Rathfarnham () is a southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, west of Churchtown, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16. It is between the local government areas of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown and South Dublin.
Located within the historical baronies of Rathdown and Uppercross, Rathfarnham village originally developed around a fortification overlooking a ford on the River Dodder. From the medieval period, Rathfarnham was on the perimeter of the Pale (the area of Anglo-Norman influence in Ireland, centred on Dublin), and a number of defensive structures were built in the area. Rathfarnham Castle, a fortified house, was built in the late 16th century. Developed around these structures, by the 19th century there were a number of mills operating in the area, and Rathfarnham was still somewhat rural by the early 20th century. During the 20th century, with the expansion of metropolitan Dublin, Rathfarnham became a largely residential suburban area.
The population of all electoral divisions labelled as Rathfarnham was 23,276 as of the 2022 census.
Location Rathfarnham is a civil parish in the historical baronies of Rathdown and Uppercross. The civil parish contains 11 townlands. Historical sites in Rathfarnham's townlands include: Kilmashogue, Mount Venus, Tibradden and Taylors Grange. A broad definition of Rathfarnham also includes the suburban areas of Nutgrove, Ballyboden, Whitechurch and Ballyroan.
History
Early and medieval history The name Rathfarnham ( or 'fort of the alders') suggests an earlier habitation, but no remains of prehistoric fortifications, burial places, early churches or old records have been found.
The written history of Rathfarnham begins after the Norman invasion of Ireland. Terenure and Kimmage (Cheming), both described as being in parish Dublin, are mentioned in an 1175 grant by Henry II to Walter the goldsmith ('Aurifaber') held at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.Grant CCA-DCc-ChAnt/C/1206 nd [MayxNov 1175]
In 1199, these lands were granted to Milo le Bret, and he adapted an existing ridge to build a motte and bailey fort at what is now the start of the Braemor Road. Le Bret later established a more permanent fortified settlement on the site of the (later) Rathfarnham Castle and a village grew up around it on a site overlooking a ford over the River Dodder.
In the 13th century, no events of great importance are recorded at Rathfarnham. While, at this time, the area was protected on its south side by the Royal Forest of Glencree (and its wardens), Rathfarnham became more exposed to an attack when this deer park was overrun by the Clan O'Toole from the Wicklow Mountains in the 14th century.
Located on the perimeter of the Pale (the area around Dublin under greater English control), when the English presence began to shrink after the 14th century, Rathfarnham "came to be on the front lines" and a number of defensive structures were built to protect the area from incursions by Gaelic Irish families.
From the 16th century
The site of Rathfarnham Castle, and much of the land around Rathfarnham, belonged to the Eustace family, Viscounts of Baltinglass. However, their property was confiscated, from James Eustace, 3rd Viscount Baltinglass, for his support of the Second Desmond Rebellion of 1579–1583. The Eustace lands at Rathfarnham were then granted to the Loftus family, who built a fortified house on the site of an earlier structure.
In the 1640s, the Loftus family was at the centre of the Irish Confederate Wars arising out of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In 1649, the castle was seized by the Earl of Ormonde's Catholic and Royalist forces before the Battle of Rathmines. However, they were granted it back by the English parliamentarians after their victory in that battle.
Economic activity in Rathfarnham was stepped up in the 17th century, and the village was granted a patent in 1618 to hold horse and cattle fairs. From the early 18th century a number of gentlemen's residences were developed, including the remodelling of Rathfarnham Castle and the construction of Ashfield.
Rathfarnham Castle
Rathfarnham Castle itself was re-modelled from a defensively focused fortified house into a more comfortable stately home. Lower Dodder Road is still marked by a triumphal arch, from this era, which originally led to the 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 Richard 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.
Ashfield Ashfield, the next house on the same side, was occupied during the 18th century by Protestant clergy. In the early part of the 19th century, it became the home of Sir William Cusac Smith, Baron of the Exchequer and from 1841 of the Tottenham family who continued in residence until 1913. After this the Brooks of Brooks Thomas Ltd. occupied it until the 1990s when the estate was divided up and houses built along the main road. The local historian Patrick Healy notes that "a new road was later built along the side of the house and named Brookvale after the last occupants".
Industrial revolution New industries, especially the production of paper, developed on the Owendoher and Dodder rivers, and many mills were erected during the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 19th century, a number of them switched to cotton and wool and later were converted to flour mills. The introduction of steam engines marked the end of this era and replaced the need for mills. Many of the old buildings fell into disrepair and were demolished, and their millraces filled in.
