Parish of Kill-of-the-Grange

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Parish of Kill-of-the Grange

**(Formerly called Clonkeen - i.e., Cluain Caoin, the Beautiful Meadow.)

This parish is shown on the Down Survey made in 1651 as consisting of the Townlands of Kill of ye Grange, Deanes Grange, Rochestown, Ballintle, Lytle Newtowne, Cornettscourt, Kilibegoge, and Stillorgan.

Kill of ye Grange is now represented by the Townland of Kill-of-the-Grange.

Deanes Grange is represented by Dean’s Grange, Foxrock, and Galloping Green South, and by the small Townland of Waltersland in Stillorgan Parish.

Rochestown is represented by Rochestown Domain, Rochestown; Johnstown, and Woodpark.

Ballintle is represented by Ballinclea *(i.e., *Baile an tsleibhe, the Town of the Mountain), Scalpwilliam, and Rocheshill.

Lytle Newtowne is represented by Newtown Park, Newpark, and Galloping Green North.

Cornettscourt is represented by Cornelscourt *(i.e., *Corner’s Court) and Cabinteely *(i.e., *Caban-t-sighile, Sheela’s cabin).

Kilibegoge appears to be represented by part of the Townland of Kilbogget in Killiney Parish.

Stillorgan is now the Parish of Stillorgan.

The Townlands of Tipperstown *(i.e., *Baile an tobair, the Town of the Well) and Mulchanstown, now included in Kill of the Grange Parish, are shown on the Down Survey as in Taney Parish, under the name of Tiberstown.

The objects of archaeological interest in the parish are the ruined church of Kill of the Grange and its crosses and bullan stone.

Kill-of-the-Grange and Dean’s Grange

GrangeChurch1.jpg (17957 bytes)These villages derive from very early times, and were, 600 years ago, places of more importance than they are to-day. All that now exists to remind us that they have a history is the ruined church (pictured left) and the house called Kill Abbey, which, though it has lost its original characteristics, bears the date 1595, and is surrounded by yew trees of extreme age. But in the early part of the last century there were extensive remains of mediaeval buildings in the village of Dean’s Grange.

These buildings stood in the centre of the property owned by the Augustinian Canons of the Priory of the Holy Trinity (the builders of Christ Church Cathedral, adjoining which their Priory stood), in the southern part of the County Dublin, and though probably not so strongly fortified, were similar to those belonging to the Cistercian Monks, at Monkstown. They comprised a house, to which the canons came for country air and for the transaction of the business of their estate, and numerous farm offices, in some cases only fragile structures of mud and wood, necessary for the cultivation of the large extent of land which the canons retained in their own hands as a home farm. Also, there was a village close by, containing thirty-five houses, known as the “Town of the Grange,” in which lived their employees’, including a bailiff, two smiths, a weaver, and an officer called a chamberlain.

The lands of Kill-of-the-Grange, which had been given to the Priory before the English Conquest by Donagh, son of Donald Grossus, and had been confirmed to that religious establishment by Archbishops, Popes, and Kings, had been brought, in spite of the raids of the Irish tribes, to which they were equally subject with those of Monkstown, into a high state of cultivation before the 14th century. They had been returned at the close of the preceding century as unable to bear taxation, but this was probably due to some incursions, more than usually severe in their results, which had then recently taken place. The tenants of the Priory, who were almost invariably bound to render service on the home farm, were, in the 14th century, prosperous and well-to-do, one or two being of sufficiently good position to join the Prior at table. Nine of them resided not far from the Priory buildings in the “Town of the Church,” which corresponded with the village of Kill-of-the-Grange. There, also, the clerk of the church and two cottiers had houses. The peculiar properties of the soil close to that village, which have led in recent years to the establishment of brick and pottery works, were then known, and the sale of clay, for making earthenware, was a source of profit to the Priory.

As the lands of the Priory extended from Murphystown, at the foot of the Three Rock Mountain, to Killiney, at the sea, the business of the estate was very considerable.. The Prior, like a layowner, exercised manorial jurisdiction over the tenants, and a court, presided over by the brother who held the office of seneschal, or land agent, was regularly held at Kill-of-the-Grange, to redress misdemeanours and nuisances, and to settle disputes of property. As well as civil, the Prior had military responsibilities, and was liable for the provision and equipment of a certain proportion of the county levy or militia. To the seneschal fell the duty of maintaining an efficient and sufficient number of the tenantry for that service, and of furnishing them with greaves, belts, and other requirements of war. The force was periodically inspected by an officer appointed by the Crown, whose visits to Kill-of-the-Grange, accompanied by many men of the regular army, were great events, only exceeded in importance by those of the Archbishop of Dublin, who sometimes stayed in the Priory house with his retinue for several days at a time, on his way to and from Newcastle.

