack in this village to protect the property of residents in the neighbourhood. In connection with the sojourn of this garrison, it is recorded in Dudley Loftus’s minutes of the Courts Martial at Dublin Castle, that one Kathleen Farrell was arrested at Killincarrig as a spy, taken to Dublin, and sentenced to be hanged, which sentence, it may be presumed, was duly carried out. Another case from the same locality was that of John Bayly, a soldier, who was tried for desertion. As the penalty for this offence was usually death, there must have been some extenuating circumstances in his case, as he was merely sentenced to run the gauntlet of the soldiers stationed at Killincarrig, the soldiers armed with switches, and the culprit with his back bare and his hands tied behind him. The carrying out of this sentence probably provided a pleasant day’s amusement for the inhabitants of the village, who doubtless had anything but friendly feelings for the soldiers quartered there, and were heartily glad when the time came for their departure.

At a distance of about half a mile from Killincarrig is the pretty village of Delgany, picturesquely situated on a rising ground, in the midst of an undulating and richly-wooded country, and adjoining the southern entrance to the Glen of the Downs. Immediately below the village is the deep wooded valley of the Three Trouts river, a small stream, which, after flowing through the Glen of the Downs, empties itself into the sea a mile south of Greystones. Delgany possesses a new Catholic Church attached to the convent, as well as a Protestant Church built in 1789, by Peter La Touche, the tower of which forms a prominent feature in the view of the village, as seen from various points in the surrounding country. The La Touche family, who have been connected with this locality since their purchase of the lands of Bellevue in 1753, settled in Ireland with many other Huguenot refugees after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They were originally a family named Digges who left England in the reign of Henry II. and settled on their estates at La Touche near Blois, from which circumstance they derive their second name. David Digges La Touche, the first of the family who came to this country, was an officer in La Caillemote’ regiment of French refugees in the service of William the Third during the Irish War of the Revolution. When the war was over he entered into business as a banker in Dublin, in the concern known as “La Touche’s Bank,” which he managed for many years, and at length died suddenly, at a ripe old age, in 1745, while attending service in the Chapel Royal. (Lodge’s Peerage.)

The ancient name of Bellevue was Ballydonough, which was changed to its present one in 1753 on the purchase of the lands by David La Touche.

Atkinson, in *The Irish Tourist (1815), *above quoted, makes the following reference to Delgany: “The village of Delgany, situate about fifteen miles south of Dublin, and ten north of Wicklow, forms a feature too significant to render its insignificant extent an adequate apology for wholly neglecting it, in a description of the beauties of this county. It is composed principally of thatched cottages in the English style (something similar to the village of Abbeyleix), and of these, in which the parsonage house, a large stone edifice, and the church of Delgany, a very ornamental structure, are not included, there may be from fifteen to twenty habitations in the village. The influence of Delgany Church (which stands suitably elevated above the valley) on the scenery of that neighbourhood, is well known to the numerous visitors of the district.”

At the time the above was written, there was a straw hat and bonnet factory in the village, which articles were, according to the same authority, sold at prices varying from one to thirty shillings, and the writer adds that some hats which were shown to him at eight shillings, made of Irish straw, were of exceptional quality.

It may be mentioned that one or two of the original “thatched cottages in the English style,” referred to in the above description, survived until a few years ago, and the parsonage house is still the largest building in the village.

The original name of this place was Dergne, the pronunciation of which would be represented in English by the spelling Dergany, and this by the change of the liquid *r *to *l *became converted to the modern designation of Delgany. The name Dergne, meaning a little reddish spot took its origin in the red colour of the clay and rock underlying the surface soil around the village, which is more noticeable after heavy rain.

In the older authorities the place is referred to as Dergne Mochorog, the latter portion of which is the name of the local saint, a Briton by birth, who settled here about the end of the 6th century, building his church on the site now occupied b3 the old churchyard at the lower end of the village. (See *Irish Names of Places, *Vol.11., p.26.)

Local tradition avers that an ancient town of Delgany stood some four miles out to the seaward, where there is now shallow and rock called Delgany Bank, and that one storm~ night it was entirely submerged by the sea.

Delgany to a great extent owes its popularity to its proximity to the Glen of the Downs, and to the fact that it lies in the direct route between the latter and Greystones Railway Station The Glen of the Downs, which is too well known to require detailed description, is a ravine a mile and a half in length, e sides of which, rising to a height of some 700 feet, are so densely wooded that with the exception of the roadside, scarcely a glimpse of the ground is visible the whole length of. the Glen. The views from the road are very soft and pretty in the summer-time, looking up along the apparently fathomless ass of foliage, relieved in places by dark patches of pines. It has been customary to admit visitors on Mondays to the astern side, which forms portion of the demesne of Bellevue, but permission must be obtained for admission on other days. The principal attraction at this side is the octagon house at the top, from which an extensive view is obtained.

One of the best short excursions from Delgany for either cyclist or pedestrian is to go through the Glen, and after emerging at the upper end, to take the first turn on the right up the steep hill, keeping to the right throughout, and again entering the village by a well shaded road down a long decline. This will entail a journey of a little over four miles.

Cyclists arriving in Delgany *via *Bray and Greystones, should return by the Glen of the Downs, Enniskerry, and the Scalp.

Distances from G.P.O. (for cyclists): Bray Bridge, 12½ miles; Greystones by route described around Bray Head and *via *Rathdown, 18¾ miles; Killincarrig, 20 miles; Delgany, 20½ miles; back to G.P.O. *via *Glen of the Downs and Enniskerry, 41 miles.

Distances from Bray Railway Station (for pedestrians) Greystones by route described, 6¾ miles; Killincarrig, 8 miles; Delgany, 8½ miles; back to Greystones Railway Station, 10¼ miles.

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