A millpond and extensive mill buildings formerly occupied the low-lying fields on the west side of the main Rathfarnham road, just beside the bridge. On a map by Frizell dated 1779, it is called the "Widow Clifford's mill and mill holding" and in 1843 it is named the "Ely Cloth Factory". A Mr Murray then owned it but in 1850, it passed into the hands of Mr Nickson who converted it into a flour mill. His family continued in occupation until 1875 when John Lennox took over. This mill closed down in 1880 and the buildings were demolished.
Historical features
R115 road
Rathfarnham contains the start of the R115 road. The road, constructed through the Wicklow Mountains, was built to assist Crown forces in tracking down United Irishmen insurgents who were hiding in the Wicklow Mountains following the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Rathfarnham itself was the scene of a number skirmishes in the early days of the rebellion between the United Irishmen and government forces. Construction of the road commenced in August 1800 and was completed in October 1809. The road starts outside the Yellow House pub in Rathfarnham, passes the head of Glencree, with a spur down that valley to Enniskerry, rises to the Sally Gap and then dips down to Laragh, over the hills into Glenmalure, and finishes at Aghavannagh. The 34-mile long road was constructed under the guidance of the engineer Alexander Taylor (born in 1746).
Rathfarnham Road According to local historian Patrick Healy (2005), "many writers" suggest that the road to Rathfarnham "follows the same route as the Slíghe Chualann, the ancient highway, which in the time of St. Patrick was used by travellers from Dublin to Wicklow and Wexford". This road is believed to have crossed the Dodder at the Big Bridge, now Pearse Bridge, and re-crossed it again near Oldbawn. The first record of a bridge being built here was in 1381 and, in 1652, it was described by Gerard Boate in his A Natural History of Ireland as a wooden bridge which "though it be high and strong nevertheless hath several times been quite broke and carried away through the violence of sudden floods". After three bridges had been demolished by the river, between 1728 and 1765, the present structure of a single stone arch was erected in 1765. This bridge was widened on the west side in 1953 when it was renamed in commemoration of Patrick Pearse and William Pearse.
In 1912, during the construction of a main drainage scheme to Rathfarnham, a stone causeway was uncovered below the road level. It was wide and built of large blocks crossing the course of the river. Cut into the surface of the stone were a number of deep parallel grooves, as from the action of wheeled traffic over a long period. This was taken as evidence of the existence of a busy thoroughfare even before the construction of the earliest bridge.
Old graveyard Next to Ashfield is the old graveyard containing the ruins of a church that was dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. This was a medieval church used for Protestant worship until 1795, when it was found to be too small for the congregation and a new one was erected nearby. The end walls of the old church still stand, the west gable containing a bell turret and the east pierced by a chancel arch, however, the chancel itself has disappeared. The north wall is gone and all that remains of the south wall is an arched opening.
Near the entrance to the burial ground is the grave of Captain James Kelly. Kelly, who was associated with the Fenian Rising of 1867, was the Fenian organiser for the Rathfarnham district and was known in the area as 'The Knight of Glendoo'. On one occasion when he was on the run he was hiding in the cellar of his business premises in Wicklow Street when police raided it. An employee named James Fitzpatrick who strongly resembled Capt. Kelly in appearance was arrested in error and was tried and sentenced to six months imprisonment, which he served without betraying his identity. Capt. Kelly died on 8 March 1915, aged 70.
On the opposite side of the road are Crannagh Park and Road, Rathfarnham Park and Ballytore Road, all built on part of the old Rathfarnham Estate. In the garden of a house formerly named Tower Court in Crannagh Road is a circular pigeon house, a relic of Lord Ely's occupation of Rathfarnham Castle. The entrance to this structure is by a low door on a level with the ground and the inside is lined from floor to roof with holes for the pigeons. A later floor was inserted halfway up, so as to make two rooms, and a second door was broken through the wall at that level.
Rathfarnham village
In the castle grounds were several fish ponds which were supplied by a mill race taken from the stream which rises up at Kilmashogue and flows down through Grange Golf Club and Saint Enda's Park. This served several mills before entering the fish ponds, whence it ran through the golf links while a smaller branch was conducted under the road to the flour mills which stood at the corner of Butterfield Lane, on the site later occupied by Borgward Hansa Motors Ltd. Described in 1836 as Sweetman's Flour Mills, it frequently changed hands before closing down in 1887. It was later operated as a sawmill.