History - Brief History of the area

This is an extract I found on the internet - it can be found here too.  Hover your mouse over the pictures for details.

CHAPTER 16

Kilgobbin, Kiltiernan and the Enniskerry Road
FROM the earliest times the area between Dundrum and Enniskerry would appear to have been densely populated if we can judge from the number of prehistoric tombs and burials which have been uncovered from time to time.  There is an even greater concentration of ringforts, particularly in the townlands of Ballybetagh and Killegar where something like twelve have been recorded.  In early Christian times there were monastic foundations at Kilgobbin, Kiltiernan, Killegar, Ballyman and Rathmichael as well as at Monastery and Annahasky near Enniskerry and possibly at Jamestown.  After the Norman invasion much of the land in this area was in the hands of the church or the religious orders and other parts were held by lay grantees, who were expected to build stone defensive houses on their properties.  South of Enniskerry lay Fercullen and the Royal Manor of Obrun which was overrun by the Irish in the fourteenth century, and the Royal Forest of Glencree which was also lost to the Irish at the same time.  It is obvious that there must have been a considerable amount of communication between the various centres, as well as between Dublin and Fercullen, and there must therefore have been a network of passages and cartways existing from early times.  Since 1760 when John Rocque first produced his detailed road map of the area vast changes have been made in the road system and these changes are clearly shown on a somewhat later map, that of John Taylor in 1816. The main features of interest shown on this map are:

1. The main road passes through Sandyford village, Murphystown and Kilgobbin, the branch which now goes by Lamb’s Cross was not in existence then.
2. The Ballyogan road from Murphystown to Carrickmines is named as a new road.
3. The Glenamuck road from Golden Ball to Carrickmines is named as a new road.
4. The Ballycorus road from Kiltiernan to Shankill is named as a new road.
5. The existing road from Kiltiernan through the Scalp to Enniskerry is shown, and where the road divides at Monastery outside Enniskerry the western branch is named as a new road. The Barnaslingan road is also shown passing over the eastern side of the Scalp.  When we look at John Rocque’s map of 1760 we get a picture of what the road system was like before all these new roads were made. The original road to Stepaside and Kiltiernan is shown with branches leading to Ballyedmonduff and Glencullen. A road branches off at Golden Ball but does not follow the line of the present Glenamuck road. The last remains of this old road can still be seen near Springfield Farm and leading eastward towards Carrickmines Golf Club House. Houses are shown at Ticknock and Ballycorus with a short
spur road to serve them. 

From Kiltiernan the road is completely changed. The main line through the Scalp did not then exist and the only road was by Barnaslingan, over the eastern side of the Scalp and through Phrompstown and Annaghaskin. Where this road now joins the Ballyman road, it continues southward, first as a byroad and then as a green lane, past Rannock House, where it joins the road to Enniskerry. This is still recognised as an old pass for foot travellers to Enniskerry and it would appear to have been the original old coach road to Enniskerry and Powerscourt before the main road was constructed through the Scalp around 1770.   When travelling the road to Enniskerry the first village beyond Dundrum is Sandyford. The road divides before entering the village which is entirely on the left hand branch, the original main road, the branch to the right not having been made until 1821. To the west of the junction is the estate of Moreen sometimes called Marino on maps of the early part of the last century.
This is in the townland of Balally, formerly written Ballawley, the townland of Olave, a Norse name. The first record of building here was in 1280 when John de Walhope was granted seven oak trees from the Royal Forest in Glencree to build a house on land he had received at Ballawley. According to the Civil Survey of 1654 there was a thatched castle here and the walls of an old chapel. The castle was then owned by the Walshes but they sold the property in 1656 to Mr.Christian Borr for £700.   The house named Moreen was built about the end of the eighteenth century by Mr. William McKay, a solicitor, who was assistant clerk of the council. He was succeeded by his son Daniel and his grandson Manners McKay and through the marriage of a daughter of the latter to Major James Lennox McFarlane it was held by that family down to the turn of the century. It later passed by marriage to the Fitzsimmons of Glencullen. The house burned down about 1970 and the Central Bank has since been built on part of the estate. The grounds covered a large area and at the southern extremity was a rocky height covered with scrub. Here a stone tower had been erected for viewing the country and for use as a tea terrace in fine weather. It had a flight of stone steps inside and from its shape it was known as the “churn”. It was damaged by a workman in 1903 and has since disappeared completely. Nearby at a corner of the boundary wall is the remains of a small structure approached by steps and known as the turret.
The site of the chapel mentioned in the civil survey of 1654 is preserved and the outline of the building can still be traced in a grove of trees. It measured 40’ by 24’ 10” and the walls were 3’ thick. Archbishop Bulkeley reported in 1650 that the Walshes were Papists and that a priest named Cahill commonly said mass there. A tradition was recorded nearly two centuries ago that this chapel had been erected by two neighbouring families who had been engaged in a desperate conflict at this spot and who had agreed to build a chapel there. It was then known as the cross church of Moreen. The surrounding field known as the chapel field was tilled for the first time about 1870 when many human skulls and bones were disturbed. There was formerly a well nearby, enclosed by a stone structure, but this is no longer to be seen.

