Dublin 14, which includes Churchtown, shown in green

Churchtown (Irish: Baile an Teampaill) is a largely residential suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland, between Dundrum and Rathfarnham, within the postal district Dublin 14

[edit] Landmarks

Historical features of Churchtown include Ely's Arch on the Braemor Road and the Bottle Tower or Hall's Barn on Whitehall Road.

[edit] Ely's Arch

Ely's Arch

Braemor Road is still marked by a triumphal arch from the 18th century, which originally led to Rathfarnham Castle. The erection of this gateway is attributed to Henry Loftus, Earl of Ely from 1769 to 1783 who was also responsible for the classical work on the castle itself. The arch is named the new gate on Frizell’s map of 1779. After the division of the estate in 1913 the arch became the entrance to the Castle Golf Club but was later abandoned in favour of the more direct Woodside Drive entrance. The arch is located at the bottom of the 'big hill' which gave the name to the road, "Brae Mor". 'Bré' means 'hill' in Irish while 'mor' is the Irish for 'big' the name is used in an anglicised spelling as 'Braemor'.

[edit] Bottle Tower

Bottle Tower

On Whitehall Road stands the curious structure known as the Bottle Tower or Hall’s Barn. This was built by Major Hall in 1742 in imitation of the better constructed Wonderful Barn erected about the same period near Leixlip. The floors and other timber work have long disappeared and the winding stone steps are not considered safe to ascend. While the ground floor may have been used as a barn, the first and second floors appear to have been residential as they are both fitted with fireplaces. A smaller structure behind the barn, built on somewhat similar lines was a pigeon house.

The old house named Whitehall, which was demolished some years ago, stood adjacent to the barn. It was also built by Major Hall around the same time. In 1778 it became the residence of Rev. Jeremy Walsh, curate of Dundrum, and in 1795 it was converted into a boarding house by Mr. Ml. Kelly. A newspaper advertisement in 1816 invites enquiries from prospective visitors. In a description written in the last century the old fashioned kitchen and panelled staircase are specially noted.

Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) features many of the old houses in Churchtown under the reference village of Rathfarnham. The houses include Landscape, of H. O'Callaghan, Esq.; Whitehall, of W. P. Matthews, Esq.; Newtown, of John Kirby, Esq., LL.D., M.D., in the grounds of which there are some very fine evergreens. Also included is Barton Lodge, of W. Conlan, Esq.; . which probably gave the name of Barton Road, Rathfarnam and Barton Road East, Churchtown. Nutgrove, of P. Jones, Esq. which was suituated on Nutgrove Avenue, half way between the Good Shepherd church and Rathfarnam village and Whitehall, of T. Laffan, Esq., an out-office of which is built in the shape of a pottery furnace, with a winding flight of steps on the outside to the top, whence there is a commanding prospect of the surrounding country repeats our description of the Bottle Tower.^[1]

Rocque’s 1760 map of Dublin shows Newtown House at the bottom on the South Dublin county council historical map site. To the left of Newtown (or south) and along The Glen river would be Landscape House and Whitehall House. Above these (or west) would be Nutgtrove House - half way to Rathfarnam village. [1]

Taylor's 1816 map of the environs of Dublin gives a view of Churchtown, east of Ely’s Demense. This shows the present Landscape area, Newtown House (now Villas), Whitehall and Whitebarn. Landscape Road features between the Glen River and Newtown House and this seems to swing left onto modern day Braemor Road before meeting the modern day Dodder Park Road at Ely’s Arch. Nutgrove School also features, then The Ponds and further south is Barton Lane.

William Duncan's maps of the county of Dublin (1821) you can see White Barn and Newtown Villas. To the left of Newtown is a large house on what probably became Braemor Park. This was prossibly Fetherstonaugh House which became the Church of Ireland Theological College or more likely Ardavon House which was the original Mount Carmel hospital building.