A vivid picture, with the most minute details, of life on the Priory farm is preserved for us in the Account Roll of the Priory, which has been edited with extraordinary care and ability by the present Deputy-Keeper of the Records in Ireland. In it we read of the live stock, of the crops, and of the farm implements; we make acquaintance with the canons, with the tenants, with the bailiff, who accounted-even to a peck for the corn, and with the other farm servants; and we follow the agricultural operations throughout the year: the winter and spring sowing, in which fourteen ploughs, with twenty-eight men were engaged; the thinning and weeding of the crops, which required 64 labourers, and the harvest in which as many as 88 men on one day, and an average of 30 men for three weeks, took part. This army was fed by the canons, and when dinner hour came the bailiff, by a shrill blast from the horn which he constantly carried, summoned the weary workmen to partake of pork and herrings, and bread and ale; while in the Priory house the canons regaled their more important tenants and neighbours on mutton and pork, beef and poultry, herrings and eggs, and wine and ale, in unstinted quantities.

The dissolution of the Priory, in 1539, produced less change in its estates than that of other religious establishments, as it was immediately reconstituted as the Cathedral establishment of the Church of the Holy Trinity, commonly called Christ Church, the Prior becoming the first Dean, and the canons the first prebendaries of the Cathedral. In support of his dignity, the manor of Kill-of-the-Grange was granted to the Dean, and the Priory House, at what was henceforth known as Dean’s Grange, became his country residence. The demesne lands were let. A holding, containing land on the east side of the Church, and land near the Roman well, with a house, which probably became the chaplain’s residence, and a flaxyard, were leased, in 1542, to the chaplain of the Church; and the lands and tithes of the manor, town, and fields of the Grange were leased, in 1561, to Christopher Bassenet John Brady, and John Hore, then the chaplain.

The house known as Kill Abbey was, doubtless, built in 1595, the date it bears, by George Ussher, a merchant of Dublin, to whom was leased, in 1592, by the Chapter of the Cathedral, “the farm of Clonkeen, then commonly called the Kill.” The curate’s house, with its curtilage, which stood on these lands, was excepted, and besides a money rent it was agreed that there should be annual offerings of corn and hens, and the best beast on the death of the lessee. Ussher was succeeded by his sister, Rose, who had been twice married, first to John Money, sometime Mayor of Dublin, and secondly, to John Garvey, Archbishop of Armagh. On her death, which took place in 1612, she bequeathed the farm to the children of Walter Harold, but it does not seem to have long remained in their possession. A few years later, in 1623, Christopher Wolverston, of whose family we shall read under Stillorgan is returned as being the tenant for the Kill farm, and William Gilbert for the mensal lands.

The months of lawlessness, whiich succeeded the outbreak of the Rebellion, in October, 1641, were heavily felt in the Kill and at Dean’s Grange. John Brackenbury, who is described as a resident of the latter place, deposed that during December and January the rebels made several descents on his farm, and carried off cattle and stock to a very considerable value, and, three days after Christmas, a party of the rebels came to the residence of the curate, the Rev. Joseph Smithson, at Kill, carried off his wife and her maid, and subsequently hanged them both at Powerscourt.

Two months later in February, 1642, a regiment comprising 1,000 men, under command of Lord Lambart, who was created, some years later, Earl of Cayan, marched out to clear the southern side of Dublin of the rebels, and encountered the enemy in about equal numbers at Dean’s Grange. The soldiers completely routed them, killing about 100 and taking 15 prisoners. Amongst the latter, who only escaped death on the field to find it on the gallows, was a younger son of Mr. Walsh, of Clonmannon, in the County Wicklow, a gentleman by birth, though then presenting the appearance of a vagrant. The casualties of the army were returned as one killed and one wounded.