Also within the estate is a broad bank of soil planted with trees which, tradition claims, was part of the Pale ditch. It is 240 yards long nearly 4’high and up to 12’wide on top. It resembles in appearance the better preserved parts of the Pale ditch near Clane, Co. Kildare except that the deep drains which would have existed both inside and outside have been filled in. This feature was listed in the Dublin Co. Council report on local antiquities and when permission was sought recently to build on this part of the estate the council insisted that this relic of the ancient Pale and its trees should be preserved.  Before entering the village of Sandyford the large house on the right, occupied by the Davis family, is famous as the country residence of the notorious Major Henry Charles Sirr, Town Mayor of Dublin and Police Magistrate during the period of the rebellions of 1798 and 1803.He was a relentless foe of the United Irishmen and was responsible for the arrest of many outstanding leaders including Lord Edward Fitzgerald. He is said to have discontinued staying in Sandyford after the execution of Robert Emmet.

The parish church of Sandyford occupies a prominent place in the village. Throughout the eighteenth century there had been a penal day thatched chapel at Sandyford, served by a curate, and the following reference appears in Exshaws Magazine for 14th May 1779 “Some villians broke into the room of Rev. Mr. Mulvey, a Romish clergyman of Sandyford, and plundered it of many articles of value. That gentleman calling on one of them by name, the villian gave him two desperate cuts on the neck with a large knife, but happily missed the windpipe, he however lies dangerously ill”. He survived this but died three years later.  The erection of the present church was commenced by Rev. William Flood sometime before 1823 and was unfinished when he died the following year. Sandyford and Glencullen were then part of the old parish of Kingstown but in 1829 they were formed into a separate parish under Rev. P. Smyth. Funds were collected locally to complete the church and Mr. B.E. Lawless of Kilgobbin Cottage paid for the roofing out of his own pocket. The site was given free of rent by a family named Swift. The church was opened in 1830 and the tower, spire and vestry were added in 1840. A schoolhouse was built the same year at a cost of £500 provided by a bequest from Lord Castlecoote.

Just beyond Sandyford is a crossroads where Hillcrest Road leads to Lamb’s Cross. This was formerly known as the Gullet. The road to the left leads to Murphystown where there are some remains of an ancient castle in the grounds of Glencairn estate. This castle was held in the sixteenth century by the Harolds and passed through several owners until 1724 when it came into possession of the Ussher Family. The house named Glencairn was built about 1860 by Mr.George Gresson to the design of the famous architect Sir. Thos. Deane and on Gresson’s death in 1876 it passed to the Right Hon Mr. Justice Murphy. About 1904 it became the home of Mr. Richard “Boss” Croker who had made a fortune in America and trained racehorses here, one of which, Orby, was a derby winner. Boss Croker died here in 1922. The house has since been purchased by the British Government and used as an Embassy.

At the corner of the Ballyogan road there is an inscribed stone set into a high wall. It appears to have been the head of a window or doorway and reads as follows “Content in a Cottage and Envy to no One B.D.M. 1771”. According to local tradition it was placed there by a lady of titled family who married her coachman.

