Parish of Kiltiernan

(i.e., The Church of Tiernan). **

The parish was stated in the seventeenth century to contain the townlands of Kiltiernan, Ballybetagh, and Glencullen.

It now contains the townlands of Ballybetagh *(i.e., *the town of a family or man named Betagh), Boranaraltry *(i.e., *the road of the height?), Brockey *(i.e., *the badger warren), Glebe, Glencullen, Glencullen Mountain, Kiltiernan, Kiltiernan Domain, Kingston, Newtown.

The mountains or hills of Kiltiernan, Glencullen, and Newtown lie within the parish. There is a well, called the butter well, supposed to possess curative qualities, in the townland of Glencullen.

Amongst numerous objects of archaeological interest dating from primeval times which have been found within the parish are-in the townland, of Kiltiernan Domain a cromlech, in the townland of Glencullen a pillar stone and a rock known as the stone of the hounds, in the townland of Ballybetagh a place of sepulture called a giant’s grave, and several enclosures and mounds, and on Newtown Mountain a cromlech, a pillar stone, a tumulus with a fosse and several stone circles and lines of stones, Besides these there are the interesting remains of the primitive church of Kiltiernan. **

Kiltiernan and Glencullen.**

The parish of Kiltiernan, which adjoins to the north the parish of Kilgobbin, to the west the parish of Cruagh, to the east the parish of Tully, and to the south the County Wicklow, is intersected, like Kilgobbin, by the high road from Dublin to Enniskerry, and adjoins the remarkable natural chasm in the mountains called the Scalp, through which that road passes.

Numerous traces of primeval times are to be found within its limits. The most remarkable of these is a cromlech almost equal in size to the one at Mount Venus. It lies not far from the ruined church. As in the case of the Mount Venus cromlech the roof rock rests partly on the ground, and Beranger has suggested that its position is due to the earthquake which, according to his theory, overthrew the roof rock of the Mount Venus cromlech. Besides this cromlech there is, on the townland of Ballybetagh, a place of sepulture known as a giant’s grave, and Mr. Eugene O’Curry, when investigating the neighbourhood for the Ordnance Survey, found on Newtown Mountain several stone circles and a cairn known as Ossian’s grave, and on the mountain of Ballybetagh traces of an ancient road, which he had no doubt led, in prehistoric times, to the mansion of a king, or some other person of importance.

At the time of the Anglo-Norman conquest Kiltiernan and Glencullen were portion of the territory of the Irish chiefs known as MacGillamocholmog, already mentioned under Monkstown as founders of St. Mary’s Abbey, and were included amongst lands which the chief of that line at the time of the Conquest was allowed to retain.

Before long, however, they were granted by him to one of the invaders, William de Carew, and were subsequently given by the latter to the Abbey of St. Mary the Virgin - a gift which had ready confirmation from John, son of Dermot, the direct descendant of the chief who founded that establishment.

At Kiltiernan the white monks erected a manor house, which they occupied from time to time, and it was probably in connection with their residence there that at the close of the thirteenth century an accusation was brought against the Abbot of working his will with wild beasts in the neighbouring royal forest of Glencree, and of using nets, other engines, and greyhounds, to the great injury of his Lord the King. Although in the succeeding centuries Kiltiernan can have been only of little profit to the Abbey owing to the frequency of the invasions from the Irish, the Abbots were strict in preserving their rights.

At the beginning of the fourteenth century the Abbey was involved in the dispute between Peter Harold and his relatives, mentioned under Kilgobbin, and at the beginning of the fifteenth century an inquisition was held at Kiltiernan to determine the boundaries of Kiltiernan and those of Carrickmines.

At the time of the dissolution of the religious houses by Henry VIII.** **a castle and some cottages are stated to have stood on the lands of Kiltiernan and Glencullen, but only sixteen acres are mentioned as being tilled. There were three old hamlets, known as the Old Grange of Kilcullin, Betaghton, and Ballycakan, within the townlands, but except in the first, in which two cottages had been built the year before, there were no buildings fit for occupation in them.

Probably in the hope of securing them for the Abbey, the lands had been shortly before leased to Walter Goulding, a much privileged friend of Lord Deputy Gray. This lease was, however, broken, and the lands were granted by the Crown first to Walter Peppard and afterwards to Edward Bassenet, Dean of St. Patrick’s, who is said to have sometimes occupied the castle.

