Parish of Dalkey

Parish of Dalkey.

This parish which in the seventeenth century was included in the barony of Newcastle consists of the townlands of Dalkey and Dalkey Commons, together with Dalkey Island, Lamb Island, Maiden Rock, The Muglins, and Clare” Rock.

It contains the following objects of archaeo1ogical interest -The Castles and ruined Church of Dalkey, and the ruined Church on Dalkey Island.

The Town of Dalkey

The modern Dalkey occupies the site of a fortified town, which began to decay some 400 years ago. Its port, was, in mediaeva1 times, not only the Kingstown of that age for travellers, but also the place of disembarkation for merchandise coming to Dublin, and the ancient town, which contained seven strong castles, was used as a safe place of storage for the goods until the merchants found it convenient to remove them to Dublin. Only two of the seven Castles now remain - one forms portion of Dalkey Town Hall; the other is a fairly complete ruin.

Dalkey Castle.gif (11195 bytes)Dalkey Town Hall.gif (14293 bytes)They were inspected by Mr. J. H. Parker, C.B., at the same time as Bullock Castle, and are, in his opinion, buildings of the same era. He describes the one since converted to the use of a Town Hall (pictured right) as a plain square tower-house, or castle, with a solid parapet, and small windows. At the southwest corner a staircase is corbelled out, and on the north side there is a garderobe turret, while from the parapet a chimney and small bartizan project.

The second castle (pictured left) then in the same condition as at present, he describes as similar to its companion; but, from the fact that its battlement is in the form of steps, he considered it to be a building of somewhat later date. It is provided with a staircase, which is carried through the vaulted lower storey in the thickness of the wall, and then leads into an octagonal turret, and, in the upper room, there is a fireplace and garderobe.

Dalkey has a history, like Bullock, before its castles were built, and, until the beginning of the 19th century, rock monuments, dating from the time of the primitive inhabitants, were to be seen near the town. One of these, a cromlech, surrounded by a circle of upright stones, stood upon Dalkey Common; the other a great rock, known as Cloch Tobair Gailline, or the Rock of the Well of Gailline, overhung a sacred well on the top of Dalkey Hill. During the 8th century Dalkey was the scene of a battle between two Irish tribes, and Forgartach, son of Niall, King of Ireland, fell by the hand of Cinoeth, son of Ingalach, on its plain.

Doubtless the Danish invaders frequently landed at its port, and by them the Irish name of the place Delginis, or Thorn Island, was changed to Dalkey, which is Scandinavian in its origin. The English disembarked, so far as is known, near Waterford and Wexford, but, in 1171, while the Irish were besieging them in Dublin, a detachment of the Irish force was stationed at Dalkey, to guard its port where the Irish expected their Danish allies to land.

After the Conquest, Dalkey was granted, by Henry II., to Hugh de Lacy, Constable of Dublin, but was soon given by the latter to the See of Dublin. The Archbishops proved themselves worthy of the trust and, under them, the town rapidly developed. The right to hold a market in Dalkey every Wednesday, and a fair on the Feast of St. Begnet, the patron saint of the place, was granted to them, and, at the same time, power was given to them to levy tolls, to be applied to the improvement of the walls of the town and the harbour, similar to those enforced in Dublin.

Subsequently, a fair, which had been held at Powerscourt, was transferred there. The town was ruled by a provost and bailiffs, who had also authority over the port and who were sometimes appointed by the Archbishop, and sometimes by the Crown.

As regards the inhabitants, information is but meagre, and is only derived from the records of the Priory of the Holy Trinity, which had charge of the spiritualities of Dalkey, and owned some property in the town. In 1326, John Kendal, who supplied the Priory House at Kill-of-the-Grange with fish, was the tenant of the Priory at Dalkey, and a holding at Dalkey on the west side of the church, “looking from the sanctuary,” which was given, in 1320, by Alice, wife of John de Dundrum, to Andrew FitzRichard, on his marriage to her daughter, as well as premises surrendered, in 1394, by Nicholas Pyn, and others leased, in 1439, by John Talbot, Lord of Feltrim, probably became portion of its property.

The port of Dalkey became more and more used as ships in-creased in size, and found the navigation of the Liffey impossible. To its port was consigned, in 1244, a cargo of deer, to stock the Royal park, at Glencree, and at its port, in 1303 and 1323, ships to convey reinforcements, and arms, and provisions for the expeditions against Scotland, were ordered to assemble.