Kilgobbin and Stepaside

The next townland is Kilgobbin where there are the ruins of an ancient castle, partly demolished and overgrown with ivy. It was in much better condition when George Petrie made his drawing in 1819. It was built by the Walshes who occupied these lands from the fifteenth century. In 1641 the castle was occupied by an officer in the Irish Army named Matthew Talbot, for whose head the Lord Justices had offered a reward of £400. It was attacked by a party of horse soldiers but the defenders fired a fusillade of musket fire which killed two of the soldiers. The castle was later taken over by General Monk who left a garrison in it. It appears to have been occupied down to the eighteenth century but when it was visited by the antiquary Austin Cooper in 1780 he found it out of repair. He saw holes dug in the floor where people had been looking for gold. There had formerly been an arched gateway passing through the building but this was destroyed when a large portion fell down in 1834.

Not far from the castle is the ancient monastic site of Kilgobbin, where the ruins of a church stand in a prominent position on the summit of a steep hillock. This ruin is of no great antiquity having been built only in 1707 by Archbishop King and went out of use in 1826 but it occupies the site of one which was ancient at the time of the Norman invasion. Kilgobbin is probably named from St. Gobban whose festival was on 1st April but there is nothing recorded about the early history of this site. According to a note written in 1837 in the O.S. letters there was a holy well known as the Eye Well near the church but a drain sunk in its neighbourhood caused it to disappear. An important relic to survive from that period is the old stone cross which stands beside the road. According to an old tradition this was found buried in the graveyard when the enclosing wall was being built around 1800. The cross at present stands in a socket cut in a large flattish boulder in which there is also a bullaun. It is a ringed cross 8’3” high but has lost one arm and part of the ring. There is a small tenon on the top to hold a capping of some sort. There is a shallow moulding at the angles and down the centre of the shaft where it terminates in a pair of leaves. There is a crucifixion at the centre the figure being represented in a long garment and standing on a small platform.On the other side of the cross there is another figure about the same size and this probably represents Christ in Glory as these two scenes are shown in this position on many ninth and tenth century crosses and this would appear to be the period to which this monument belongs.

In 1983 Dublin County Council undertook conservation work on the old church under Mr. Padraig Barry, Engineer. This included re-pointing the stonework and rebuilding the porch which was in a dangerous condition. The attention of the engineer was drawn to the lintel of  the porch door which had the appearance of an ancient grave slab and on removal this is what it proved to be. It has a pattern of lines joining the corners of the slab with another line down the centre. Somewhat similar patterns exist on slabs at Rathfarnham & Whitechurch. A part of a slab bearing concentric circles was found in the graveyard by the stonemason Mr. Long. These two stones belong to the tenth to the twelfth century.  A small part of a cross-head was found by Mr. Pilkington among a heap of rubble inside the church but unfortunately it later disappeared from the site. A pair of notched stones were found, built into the porch wall. These were retained for display inside the church. Parts of quern stones were also found.

Over a hundred years ago the bulk of the orders for cut stone came from the Dublin Corporation Paving Board. In Fulham’s Glen above the village there is a small cave in an old quarry known as the soldier’s cave. This name originated in olden times when a soldier, to avoid corporal punishment, came out and hid here. He died of exposure and his body was later found in the cave. During the War of Independence a camp was established in Barnacullia by the 6th Batt of the Dublin Brigade. This was raided by police and the Black and Tans on 19th September 1920.  The road from Sandyford by Lamb’s Cross, which was built in 1821, is now the main line. A short way up the Blackglen road towards Lamb Doyles there is a narrow passage beside some council houses which leads to the ruins of Countess Markievicz’s cottage where she frequently stayed before the 1916 Rising. This cottage was taken by her about 1907 and was often visited by Pearse, Connolly, Griffith and other leaders in the national movement. It was also used as a training centre for the Fianna Eireann, Boy Scouts. During the Easter week 1916 the wife and children of James Connolly stayed here. The cottage was occupied down to about 1945 when the last tenant was moved to a council house, it was then condemned and the roof removed. A committee was formed to restore the cottage as a memorial to the Countess but when they were informed that they would be required to rebuild the walls the project was abandoned. The adjoining cottage was occupied by Mrs. Mulligan who has many intimate memories of Countess Markievicz.