[edit] Berwick House

Berwick House

The tall house at the bend in the road, recently occupied by the De La Salle Brothers, seems to be identical to a house named Waxfield where the death is recorded in 1766 of Mr. John Lamprey. In 1836 it was known as Hazelbrook, a name which was later transferred to the nearby, now defunct, Hughes Brothers milk bottling plant. The Hughes Brothers original house, built 1898, and called Hazelbrook House,^[2] was rebuilt in the Bunratty Folk Park in 2001. From 1844 to 1899 it was known as Bachelor's Hall, after which it became the headquarters of a Charitable Institution under the name of Berwick Home. In 1944 it again became a private residence and the name was changed to Berwick House.

[edit] The Ponds

Loreto Terrace on the north side of Rathfarnam's Loreto Abbey was formerly known as The Ponds, a name originating apparently from the large pond which two hundred years ago occupied the low lying field between Loreto Terrace and Nutgrove Avenue. This area was described in James Joyce's Neighbourhood of Dublin in 1912 as the dilapidated locality known as the Ponds but it has since been largely rebuilt. An old photograph from Larry O'Connor's collection shows what it looked like at that time. The last of the old houses was demolished in the mid 1980s. It was a very early 18th century gabled residence named Grove Cottage and was probably the oldest occupied house in Dublin. This place was the scene of a skirmish at the outbreak of the rising of 1798. The insurgents of the south county assembled at the Ponds on 24 May 1798 under the leadership of David Keely, James Byrne, Edward Keogh and Ledwich. The latter two had been members of Lord Ely's yeomanry but had taken to the field with the United Irishmen. The insurgents were attacked by the local yeomanry corps but were able to defend themselves and the yeomanry was forced to retreat. A party of regular troops was then sent against them and a stiff encounter took place. A number of the insurgents were killed or wounded and some prisoners taken including Keogh and Ledwich. The survivors retreated, joining up with a party from Clondalkin, and a further engagement took place at the turnpike on the Rathcoole road where the enemy was successfully repulsed.

[edit] Demographics

[edit] Population

Based on the 2006 Census, the population of Churchtown is 8,736, a small decrease from the 2002 census. The break out is as follows: Churchtown-Castle 1,244 Churchtown-Landscape 1,198 Churchtown-Nutgrove 3,100 Churchtown-Orwell 1,871 Churchtown-Woodlawn 1,323 For further information see the CSO.ie website[2]

[edit] Religion

St Nahi's church & graveyard

The local Roman Catholic church is called The Church of the Good Shepherd.^[3] It was the site of the state funeral of former Taoiseach Sean Lemass who lived on Woodside Drive.

The suburb of Churchtown is probably named after the St Nahi's church [3] (Church of Ireland) just off the Churchtown road; more easily viewed these days from the new William Dargan Bridge, close to Dundrum village. St Nahi's was rebuilt several times - in 950, 1650 and in 1750. The present restoration was completed in 1910. The public housing flats in Churchtown, across from the Bottle Tower pub, are named St Nathy's after the church.

The Church of Ireland Theological College and its Representative Church Body Library are on Braemor Park, Churchtown [4].

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Ireland have a Meeting House on the Lr Churchtown Rd.[5]

[edit] Education

Mary Lou MacDonald

The Good Shepherd National School is a co-educational national school in the parish of Churchtown ^[4] while the boys secondary school is De La Salle College. The De La Salle Brothers are the trustees of the College and it is under the control of a Board of Management [6]. Famous past pupils include Damien Duff of the Irish national soccer team and Fulham F.C. Jim Stynes who won an All-Ireland Minor (under 18) football championship medal for Dublin and went on to win the Brownlow medal in Australian Rules Football. Jim's younger brother Brian Stynes also went to De La Salle College; he won a senior All Ireland football medal for Dublin in 1995.

The local girls secondary school is Notre Dame de Missions ^[5] one of who’s better known graduates is Mary Lou McDonald, former MEP (Leaving Cert class of 1988).