Some weeks afterwards the stronghold of the rebels at Carrickmines was destroyed, but fugitives still wandered about the country and caused the peaceable inhabitants much alarm. In the month of May one of these fugitives came to the principal residence in Dean’s Grange, and threatened “the good woman” of the house-accusing her of giving shelter to an English captain. She denied that she had done so, and told him that it would be better for him to follow his trade than rebellion. To this he replied, as a witness, who alleged that Brackenbury was in league with the rebels, relates, that he did not dare to show his head since he had been sent by his master, Brackenbury, with powder to the rebels at Carrickmines.

Towards the close of the Commonwealth period, Dean’s Grange contained some 15 houses, and had a population of eight English and 61 Irish. The chief house was occupied by Ralph and Nathaniel Swinfield, who held the lands, and who were succeeded by the Proud family, with whom some of the Swinfields intermarried. In Kill-of-the-Grange there were eight houses and a population of three English and 12 Irish. The widow of Christopher Merry, a Dublin baker, resided in the house built by George Ussher, and farmed the lands. On her death, the property passed to her granddaughter, who was twice married, first to Thomas Fitzsimons, and secondly, to Walter Nangle.

In the beginning of the 18th century the Fitzsimons family, who succeeded to the house and lands, found it convenient owing to the operations of the Penal Laws, to assign them to Mr. William Espinasse, of Dublin, and he was subsequently accepted as tenant by the Cathedral. Espinasse was a descendant of a French family, which had emigrated to Ireland after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and had acquired much wealth in business. On his death, in 1740, he left a widow, “endowed with so many excellent qualities that to enumerate them would appear like flattery,” and several children. His eldest son, Isaac, who succeeded him, was an officer in the Dragoons, and married, in 1754, a lady of beauty and fortune, the daughter of Richard Magennis, of the County Down. He resided at Kill Abbey for many years, becoming a magistrate, and serving as High Sheriff of the County Dublin, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Richard, whose representatives still occupy the house.

Rochestown

The fine old mansion, known as Rochestown House, was evidently in former times the residence of some family of position, and indicated until lately by its high roof and pointed gables, that it was a structure of the early part of the 18th century. Near it there is a great gateway and remains of a stately drive, which show that the demesne was in keeping with the house. On the lawn, in front of the mansion, there is a fragment of a castle, similar to those which stood at Seapoint and elsewhere in the neighbourhood.

The lands appear to have been originally included under those of Dalkey, and were probably the lands of that place for which the Talbot family rendered annually to the Crown, in the 13th century, a goshawk, or its value, 6s. 8d.(33p),-a substantial sum in those days. On account of their use for falconry, hawks were then much prized, especially Irish ones, and the goshawk was one of the largest birds used in the sport.

Sometimes the value of the bird was paid, but the owner of Rochestown, in 1369, rendered his rent in kind, and had the effrontery to deliver a useless goshawk, for which he was fined by the Court of Exchequer. The tithes were paid to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, which was no less careful than the Crown to protect its rights, and employed an agent to see that the full amount of corn was delivered into its granary at Dean’s Grange.

About the middle of the 16th century, the lands, which were occupied by a son of the owner of Loughlinstown, James Goodman, and on which a castle then stood, were held by the Talbots of Belgard, under another branch of the family, described as of Rathdown, and, possibly, were “the castle and lordship of Yenah called Dalkey,” which, in 1563, was assigned by Robert Talbot, of Belgard, to Matthew Birsell and Thomas Lawless.

At the beginning of the 17th century the lands of Rochestown, to which those of Scalpwilliam were joined, and on which there were, besides the castle, a number of houses and a wood of considerable extent, had come into the possession of John Fagan, of Bullock, who held them under the Talbots. They were probably assigned by him to Alderman Robert Kennedy, who, before his death, in 1624, had purchased them in fee. Kennedy was a friend of John Pagan’s father, and owned much property in Dublin, including a celebrated mansion called Carberry House, in Skinner’s-row, in which he resided. He left a number of sons, and strictly entailed his real estate on his heirs male, but in the troublous times the family became extinct in the male line, and Rochestown was claimed, on the Restoration, by Patrick Mapas, the son of his youngest daughter.