Lamb's Cross

Beyond Lamb’s Cross is the well wooded estate of Ferndale and high above it on the side of the Three Rock Mountain is the village of Barnacullia (the top of the woods) which for centuries has been the home of quarry men and stone cutters. Ferndale was leased by Alderman Darley form Sir William Verner in 1816. At that time Alderman Darley left a passage way through the estate as a shortcut from Barnacullia to Kilgobbin. In 1861 Judge Darley, the son of Alderman Darley, made some alteration to this passage to which the people of Barnacullia objected, pulled down his walls and claimed a right of way. This led to a law suit and a decree was given against the defendants. After this, in order to assert the owners rights, the back gate was locked at stated periods. Trouble broke out again in 1910 when Edmund S. Darley J.P. threatened to withdraw this privilege and again gates were broken down. This passage is still in use. It is fenced off from the estate and passes by a tunnel underneath the avenue.   In 1893 Judge Darley purchased the fee simple of the estate, rebuilt the house and improved and planted the grounds at a cost of £10,000.

A short way past Stepaside in the garden of a house named “St. Patrick’s Well” there is a beautifully kept holy well dedicated to the national saint. It now forms a centre piece for a rock garden and pond and there was formerly a small plaster statue of the saint in a niche over the well. This has been replaced by a teak statue carved by the famous sculptress Imogen Stewart.  This well used to be visited regularly on St. Patrick’s day and rounds were performed down to about 1916 and even still the occasional pilgrim appears, mainly old people who have been away from the locality for a long time. This is in the townland of Jamestown but was formerly better known as Patrick’s Well land.  In the portion of Jamestown on the opposite side of the road is the derelict remains of Jamestown House, once an extensive farm occupied by the O’Rorke family who also owned the Ravensdale Mills at Mulhuddart. 

In a sandpit near the house a number of late bronze age burials have been discovered from time to time. These were deposited in pottery urns and enclosed in small stone chambers or cists. These would date from about 1,500 to 800 B.C. The burial urns are now in the National Museum.
Situated on the farm, which is now a golf course, is an ancient passageway known as Cannaberry Lane, where there is a holy well dedicated to St. James and a very unusual stone cross. In 1901 Professor O’Reilly after an exhaustive study of early documents arrived at the conclusion that Jamestown was originally part of Ballyogan townland which was formerly known as Ballymochan and that this townland was named after Kean, a brother of St. Kevin, whose feast day fell on 1st May, the same day as that of St. James the less, after whom the townland was probably named. He was even able to identify the site of the burial ground, between the cross and the house, as excavations made in this area from time to time had always resulted in the discovery of human skulls and bones.  The stone cross is 5 feet high and on each face is a large figure in high relief. The figure on the west side appears to be humped backed and bald headed, the hands are joined and the legs wide apart. That on the other side is even more odd. The head is enclosed in a raised ring and the chin defined by an incised loop. The body is erect and is standing on some sort of base. No date can be suggested but because of the large figures and high relief it is probably late twelfth century.

In a field at the eastern end of the farm there were two ringforts, both of which were cleared away in the last twenty years.

The next house on the same side is a very old one named Glenamuck House which is marked on the map of 1760. The name has recently been changed to Shaldon Grange. On Taylor and Skinners map of 1777 and in the Post Chaise Companion the house was named Biddyfield but on the original outline maps prepared for the O.S. in 1837 Glenamuck North was named Biddyfield and the house was named Glenard House. The owner Capt. J. Strong, who was a veteran of the Crimean War, objected to these names being used and stated that the name Biddyfield arose from a person who held it for a short time and called it after his wife. His objections were upheld. The house was described as a beautiful mansion house sheltered by trees.