The, now closed, De La Salle Preparatory school was located in the large house, Camberley House (also known as Inish More or Inish Ealga) on the Churchtown Road Upper. A previous owner was the widow ^[6] of Eamon Ceannt one of the signators of the Proclamation and rebel leaders in the South Dublin Union on Easter Monday 1916. He was exectuted by British firing squad in Kilmainham Gaol, 8 May 1916. This house was bought for the De La Salle run boys school and later developed as the Preparatory School when the secondary school moved to their present location.

[edit] Health Care

Mount Carmel Hospital on Braemor Park was acquired by the Mount Carmel Medical Group in 2006. The hospital offers a variety of medical services from maternity care and specialist clinics to surgery and a dedicated orthopaedic unit ^[7]

[edit] Politics

Churchtown is part of the Dublin South constituency. Although most of Churchtown is part of the Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown County Council because the parish originated from the Rathfarnam Parish many of the historical aspects can be viewed at the South Dublin County Council website^[8][9]

[edit] Amenities

Churchtown has a number of shops and pubs, including a mid-size supermarket, which has one of Dublin's few kosher sales facilities. It is also one of Dublin's centres for the driving test.

[edit] Ice Cream

Churchtown's greatest claim to fame was HB Dairy - the home of the country's favourite ice cream. HB Ice Cream was named after the Hughes Brothers dairy and was produced at Hazelbrook Farm, across the road from the Good Shepherd national school until recently^[10].

[edit] Notable people from Churchtown

Lemass

• Joseph Ainsworth, Assistant Garda Commissioner (retired)^[11][12]
• Séamus Brennan 16 February 1948 – 9 July 2008, senior Irish Fianna Fáil politician and a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency.
• Fionnuala Flanagan born December 10, 1941. The Emmy Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated actress who has worked extensively in theatre, film and television, lived in Churchtown before settling in Los Angeles.
• Into Paradise a band whose members, Dave Long, Ronan Clarke, Rachael Tighe & James Eadie, were from the Churchtown area. They named their 1991 album "Churchtown"; this was produced by Adrian Borland and published by Chrysalis Songs (BMI) and Ensign Records
• Dervla Kirwan born 24 October 1971. Actress who starred in Goodnight Sweetheart & Ballykissangel.
• Seán Lemass (15 July 1899 – 11 May 1971), Fianna Fáil politician and third Taoiseach of Ireland from 1959 until 1966. A veteran of the 1916 Easter Rising, the War of Independence and the Civil War, Lemass was first elected as a Sinn Féin Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency in a by-election on 18 November 1924
• John Millington Synge (16 April 1871 - 24 March 1909) was born in Newtown Villas, off Braemor Road, and lived here until his family moved to Dún Laoghaire in 1888.^[13][14][15]

John P. Wilson

• John P. Wilson (8 July 1923 – 9 July 2007), Fianna Fáil politician and All-Ireland football medal winner (for Cavan at the Polo Grounds, NY in 1947). He was first elected as a Teachta Dála for Cavan in 1973 and served in Dáil Éireann until 1992. Wilson served variously as Minister for Education, Minister for Posts & Telegraphs, Minister for Tourism & Transport and Tánaiste. He lived on Braemor Avenue.
• Elizabeth Yeats and Lily Yeats sisters, founders of Cuala Press at Churchtown after it was reorganized separate from the Dun Emer Press and Studio at Dundrum. Sisters of Jack and William Butler Yeats. Lived at Gurteen Dheas, Churchtown Road, which was also the site of Cuala Industries.^[16][17]

[edit] See also

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

[edit] References

Coordinates: 53°17′44″N 6°15′30″W / 53.29556°N 6.25833°W / 53.29556; -6.25833

[edit] External links

• http://www.taneyparish.ie/stnahi.htm
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article512237.ece
• http://www.rte.ie/laweb/ll/ll_t06_strands_b_02.html