The Mapas family was of great antiquity in the County Louth where, in the 14th century, one of the name had been the victor of Edward Bruce. During the 18th century, first as Roman Catholics, and afterwards as Protestants, the owners of Rochestown occupied a leading place in the County of Dublin. Patrick Mapas, whose father was one of the first of the family to settle in Dublin, died while the claim to Rochestown was before the court, but the proceedings were carried on by his widow, on behalf of their eldest son, Christopher, then a minor, and a decree was given in his favour. The occupant of the Castle, Matthew Boyce, was obliged to vacate it, and the Mapases came to reside there. Soon afterwards, in 1674, Christopher Mapas made an alliance with the leading Roman Catholic family of the county, the Fitzwilliams of Merrion, by his marriage to a daughter of the third viscount, a lady who is said to have been “an extraordinary wife, mother, and family woman, most pious and truly charitable.” In spite of the fact that his name and that of his brother, Lieutenant John Mapas, of Dongan’s Dragoons, appear in a list of persons attainted by William III., Mapas contrived to retain his property, and was amongst the few Roman Catholics allowed to carry arms and to keep a sword, a case of pistols, and a gun. He was a gentleman of “the most worthy and honest character, and of unknown charity,” and his death, which took place in 1719, caused great lamentations among the poor. His mother, who had married as her second husband, Mr. Edward Taylor, died a few years before her son, in 1711, leaving in her will a shilling (5p) to each poor widow in Rochestown, and in the neighbouring townlands; and his widow, the Hon. Rose Mapas, survived him until 1745, when she died at Rochestown, “in all the odour of sanctity,” at a very advanced age.

Rochestown had undergone great improvements in the time of Christopher Mapas, and a modern house had been built; but the present one was probably erected by his eldest son, John Mapas, whose name, with the family arms, and the date 1750, it bears. To it were attached numerous offices, chief amongst these being a brewery and a pigeon-house, enclosed in a courtyard, and close by there were gardens, pleasure grounds, orchards, and a bowling-green. John Mapas is said to have succeeded, on his father’s death, to an estate of considerable value, and, like his father, made a good alliance, marrying a daughter of the seventh Baron of Louth. On his death, which took place in 1756, at his town house, in St. Stephen’s-green, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Christopher. The latter, who resided abroad, died, in 1765, in Germany, and Rochestown then came into the possession of his eldest son, John Mapas, who had married3 in 1757, a daughter of a successor in the title conferred on Sir Gerald Aylmer, of Monkstown She died three years laster, and the house was let to Mr. Edward Nicholson, M.P.** for Old Leighim, who was connected by marriage with the Earls of Inchiquin.**

A wood had existed at Rochestown from early times, as we have seen, and though clearances had been made round the house, which a contemporary writer condemns for its want of view, some fine trees still remained. Through their estate, which afforded attractive building sites, the Mapases made the existing roads, and other houses began to be built. The first of these was Granitefield, which was occupied for many years by Sir John Macartney, M.P.** **for Fore, who was knighted, and subsequently made a baronet in recognition of his efforts to, promote inland navigation in Ireland. In his time Granitefield was remarkable for its myrtles and arbutus trees, and for its vineries and hothouses. At Rochestown, which had a reputation as a health resort, the Right Hon. William Burton Conyngham, the great patron of Irish antiquities and art of his day, was staying, shortly before his death, in 1796, and there a gentleman, on calling to see him, found a battalion of physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries in attendance upon him.

Killiney Hill

Killiney Hill stands in the townland of Mount Mapas, or Scalpwilliam. The lands of Scalpwilliam are first mentioned under that name in the beginning of the 17th century, and from that time followed the same devolutions of ownership as the Rochestown property.

The obelisk, which stands on the summit of the hill, and which is a very prominent object, was erected by Mr. John Mapas, in 1741, a year of scarcity and hardship, when fever and famine devastated Ireland. It bears the quaint inscription: “Last year being hard with the poor the wall around these hills and this were erected by John Mapas, Esq. June, 1742.”

About the same time a house had been built on or near the site of Killiney Castle. It contained considerable accommodation, and its sea and land prospect was accounted the finest in Ireland. Except towards the sea, “where nature had sufficiently enclosed their’,” the lands were surrounded by a stone wall, and were estimated to contain some 150 acres. The house had been originally called Mount Mapas, but, in 1755, was known as Roxborough. It was then in occupation of Captain Edward Maunsell, who served as High Sheriff of the County Dublin in that year. He had married a daughter of Philip Ridgate, LL.D,** **the widow of Mr. William Roberts, and on his death, which took place in 1765, in York-street, Dublin, left by her an only son. This son, Thomas Ridgate Maunsell, afterwards resided with his mother in Rochestown-avenue, and devoted much time to genealogical research, with the object of compiling a history of his family. Lead had been discovered on the lands of Roxborough, and mines had been, in 1751, opened, which, two years later, when a vein of great thickness was discovered, were reported to be in a most flourishing condition. They were closed a few years later, and a second attempt to work them in 1734 proved equally unsuccessful.