In legal proceedings, with respect to duty on wines, in 1305, it was proved that ships were obliged to discharge portion of their cargo at Dalkey, before attempting to cross the bar of Dublin, and, in 1306, it was found that wine for the King, which proved of inferior quality, had been landed there from Bordeaux, and re-shipped to Skinburness, in Cumberland

• a port much used during the Scottish wars - and that to this circumstance, entailing a prolonged voyage on stormy seas from Michaelmas to Epiphany, the deterioration of the wine was due.

Travellers of high position were constantly arriving and departing. In 1359, the officials of Dalkey were ordered to allow a Spanish ship to depart which had been detained for the conveyance of the Prior of the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem, who was then Lord Chancellor of Ireland.

In 1384, John Penros landed at Dalkey, on his arrival as Chief Justice of Ireland, a position from which he was afterwards promoted to the English Bench. In the following year Philip de Courtenay, Lord Deputy of Ireland, disembarked there, as did two years later Sir John de Stanley, an ancestor of the Earls of Derby, who was appointed Lieutenant of the Marquis of Dublin. In 1414, Sir John Talbot, Lord of Furnival, and afterwards Earl of Shrewsbury, landed there on his arrival as Lord Lieutenant. In 1427 and 1431, James Cornwalsh, Chief Baron of the Exchequer, who was “barbarously and cruelly” murdered in the Castle of Baggotrath, landed there, after spending, on both occasions, six months in England, on business of the State. And, in 1488, Sir Richard Edgecombe, after he had accepted homage on behalf of the King from the adherents of the pretender, Lambert Simnel, sailed from Dalkey, having been escorted from Dublin by the Archbishop, judges, and nobility.

The constant passenger traffic had disadvantages as well as advantages. A pestilence, which devastated Ireland in the 14th century - killing, in Dublin alone in four months, 14,000 persons - is said to have broken out at Dalkey, whither it was conveyed by some passenger from the Sister Isle, and, doubtless, almost depopulated the town.

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Dalkey rose to its greatest importance. It was able to contribute 200 men at arms to the county levy, and, in addition to weekly markets, seven fairs were annually held.

To a traveller coming over Killiney Hill on a fine summer’s day, a pretty picture then presented itself, as the town, with its busy port, broke upon his view. Its walls, its castles, and its church stood out clearly in the sunlight, and beneath them the blue water in the sound crowded with shipping.

It is one of the fair days, and as the traveller enters the town he finds himself in an animated scene. The streets are crowded with persons intent on business. Here is a Chester merchant just arrived with produce from the English markets, anxious to sell; there is one of his Dublin brethren equally anxious to buy. Along the causeway from the sea carts continually arrive, laden with merchandise to await in the Castles convenient transport to Dublin, and from a bark which has just entered the offing, there hurries on horseback a messenger of State, with despatches for the Lord-Deputy, while several other passengers follow.

The records of the Priory of the Holy Trinity continue to afford information about the town. At the beginning of the 16th century, the Priory received from Johanna Waring, widow of Peter Bartholomew, and their daughter, gifts of land, and from James White, Chaplain of Dalkey, and Archdeacon of Armagh, a house within the town.

In the latter half of the century the Chapter of the Cathedral, as the Priory establishment had then become, leased various premises, including eight houses, to Henry Walsh, of Suttonstown, who assigned them subsequently to Alderman Walter Ball, of Dublin, and a holding on the west side of the church to Thomas Morgan, who undertook to build a thatched house and to supply the Dean, when in residence at Dean’s Grange, with fish. St. Mary’s Abbey had also property in Dalkey, which, after the dissolution of that house came, like Bullock, into the possession of Peter Talbot of Fassaroe.

Travellers still continued to use the port, and it was the one generally chosen by the chief governors. In 1534, Sir William Skeffington; in 154S, Sir Edward Bellingham; in 1553, Sir Anthony St. Leger; in 1565, Sir Henry Sidney, whose crossing was delayed for two months by contrary winds, in 1584 Sir John Perrot and in 1599 the Earl of Essex, landed there; while in 1558 the Earl of Sussex selected it as the place of embarkation for the expedition against the Scottish invaders in Ulster. It was also still used for merchandise, and, in 1559, the Master of the Rolls, who engaged in the manufacture of hats and tapestry, was allowed to export wool from the port of Dalkey, in exchange for the materials he required for “these mysteries”.