After the death of Bassenet the land’s were sold by his son in 1577 to Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam, of Merrion, and remained in possession of Sir Thomas’s descendants for more than a hundred years. In connection with the litigation between the first Viscount Fitzwilliam and his brothers a charge on these lands is often mentioned, and only for the advice and aid of that great money lender, the first Earl of Cork, Viscount Fitzwilliam would have been committed to Dublin Castle for contempt of court in not paying it off.

Before the Commonwealth the castle, described as having been a fair stone house, had become ruinous, and shortly after the Restoration there were only six houses on the lands of Kiltiernan and eleven on those of Glencullen, none of them having more than one hearth.

The principal farmer appears to have been William Nally, of Roebuck, and amongst the residents of Glencullen “Murtagh ye ploughman, Walter ye carman, and Joseph ye sieve-maker,” figure large. The Fitzwilliams parted with their interest in the lands before the close of the seventeenth century, the lands of Glencullen passing to Mr. Thomas FitzSimon, ancestor of the present owner, and the lands of Kiltiernan to the Johnson family. The latter is a family which has attained to much distinction in our military annals, and on two of its members baronetcies have been conferred. At Kiltiernan a manor house as well as a mill, was erected by its new owners, and amongst its occupants we find Christopher Johnson, who died 1706; his only son, also Christopher, who died unmarried in 1730; and his brother, Lieutenant Allen Johnson, who died in 1747, leaving a widow (who married secondly General Edward Pole) and several children.

About this time, the middle of the eighteenth century, Kiltiernan became the home of a mighty Nimrod, Johnny Adair, whose exploits in the hunting field are commemorated by Thomas Mozeen in the song of “The Kilruddery Hunt.” He was the eldest son of a famous wine merchant, Robert Adair, of Holybrook, near Bray, who represented Philipstown in the Irish Parliament, and as a wealthy bachelor Johnny Adair devoted himself to a life of sport and enjoyment.

He was, we are told, the prince of good fellows, and his house was famous for its bumpers, beef, and good cheer, which he obtained on emergency from his neighbour, Owen Bray, the innkeeper of Loughunstown.

O’Keeffe, the actor, mentions that Johnny Adair, who was noted for his tremendous hoarse voice, was a very large muscular man, and a place at the Scalp known as Adair’s leap indicates his powers as an equestrian - not in being able to take the leap, which certainly he could not have done, but in the fact that according to tradition he was able to wheel his horse round when he was on the very brink of the precipice.

Possibly this horse was an old bay hunter which he leaves in his will to his brother-in-law, directing him not to hunt his favourite more than once a week, and to feed him constantly on oats three times a day.

Later on the eldest son of Lieutenant Allen Johnson, Sir John Allen Johnson, M.P. for Baltinglass, whose political career gained for him a baronetcy, became the chief resident at Kiltiernan. He raised and commanded in the time of the Volunteers a corps called the Rathdown Light Horse, the troopers in which were elegantly mounted on fine hunters, and made a great show in scarlet uniforms faced with black, white waistcoats, and red plumed helmets.

Subsequently a Captain Richard Anderson came to reside at Kiltiernan, and seems to have been active also in raising volunteer troops. In March, 1799, it is announced that a corps of yeomanry called the Kiltiernan Rangers, consisting of fifty-two privates, besides officers, had been raised in the parts of the County Dublin near the County Wicklow, to protect the long-suffering inhabitants, and in 1803 Captain Richard Anderson was stated to be in command of the Kiltiernan Yeomanry establishment, which then consisted of sixty-five infantry. **

Ecclesiastical History**

Not far from the village of Golden Ball lies the ruined church of this parish. It is a structure of a very early date, and consists of a simple oblong building without a chancel. Externally it is said to measure forty-eight feet by twenty-four feet, the walls being two feet nine inches thick. The chief features are a square headed doorway in the west end, a pointed doorway in the north wall, a round headed light in the east end. A font has been found near the church.

The foundation of the church has been attributed to a saint called Tiernan, whose festival is celebrated on April 8, but of him nothing is known. During the ownership of the Kiltiernan lands by the monks of St. Mary’s Abbey the church was doubtless served by one of their number, but there is no record of its use after the dissolution of the Abbey.

In 1615 the parish is stated to have been sequestrated and the church unprovided with books or curate, and in 1630 the nave and chancel are said to have been down. All the parishioners were then stated to be recusants, but the Vicar of Bray, Simon Swayne, was nominally in charge of the parish, and later on the curate of Monkstown, Thomas Davis, was appointed to the cure. After the Restoration the parish was placed under Bray, and so remained until the nineteenth century.

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