Before his death Captain Maunsell assigned his interest in Roxborough to Colonel the Hon. Henry Loftus, M.P. for Bannow, in the County Wexford, the central figure in one of the most protracted and keenly-contested legal struggles of the 18th century. He was a descendant of the great Archbishop Loftus, of Elizabeth’s reign, and was younger son of Nicholas Loftus, or the County Wexford, who was created a peer as Baron Loftus and Viscount Loftus of Ely. His brother, who had succeeded to those titles on the death of their father, and who had in addition been created an earl, died in 1766, leaving an only son. This son, now the second earl, who was of extreme delicacy of constitution, and had been persistently neglected and ill-treated by his father, was taken by his uncle, Colonel Loftus, under his protection. Through his mother, a daughter of Sir Gustavus Hume, of the County Fermanagh, who had long pre-deceased her husband, the young earl was entitled to large property, and his mother’s family had, before his father’s death, instituted proceedings to prove that he was incapable of managing his affairs. His case was ably conducted by his uncle (it did not come on for trial until after his father’s death), and the decision was in favour of the young earl’s sanity. Three years later, in spite of every care on his uncle’s part, the young man died, making a will, by which he bequeathed all his property to his uncle. His mother’s relatives sought to have this will set aside, as obtained by undue influence, but were again unsuccessful, and Colonel Loftus succeeded to his nephew’s estates, as well as to the barony and viscountcy.

The pages of “Baratariana,” where the colonel figures prominently as Count Henrico Loftonzo, allege that he deserted his old political friends to obtain a favourable decision from “the innocent Phil Tisdal,” who was Judge of the Prerogative Court, as well as Attorney-General, and also tell of the efforts of his wife to secure Lord Townshend, then Lord Lieutenant as husband for her niece, the lovely Dolly Monro, and Loftonzo ‘s own intrigues to obtain an earldom, which was afterwards conferred on him.

Possessed with an unbounded passion for improvement, and a skill equal to that passion, as a contemporary writer says, Loftus converted the barren hills and rocks round Roxborough, called by him Loftus Hill, into good meadow and pasture lands, frequently being obliged to blast the rock, and to draw earth to cover it, in order to obtain his object. Round the hill he cut the present road, and planted the west side with trees and shrubs. The house was a large one, but the offices were small. It was his intention to rebuild them, but this he did not accomplish, as in Rathfarnham Castle, the ancient seat of the family, which he repurchased for his nephew, and succeeded to himself, he found greater scope for the extravagant magnificence which is displayed in the classic gateway on the Dodder, constructed by him. After his succession to the titles Lord Loftus disposed of Loftus Hill; in 1778 it was occupied by Mr. Medlicott, and subsequently by Mr. Minchin.

The hill was, in 1790, taken by Lord Clonmell, with the intention of erecting a mansion there in place of his seat at Temple Hill, but his improvements ended in the construction of a park, at a cost of some £3,000 which, on its completion, he stocked with deer. Nearly 200 men were employed by him at one time in that work, and in making roads and planting.

A tourist in 1796 describes a handsome banqueting hall, which was built by Colonel Loftus, and mentions that in addition to the obelisk, which Lord Clonmell had restored, a memorial was about to be placed on the hill, in pursuance of the will of the last Mr. Mapas, who left a large sum for the erection of a monument to his family.

During the last century the neighbourhood was much developed by Mr. Robert Warren, of Killiney Castle, whose name, as its restorer in 1840, the obelisk bears, and the hill having been purchased for a park, was, in 1387, opened and dedicated to the public use by the late Prince Albert Victor of Wales, in memory of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee (plaque pictured left).

Ballinclea

The lands of Ballinclea, or the Town of the Mountain, are first mentioned in the time of the Commonwealth. They were then forfeited lands, and had belonged to the owner of Loughlinstown, James Goodman, who had mortgaged them to his cousin, Rowland Goodman. The tithes were paid to the Cathedral of Christ Church, as they had, no doubt been in medieval times to the Priory of the Holy Trinity. After the Restoration the lands, on which there were two houses and a population of nine Irish, were granted, amongst much other property, to the Duke of York, afterwards James II., and remained in his possession until his abdication. Some years after that event, in 1703, they were put up for auction by the trustees of the forfeited estates, and sold to Mr. Samuel Jackson.