The close of the 16th century marks the disuse of Dalkey, and the adoption of Ringsend as the port of Dublin, and from that time the town lost its importance commercially, and soon became ruinous.

The principal residents then were the Morgans and the Dongans. The latter were ancestors of the Earl of Limerick, who was attainted by William III., and were sons of John Dongan, Remembrancer of the Exchequer, who was leased, in 1586, by the Chapter of Christ Church Cathedral, a moiety of a castle in Dalkey.

Later on Sir John Dongan, a grandson of the Remembrancer, and Henry Walsh, were the chief inhabitants. Amongst other owners of property were the family of Barnewall of Shankill; of Fagan of Bullock, who succeeded to Talbot’s property; of Bee, and of Kernan.

In the time of the Commonwealth only one of the seven castles was habitable, and the population was returned as three English and forty-one Irish, inhabiting thirteen houses. Captain Richard Newcomen, who has been mentioned in connection with Bullock, was then the owner, but after the Restoration, besides Christ Church Cathedral, we find the Fagans, the Walshes, the Dongans, and the Wolverstons of Stillorgan, who had succeeded to the property of the Barnewalls, in possession. Subsequently, the Duke of York, afterwards James II., Viscount Fitzwilliam, and Sir Henry Talbot acquired property in the town.

At the beginning of the 18th century, on the sale of the Irish estates of James II., the possessions of that sovereign at Dalkey were bought by Colonel Allen, of Stillorgan, now represented by the Earl of Carysfort. Some years later, Eustace Budgell, one of the writers in the *Spectator, *was a resident at Dalkey. He was a cousin of Joseph Addison, under whose wing he came to Ireland, where he was appointed Under-Secretary of State, and, subsequently, Accountant-General, with a seat in Parliament, as member for Mullingar, a position which he held for only a few years. About the middle of that century the owners of Dalkey were Mr. Bull, Sir William Mayne, afterwards Baron Newhaven, son-in-law of the second Viscount Allen; and Mr. Baldwin, who held under Christ Church.

Amongst the residents was Mr. Peter Wilson, a well-known bookseller, and publisher of the Dublin *Almanac *or *Directory *of his day, who wrote a charming description of Dalkey and its neighbourhood, to which reference has already been made. He says that, in the year 1770, the town comprised, besides the venerable ruins of the castles and of the church, some good houses, and about twenty cabins, which “served indiscriminately for the owners, their cattle, and their swine.”

Within his recollection the street, owing to its rocky surface, had been impassable for carriages, and difficult for a horse to traverse, but it had been levelled, and the old road which ran on the north side of the town was then only used on the occasion of funerals.

Of the castles, six, which were known as the Goat’s Castle (now forming part of the Town Hail); the House Castle, the Black Castle, Wolverston’s Castle, Dongan’s Castle, and Archbold’s Castle, remained. The House Castle had been converted into a dwelling by Mr. Robert Barry; the Black Castle had been made into a billiard-room; two more were inhabited by publicans; the fifth was a stable, and the sixth formed part of a cottage.

The lead mines on the lands of Rochestown had been originally worked by a firm, which had its smelting houses on Dalkey Common. These had been sold, in 1757, after some hundred tons of lead ore had been raised, and were reopened, about the year 1780, by Messrs. Darcy and Knox, but were soon again in the market. A cotton factory, which, in 1781, was totally destroyed by fire, had also been established in the town, on ground belonging to Mr. Watson, of Bullock.

At the close of the 18th century, the principal inhabitants were Sir John Hasler, Chamberlain to the Lord Lieutenant; Mr. William Macartney, father of Sir John Macartney, of Rochestown, who had represented Belfast in Parliament for many years; Mr. John Patrickson, and Miss Charlotte Brooke, authoress of “Reliques of Irish Poetry.” There was then a scheme to build a crescent of houses, and to construct a bathing-place, as well as to make the present road from Kingstown to Dalkey, but building to any extent did not commence until some thirty years later, when speculators were attracted to Dalkey in hope of finding gold, and found wealth, not in ore, but in the value of the building sites.

Dalkey Island

The** **ruined church, for such undoubtedly is the structure on the northern end of Dalkey Island, is coeval with and similar in construction to that of Kill-of-the-Grange. It has a primitive doorway and window, and its side walls project beyond the end ones, as do those of Kill Church, forming pilasters. The belfry is a later addition; and a fireplace and enlarged doorway and window in the south wall were made by the workmen employed in the construction of the Martello Tower, who used it as their dwelling. Near the church there is a sacred well, and on one of the rocks a curious cross is engraved.