On the opposite side of the road in the townland of Glebe is the Church of St. Tiernan built in 1826 to serve the church of Ireland parishes of Kiltiernan and Kilgobbin and replace the old church at Kilgobbin. It was designed by John Semple and cost £1 900 of which £500 was the gift of the Board of First Fruits, £500 was received from Lord Powerscourt and the remainder was assessed on the parish. Rev. Thos. Arthur O Morchoe who was rector here from 1894 until his death in 1921. He spent many years collecting material for a history of the parish, some parts of which were published in the Church of Ireland Gazette. In 1934 Rev. Chancellor J.B. Leslie used this material to publish an excellent little booklet on the parish which he called O Morchoe’s history of Kiltiernan and Kilgobbin. Nearby is the old rectory rebuilt in 1815 at a cost of £461-10-9 1/4.
 

Golden Ball
The next village is Golden Ball where there is an imposing gateway and avenue leading to the site of Kiltiernan House. The name Golden Ball is at least as old as 1768 and is said to have been called from two large gold painted balls which were on the gate piers. There was formerly a bakery here run by the Suttons. For heating the ovens they always used furze which gave off an even heat and this was collected all summer and ricked in the yard. The next road on the west side is the old way leading to Glencullen and at the corner is the attractive Catholic Parish church of Our Lady of the Wayside which was built in 1929. A laneway off the Glencullen road known as Bishop’s Lane leads to the old burial ground and ruined church of Kiltiernan. This had been the site of a monastery long before the Norman invasion when the lands of Kiltiernan and Glencullen were held by an Irish chief named Gillamocholmog who was one of the founders of St. Mary’s Abbey in Dublin. He was allowed by the Normans to retain his lands but he sold his interest to William de Carew who later granted the lands to St. Mary’s Abbey. The monks of St. Mary’s occupied a manor house or castle here and farmed the land. In the thirteenth century they were accused of poaching game from the Kings Royal Forest at Glencree.  On the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540 these lands were granted, first to Walter Pepard and later to Dean Edward Bassenet of St. Patrick’s Cathedral from whom they passed in 1577 to Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam of Merrion, whose family held them for 100 years. The castle was then unoccupied and ruinous, it is now long gone and even the site is uncertain. Before the end of the seventeenth century, Kiltiernan was sold to the Johnstons and Glencullen to the Fitzsimons.  The Johnstons built a manor house where the ruins of Kiltiernan House now stand and they also had a mill which probably occupied the site of the old paper mill. In 1768 the lands were sold to Capt. Richard Anderson, although he does not appear to have occupied the house until the end of the century. He was later in command of the Kiltiernan yeomanry and he fortified Kiltiernan House against the rebels in 1798. His brothers Robert and George also held land in Kiltiernan. He also built a paper mill, the remains of which still survive. The Andersons lived at Kiltiernan down to about 1860 after which it changed hands a number of times. In 1902 it was occupied by George Noble, Count Plunkett and was the home of his son Joseph Mary Plunkett who was executed in 1916. The house was burned down in 1912 and only some fragments now remain.  The Rev. O Morchoe, already mentioned, had four sons, three of whom joined the British army and served throughout the First World War. One of them, Kenneth became a captain in the Royal Irish Fusiliers and was on duty in Dublin in 1916. He was ordered to take charge of the firing party which was to execute Joseph Mary Plunkett who had been his near neighbour in Kiltiernan and with whom he was on terms of close friendship. He refused to carry out the orders and according to his cousin, Monk Gibbon in his book ‘Inglorious Soldier’ his refusal was respected and accepted. According to Eilish Dillon, a niece of Joseph Plunkett in ‘AVictorian Household’ he was court-martialled and discharged from the army.
 

Kilternan Dolmen
On the mountain side to the north-west of Kiltiernan House there is a fine dolmen, known as the Giant’s Grave. The cap stone which has been estimated to weigh 80 tons measures 23’ x 17’ x 6’ thick. It has become displaced and the supporting stones are mostly leaning over at an angle. It appeared from old drawings that it was gradually slipping down and about 1956 the Board of Works inserted a concrete support to prevent further collapse. When the foundations were being excavated for this work ten sherds of coarseware pottery from the neolithic period were found and six flint implements which included three hollow scrapes and two arrowheads.   This type of tomb dates from the late stone age and would have been built about 2,000 years B.C. to 2,500 years B.C.