They became subsequently the property of Sir Oliver Crofton, Bart., whose baronetcy, conferred on an ancestor after the Restoration, became extinct on his death. Crofton was a rollicking blade, and did not bear the most immaculate character. In early life he had stood his trial for killing a man, one of the Massys of Duntrileague, in a duel, and his proceedings, after the death of his predecessor in the title, had not been to his credit.

Attempts were made from time to time to induce people to build on the excellent sites which the lands of Ballinclea afforded, and finally Crofton came to live there himself. Loftus, whose lands adjoined, found Crofton a most unpleasant neighbour, and, on his boundary wall being thrown down by Crofton and his servants, sought in 1765, the protection of the House of Commons. The House found that a breach of privilege had been committed, and some of Crofton’s servants, who had insulted Loftus, were taken into custody. The fine mansion which now stands on the lands was built in the last century, by the Talbots of Malahide, and is still occupied by members of the family.

Cabinteely

Not far from the village of Cabinteely, or Sheela’s Cabin, on the road to Stillorgan, there are a few cottages known by the name of Cornelscourt, near which, until recently, were to be seen the ruins of a castle. In the opinion of Austin Cooper, who visited the ruins in 1781, and who found the arched vault entire, though the upper storey was open and ruinous, the castle had been a mean one, and it is stated in one of the Commonwealth surveys that the roof was of thatch.

The lands which surrounded the castle including those now designated as Cabinteely, were, in the 14th century, known as the lands of Cornelscourt, and are mentioned in a rental of the Priory of the Holy Trinity as belonging to that establishment, and as held by Gregory Taunton, one of the chief tenants in its manor of Kill-of-the-Grange. Before the dissolution of the religious) houses the lands had become the property of the Abbey of Lismullen, in the County Meath, a nunnery of the Augustinian Order, like the Priory - a fact which may have had some connection with their transfer to it and, in 1539, the Abbess, Mary Cusack, surrendered them to the Crown. The lands, which contained besides the Castle a tower and eight cottages, and were partly covered by moor and underwood, were then leased to Sir Thomas Cusack, afterwards Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and probably a relation of the Abbes’s, but his lease was soon broken, and, in 1545, they were granted by the Crown, with those of Monkstown, to Sir John Travers. After Travers’ death they passed, like the latter, first to the Eustace, and afterwards to the Cheevers family. In t597 a priest called Thomas Kean, *alias *Cahill, was resident at Cornelscourt, and possibly there was then a small chapel on the lands. On Walter Cheevers being transplanted to Connaught the Parliament gave Cornelscourt to William Morgan, described as a gentleman. The Castle with its thatched roof, was then in good repair, and, at the close of the Commonwealth period, there were five English and twenty-seven Irish inhabitants occupying eight houses on the lands. After the Restoration Cornelscourt with Monkstown and his other property, was restored to Walter Cheevers, and descended from him to the Byrnes, who owned the lands until recently.

The family of Byrne, or O’Byrne, which, on Cheevers’ death, became identified with Cornelscourt, and afterwards with Cabinteely, was, in early times, one of the most powerful and distinguished in Leinster, and numbered amongst its members two of the most remarkable of the ancient Irish kings. John Byrne, who married the only surviving daughter of Walter Cheevers, was a direct descendant of one of these, and was himself a man of good position. He had served as High Sheriff of the County Wicklow, and his brother, an ancestor of the Barons de Tabley, had been created a baronet. His eldest son, Walter, who was an infant at the time of his death, and who married in after years a daughter of Mr. Christopher Mapas, of Rochestown, succeeded to the ownership of Cornelscourt, but he left no issue. On his death, in 1731, his property passed to his younger brother, John, who had been born after their father’s death, and this John Byrne was succeeded by his eldest son, George.

In their time the seat of the family was changed from Cornelscourt to Cabinteely, and a modern house which, under the name of Cabinteely House, was long occupied by their successors, was built on the site of the one now known as Marlfield. George Byrne married a cousin of Robert Nugent a well-known English politician of that day, who was created a peer as Viscount Clare and Earl Nugent. The latter has been described as a jovial and voluptuous Irishman, and, for reasons which need not be stated here, was a generous patron to his cousin’s family.