Before the Christian era, according to the Four Masters, in the year of the world 3501, a dun, or fort, was erected, on Dalkey Island, by Sedgha, a Milesian chieftain, of great renown. During the Danish invasions the island was used as a place of refuge. Coibhdeanach, Abbot of Cillachoidh, was drowned near it in 938, while fleeing from the Norsemen; and the few Danes who escaped from Dublin, in 942, when it was destroyed by the Irish, fled to the island in ships.

The church, which is supposed to have been dedicated to St. Begnet, the patron saint of Dalkey, who possibly retired from the worldly pleasures of the mainland to the island, indicates, by its state of preservation, use in the later middle ages; but nothing is recorded of the history of the island from the 12th century, when it was given by Hugh de Lacy to the See of Dublin, until the 17th century, when it was destitute of inhabitants and used for grazing of cattle.

In the succeeding century it saw some changing scenes, and was the subject of various projects. In 1738 it was selected by Lord and Lady Tullamore, then living at Dunleary, as the scene of an entertainment, to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne, at which many loyal toasts were drunk.

In 1766 it saw the bodies of two noted pirates hanging in an iron case on the adjacent Muglin rocks. And towards the close of the century, it was made the object for boating excursions by the Viceroys while staying at Blackrock House, and was the scene of extraordinary revels, presided over by “His facetious Majesty, Stephen the First, King of Dalkey, Emperor of the Muglins, Prince of the Holy Island of Magee, Elector of Lambay and Ireland’s Eye, Defender of his own faith and Respecter of all others, Sovereign of the illustrious Order of the Lobster and Periwinkle.” It was suggested as the basis of a harbour and the site of a prison, and during the terror of French invasion, was guarded by some troops and a few small guns.

Ecclesiastical History

Adjacent** **to the castle, now incorporated in the Town Hall, stands the ruined church of Dalkey. The remains comprise a nave and chancel, and, although the church was evidently rebuilt, still include a primitive doorway and window. The most remarkable feature of the ruins, however, is the belfry on the western end, and a flight of steps, by which it is approached. It has openings for two bells, and it has been suggested, from the facility for access to them, that they were sounded by being struck and not by being tolled. In the graveyard, at least one stone with concentric markings, supposed by some to be of Pagan origin, has been discovered.

The church was dedicated to St. Begnet the Virgin, the patron saint of Dalkey, who is supposed to have flourished about the 7th century, and whose festival falls on the 12th November. After the English Conquest it was assigned to the Priory of the Holy Trinity, but, as mentioned in the history of Kill-of-the-Grange subsequently formed portion of the prebend of Clonkeen, in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It was restored to the Priory in the middle of the 13th century, and was, in 1324, one of the churches over which the Archdeacon of Dublin demanded a right of visitation. He cited “the discreet man, the Chaplain of Dalkey,” to appear before him, and, on resistance being offered to him, pronounced sentence of excommunication on all concerned in the opposition.

In the 16th century, on the dissolution of the Priory, the church was assigned to the Dean of the newly-founded Cathedral, and we find amongst its chaplains, in 1524, James White, Archdeacon of Armagh; in 1566, John Sheridan, and, in 1587, Morgan Byrne. They had also to serve the parish of Killiney, and were provided with a house and had a right of fishing. At the close of that century the tithes in consideration of assistance given in re-building the Cathedral spire, were leased by the Chapter to Richard Fagan, of Bullock.

The opening of the 17th century found the church in a ruinous condition, and the only attendants at the services, excepting in the fishing season, when English and Scotch fishermen resorted to Dalkey, were the curate’s family. Amongst those who held the cure, at a stipend of £4 a year, were, in 1615, the Rev. Owen Ellis, the curate of Kill-of-the-Grange; in 1630, the Rev. William Morris Lloyd, the curate of Monkstown; in 1640, the Rev. John Wilson, who was forced by the rebels to fly to Dublin, and there died from “want of relief in his sickness”; and, in 1642, the Rev. James Bishop, a Fellow of Trinity College, who was ordained that year. Bishop was the last of its curates. After the Restoration the parish was united to Monkstown, and the Church of St. Begnet has not since been used.

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