The ruined church which stands in the old burial ground dates from the time of the early Irish monastery. It was apparently founded by St. Tiernan whose feast day is on 8th April. It is typical of that period and consists of a single chamber without a chancel orientated in an east-west direction. The original doorway was in the west gable and as usual was square headed and spanned by a massive lintel. The jambs incline slightly towards the top. On the inside of the lintel there is a raised ridge to hold the wooden frame of the door. This doorway was blocked up about the thirteenth century and a pointed doorway was opened in the south wall.The east gable was largely rebuilt at the same time and a later window inserted. There is an old font still preserved here and it has recently been secured in the window opening. This church was in use down to the reformation. In 1630 it was stated to be in ruins and all the parishioners were recusants.

A short distance west of the burial ground is the ruin of the paper mill which was started by Capt. Anderson. This passed through a number of owners including Healey, Walter McMahon and Thomas Brown, before it closed down in 1867. The remains of the mill stream and pond still survive and are converted into a beautiful water garden. The stream which operated this mill flowed under the road, past Kiltiernan Lodge and supplied another mill pond to operate a cotton mill. This mill was first established in 1801 by Samuel Lawton and his son John. They had already set up a mill at Mountrath in 1797 but had to leave during the rebellion. They set up another mill at Tibradden in 1800 and the following year they took over 18 acres at Kiltiernan from Sir Compton Domville and started the erection of a new cotton mill there.
There was a cottage on the land in which they lived until the new mill house was ready, when they were joined by another son Samuel and a daughter Sarah. In 1806 the latter married Samuel Moss who had a cotton mill in Balbriggan and in 1817 they took over the Kiltiernan cotton mill residing first at the mill house and later at Kiltiernan Lodge nearby. In 1838 four or five men and twenty girls were employed. Their son Sigismund who resided at Balbriggan came to Kiltiernan in 1850 and took over the mills there in 1863. In 1875 Kiltiernan Lodge and the mills passed to Charles J. Murphy and in 1902 the mills ceased to operate. The mill house and the dried out mill ponds still survive.  The road to Glencullen at one time passed right through the farm yard of Ballybetagh House but was altered by Mr. Fitzsimons about 1840 and the old route is now incorporated into the farm. The long straight road which runs southward through Ballybetagh was also an improvement on an earlier crooked way which lay further to the west and which can still be traced through the rough land below the road. There is an old and delightful right of way from Ballybetagh House, through Ballybetagh Wood and along the edge of two fields to where it joins the main road at the bottom of the Novice’s Hill.
 

Ballybetagh
There are a number of antiquities in the townland of Ballybetagh, the most important of which is the megalithic tomb lying to the west of the road. This consists of a huge cairn of stones about 35 yards in diameter and 15’ high. It is now very irregular in shape, some parts having been quarried away and other areas having been used as a dump for field clearance. Some boulders in line along the north side may be part of a kerb.
The chamber in the centre, which is exposed by the removal of the roofing stone, is very regular in shape and built of huge squared slabs. It is now partly filled in. This may have been either a passage grave or a wedge shaped tomb but only scientific excavation would reveal this. It would have been built about 1500 to 2000 years B.C.   Close beside the cairn there is another site consisting of a circular area enclosed by a bank of soil and stones. There are many large loose stones, split by explosives within the area which appear to have been dumped there. Three hundred yards to the north there is a raheen or ring fort destroyed in 1983.
In the valley just below these sites is a long marshy area called Ballybetagh Bog which is known internationally as the graveyard of the giant Irish deer. Taylor’s map of 1816 shows a small lake in this area, which appears to have dried out some time early in the century. In 1847 during a severe drought an effort was made to obtain water for the mills at Kiltiernan by cutting a deep trench down through the middle of the bog. It was during this operation that the huge bones and antlers of the giant deer were first discovered and their importance was quickly recognised. The quantity of bones are so considerable that at repeated times during the last 130 years, excavations scientific and otherwise have been made at this spot with remarkable results. Such vast quantities of bones, skulls and antlers have been discovered that the site is now recognised as one of the most important in Europe for the remains of this long extinct species. These magnificent animals were exterminated by climatic conditions over 12,000 years ago.