The present Cabinteely House, in his time known as Clare Hill, which Nugent built on the Byrnes’ lands and bequeathed to them, was not the least splendid amongst his princely gifts. It is a large and handsome mansion, forming three sides of a square, and, in its well-proportioned and finely decorated reception-rooms, displays the cultured taste of its builder. Nugent probably occupied it but little. Shortly before his death, in 1788, he came to Ireland, in order to be near his daughter, the Marchioness of Buckingham, whose husband was then Lord Lieutenant, and Clare Hill was stated to be preparing for his reception, but appears to have spent the few remaining months of his life in Dublin. George Byrne had died at Cabinteely, in 1763, when his children were still very young, and he was succeeded successively by his eldest son, Michael, a young man of great accomplishments, acquired at Eton and Oxford, who became a member of the English Parliament as representative of Nugent’s pocket-borough of St. Mawes, in Cornwall, and who died at Cabinteely, in 1772; by his second son, Gregory, remarkable for his charitable and kindly disposition, who died at Knightsbridge, in London, in 1774; and by his third son, Robert. The latter, who resided abroad, died, in 1799, at Lisbon, leaving a widow and three daughters - amiable and talented ladies, who succeeded to the property. Before 1794, Marlfield had been let to Mr. John Dwyer, “a solicitor of great eminence,” who filled the position of Secretary to Lord Chancellor Clare and Lord Chancellor Redesdale. He rebuilt the house, which was occupied by him for many years, and on his death it passed into the possession of its present owners, the Jessops. Johnstown was the only other house of any importance in the neighbourhood at the close of the 18th century. In 1778 it was occupied by Mr. Love Hiatt, and, later on, by Mr. Williams.

Tipperstown

The lands of Tipperstown, or the Town of the Well, on which the Vartry Reservoirs are situated, formed portion of the property of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, and were included in the Manor of Kill-of-the-Grange. They were always occupied by tenants, and the leases, by the stringency of their provisions, rival in legal skill the work of the best lawyers of the present day. The tenant was bound to render service on the home farm at the winter and spring sowing and at harvest to give to the Priory a portion of the beer which he brewed, to litigate in the Manor Court, and to aid the lessors in counsel, service, and assistance at any place within the County Dublin. Amongst the tenants in the 13th and 14th centuries were the families of Wyte, Hacket, Wythir, Harold, and Lagthenan. After the dissolution of the Priory these lands were leased, with those of Kill-of-the-Grange, in 1561, to Bassenet, Brady, and Hore, and, in 1591, being then described as “Ballitubbred, *alias *Waltersland, and the Moor of Leperstown,” to Walter Harold, of Dublin. In 1623 they were held by William Wolverston, the owner of Stillorgan, and, in 1645, were in the occupation of Richard Swinfield, of Murphystown, doubtless a relative of the Swinfields, of Dean’s Grange, who then deposed that he had been robbed by the rebels.

After the Restoration the lands were recovered for the Chapter, by the energy of one of its members, Dr. Lightburne, from an alleged tenancy of Sir Henry Talbot, of Templeogue, and were, in 1664, leased to Robert Mossom, Master in Chancery, son of the Bishop of Derry of that name, and father of the Dean of Ossory, who was a friend of Swift’s. They were subsequently leased, in 1724, to Christopher Ussher, of Booterstown, and afterwards of Mount Ussher, in the County Wicklow, Secretary of the Linen Board, “a very sensible, plain, good-natured man,” according to Mrs. Delany, “with a meek little wife, who never made or marred sport.” At the time of the Union they belonged to Councillor O’Farrell, and were farmed by him with great skill.

Newtownpark

These lands, originally known as Newtown Little, are first mentioned at the time of the dissolution of the religious houses, and there is reason to think were then the site of an ancient chapel. The care of their spiritualities was given to the Dean of Christ Church, and their tithes were leased by the Chapter, in 1564, to Nicholas Cor, chaplain, and Gerald Long, a yeoman, of Simonscourt. In the 16th century the lands, on which there was a good slated house, were in the possession of the owners of Stillorgan, and were occupied by members of the Wolverston family. They continued in their possession during the next century, Francis Wolverston being in occupation of them before the Commonwealth, and James Wolverston, then owner of Stillorgan, being confirmed in their possession after the Restoration. At that time James Brackenbury, possibly a son of the Dean’s Grange resident, was living in the house, which was subsequently occupied by James Reyly, who contributed to the subsidy assessment “in goods,” and was probably a shopkeeper.