Kilternan

Returning once more to Kiltiernan the road to Ballycorus, which was made about 1816 branches off to the east and in a quarter of a mile reaches the pretty little glade known as Glenamuck, which gives its name to the townland. There is a track of an old pathway going through here.
A little more to the east is the much more imposing Dingle Glen, with its steep, rocky flanks like a miniature Scalp. The level grassy floor of this glen can be deceptive, as in wet weather it becomes a swamp and a deathtrap to man or beast. Much of this glen is so overgrown with scrub that it is impossible to travel through it.

Not far from the Ballycorus road and the entrance to Mosse’s cotton mills there is a row of cottages, probably built for the mill workers and beside them a small bridge over the Loughlinstown river. This is now named Kiltiernan Bridge but was formerly known as Boddies Bridge. It bears the inscription ‘Kiltiernan Bridge 1859 G.P.O. 9.5 miles’. It was from this point that the new road was laid out about 1770 which ran directly through the Scalp,  before which, as already stated, the only route lay along Barnaslingan Lane and over the eastern side of the Scalp.

One of the first houses built on the new road was Fountain Hall cottage, the ruins of which still stand on the west side of the road. The house was built by Bernard Shaw who as an uncle to Sir Robert Shaw of Bushy Park. He was married to a daughter of Austin Cooper, the antiquary and was living here in 1837. He was a distant relation to George Bernard Shaw who was also related to Sir Robert. After 1854 the house was occupied by the Brennans and in 1893 it was stated to be in ruins.  The next house to Fountain Hall was Springfield which was held by the Thompsons in the early part of the last century and later by the McCullaghs. It was later held by William A.Rafferty and passed to his daughter Emily in 1921. Six years later she presented it to the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul who operated it as a convalescent home. In recent years it has been converted into a country club.
 

The Scalp

The Scalp is one of the most spectacular natural features in the Dublin area. Whether it is considered as a scenic landscape, an adventure playground or as a geological specimen, it has wide appeal to people of all ages. The view from the north is particularly attractive and was one much beloved by the Victorian photographers who came out here with their large and heavy tripods and pennyfarthing bicycles. The west side is rather stark as the dense pine woods on the Killegar summit contrast sharply with the naked boulders of the steep slope below. On the east Barnaslingan side are scattered groves of the hardy Scots pine with an undergrowth of holly and bracken. This rift in the mountain was not caused by an earthquake as was suggested by many of the old travel writers but by the force of dammed up water smashing its way out and creating dry gaps such as the Scalp, Glenamuck and Dingle Glen. A watercolour view of the Scalp done by DeNoyer in 1840 shows no trees. At the southern end of the Scalp an alteration was made to the road about 1832 when it was re-aligned along the western slope instead of, as formerly, along the very bottom of the glen, where the track of the old road can still be seen. There is a reference to this alteration being made in the “Angling Excursions of Gregory Greendrake” published in 1832. Hidden away in the forest, on the top of the western slope there is the outline of an ancient stone cashel with walls about 6’ thick. This is in the townland of Killegar in Co. Wicklow as the county boundary here runs down the middle of the road. A little further on, a branch road leads to Killegar House and from this road a footpath through the fields leads to the ancient site of Killegar church and burial ground. It can also be approached by a footpath from the road nearer to Enniskerry.
This church was listed as a parish church in the twelfth century but it was certainly existed long before this and appears to be named from St. Adgan, a Welsh saint. Only the chancel of the church is still standing but the outline of the nave can be traced on the ground. The walls of the nave, however, were not bonded into the chancel which proves that they were built at different times and the existing chancel would appear to have been the original church. It is built of large rounded field stones laid in regular courses.  The most interesting features to be seen here are the carved slabs and stones that still survive, all belonging to the period before the Norman invasion. One of these bears a large cross with cup marks and a pattern of loops around the edges and on the background. The slab is slightly tapered and has two very small arms.
Another has a series of concentric circles around cup marks and also linear decoration. There was another somewhat similar slab which has been missing for many years.  There is also a cross-head very much damaged which has a raised ring on each face. Another stone was the base of a cross and has a mortice on the top to hold the shaft. Another cross-head, which is now missing, had a crucifixion on one face and a cup mark with concentric circles on the other. It may have been cut from an old graveslab. It is circular with very short arms. This is now in the National Museum.

View towards Bray Head
A sandpit was opened north-east of the burial ground and in 1928 while clearing the surface soil a great number of slab lined graves were found. There were over forty exposed in an area roughly 12 x 20 yards, laid out in rows with the feet towards the east. This suggests that they were Christian burials associated with the early monastery.  The following year two iron bells were discovered. They were made of plates rivetted together and dipped in bronze, similar to the well known bell of St. Patrick. They measured 7” x 6” x 3” and 8 1/2” x 6 1/2” x 3 1/2”. The larger one had a handle and a loop for the clapper but the handle was missing from the smaller one.   Killegar is a very important site and would well repay scientific archeological excavation. If this was done the outline of the church could be exposed and protected from decay or destruction, some of the missing stones might be found and in all probability many more carved and decorated stones would be discovered. As already mentioned, there is in Killegar Townland a great concentration of raheens or ringforts, each one of which is an important monument representing a habitation where a family or group of families would have lived over a period of centuries. These sites should not be disturbed or destroyed but carefully preserved as part of our ancient heritage.

The next townland to Killegar is named Monastery but in the sixteenth century it was pronounced Mainister. There is a deep glen here and the road divides with a branch following each side of the glen and close enough to throw a stone cross. Taylor’s map of 1816 marks the western branch as a new road. Deep down in the glen between the two roads is the site of the old monastery and holy well but nothing can now be seen as so much soil and garbage has been dumped there and the area is deep in undergrowth. O’Curry recorded in the O.S. letters in 1838 that an ancient stone font had been found there and that the holy well used to be visited down to about 1800 as a cure for headaches. It is still the source of a strong streamlet.
In the same townland there is another church site known as Annaghasky, of which only the bare outline survives. It is at the eastern end of the townland and a little north of Rannock House. It was reported in 1838 that only the outline of the church survived and that it was about 34ft x 18ft. There were some cut stones of a porous nature around.


Ballyman
Just over half a mile to the east and situated in a deep glen which forms the boundary between counties Dublin and Wicklow is the site of the early monastery of Ballyman. This was formerly known as Glenmunder and was dedicated to St. Kevin. A bishop Sillan of Glen Munaire is listed in the Martyrology of Tallaght under 21st July. Only the east gable and part of the south wall of the church survives and this appears to have been largely rebuilt in the thirteenth century, when an early grave slab was used as a lintel for the south window and what appears to be another was placed over the east window. A piece of a third one was built into a small ambry in the east wall. The slab over the south window fell from its position and was lying inside the church until 1939 when the National Museum took it into its care and saved it from certain destruction. The only other grave slab at the site has since been smashed to fragments.  Beside the nearby stream is St. Kevin’s Holy Well, which was visited up to recent years by those suffering from affection of the eyes and religious emblems and pieces of cloth tied to the bushes were to be seen there. Unfortunately the well became buried recently by soil heaped upon it during land reclaimation.   After the Norman invasion Ballyman and Ballycross were granted to the Knights Templars and in 1308 when that order was suppressed they passed into the possession of the Priory of St. John of Jerusalem at Kilmainham. There was at that time a castle at Ballyman and in 1336 we find one of the Harolds indicted for stealing timber from the house of the Prior at Ballyman.
At the dissolution of the religious houses in 1540, Ballyman was granted to Peter Talbot. During the rising of 1641 this area was under the control of the Confederates and the few English settlers were driven out. After the restoration, the castle, which was described as thatched with two chimneys, was occupied by William Walsh. The ruins of this castle survived down to 1834 but were demolished in order to supply material to build the adjoining Ballyman House.
In 1978 the field where the church stands was tilled for the first time and it was noticed that to the east of the ruin beside a spring well, a large area of black soil and burnt stones were exposed. The Rathmichael Historical Society who conduct a summer school for Archeological Excavation decided to investigate this.

A short distance further on is the picturesque village of Enniskerry nestling in the bottom of the valley. This is the end of our road and must be the end also of this rather protracted paper.