As the 18th century advanced, villas were built, and the lands became populated. The village of Galloping Green, through which what was then the high road from Dublin to Bray passed, became well known, and we are reminded of the fashions of the times by a highway robbery committed there, in 1751, by three servants, “with their hair turned up under their hats.”

It was announced, in 1787, that the famous Donnybrook Fair was to be removed to its neighbourhood, but the rumour proved to have no foundation**. Towards the close of that century Newtown Park had several residents of note, including Alexander Crookshank, M.P., for Belfast, and afterwards, from 1783 to 1800, a judge of the Common Pleas, whose death, in 1813, is recorded on a tablet in Monkstown Church; **the Hon. Joseph Hewitt, son of Lord Chancellor Lifford, then residing at Stillorgan, who was Crookshank’s successor in the representation of Belfast and a judge of the King’s Bench for three short. years before his death, in 1794; Mr. Timothy Dyton, the printer of the *Dublin Gazette, *who died in 1796; and Dyton’s son-in-law, Mr. St. George O’Kelly, High Sheriff, in 1794, of the County Dublin.

Ecclesiastical History

The ruined church near the village of Kill-of-the-Grange is considered by archaeologists to be of extreme antiquity. It consisted originally of the simple oblong which now forms the nave, and in which a primitive square-headed doorway, afterwards superseded by a round-headed one, and window are to be seen. Its dimensions are, Mr. Wakeman says, the same as those of the building at Glendalough, known as St. Kevin’s Kitchen. To this primitive church was added, in later times, the chancel, which was connected with the nave by means of an arch broken through its east wall, and the belfry erected on the western wall. Near the church there are the remains of two crosses and, in the grounds of Kill Abbey. close by, there is a stone with hollows, known to antiquaries as a bullan stone, and supposed to be of early Christian, if not of Pagan origin; also a sacred well - probably the one known in mediaeval times as the Roman Well.

The Church of Clonkeen was dedicated to St. Fintain, the priest who, doubtless, selected Kill-of-the-Grange as the scene of his evangelising efforts, and who is supposed to have flourished about the same time as St. Mochonna. After the English Conquest it was granted by the Pope to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, but, as we have seen, at the beginning of the 13th century, it formed, with the Chapel of Carrickbrennan and the Church of Dalkey, a prebend in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Before 1230 it was exchanged by the Chapter of St. Patrick’s for the Church of Ballymore, and became the absolute property of the Priory, which constituted it a mother church, with the chapels of Carrickbrennan and Stillorgan appendant. It was, doubtless, served by one of the monks and, although, in 1294, returned as unable to bear taxation, was, in 1306, valued at £18 38s.4d.

There was constant litigation as to the right of the Archdeacon of Dublin to visit and exact fees from the churches of the Priory, and Kill-of-the-Grange was one of those in dispute. On the establishment of the Cathedral of Christ Church, the Church of Kill-of-the-Grange was assigned to the Dean as portion of his dignity, and was served by vicars appointed by him. Amongst these were, in 1542, John Callan, and, in 1561, John Hore. The appointment of the vicar gave rise, in 1552, to litigation between the parishioners and the Dean, but the latter’s right to the patronage was established by the Ecclesiastical Court.

At the beginning of the 17th century, in 1615, the church, then in good repair, was served, with that of Dalkey, by” a reading minister,” the Rev. Owen Ellis, and some years later, in 1630, when it had been unroofed by recent storms, by the Rev. Simon Swayne, the Vicar of Bray. Although the Dean received some £80 a year in tithes from the parish, Swayne’s stipend was only £7, and as there was a congregation of twenty-four, the cure was not without its duties. To Swayne succeeded, in 1638, the Rev. Joseph Smithson, who valued the living at £40, and who was forced to flee to Dublin, with his two sons, after his wife’s abduction, and “exposed to great want and misery”; and, in 1643, the Rev. John Armistead, M.A.,** **a minor canon, of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and afterwards vicar of Balscaddan.

During the Comonwealth the church was reported to be ruinous, and it was never again used for service. There was probably a concealed Roman Catholic Church in the parish in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. In 1697, the Rev. Henry Talbot, who lived at Rochestown, was stated to be parish priest of Cabinteely, and, in 1704, the Rev. Richard Murphy was returned as parish priest of Kill.

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