The mediaeval ruins of Saint Kevin’s Church still stand near Camden Street

Saint Kevin’s Church on Camden Row, Dublin, dates from at least the 13th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

Patrick Comerford

Camden Row is a small street off Camden Street in inner city Dublin. Saint Kevin’s Park is a small park off Camden Row, and here, hidden from the view of many Dubliners, are the ruins of Saint Kevin’s Church, dating from at least the 13th century.

Saint Kevin’s was dedicated to Saint Kevin of Glendalough and was one of the four churches of the Irish settlement on the River Poddle. It was situated some distance from the walls of Dublin, in the Irish part of the city, but close to a monastic settlement in the region of present-day Aungier Street.

The church was granted by Archbishop Comyn of Dublin to the ‘economy’ of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, but the vicarage remained in the gift of the Archbishop of Dublin. From the 13th century, the church and the surrounding area were part of the Manor of Saint Sepulchre, directly under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Dublin.

The church is first mentioned in historical annals in 1226, and in 1277 Thomas de Chaddesnorth was given permission to present a chaplain to Saint Kevin’s Church.

The post-Reformation Church of Ireland parish of Saint Kevin’s stretched as far south as present-day Rathmines and Harold’s Cross.

The grave of Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley at Saint Kevin’s Church on Camden Row (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The church is the burial place of Archbishop Dermot O’Hurley, who was buried there after his execution on 20 June 1584 at Hoggen Green. O’Hurley, who became Archbishop of Cashel in 1581, was imprisoned and tortured by government authorities after he returned from Rome in 1583. His grave became a place of veneration for Roman Catholics for several hundred years.

Because of the throngs of pilgrims visiting his grave, the church was rebuilt in 1609 and a new entrance was made.

The Revd Stephen Jerome, who was vicar of the parish in 1639-1640, was a noted preacher and writer. After 1649, he was appointed a special preacher at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral but was criticised for his controversial Puritan views.

In the early years of the Irish Confederate Wars (1641-1649), bands of Confederate soldiers from Co Wicklow made incursions into church lands surrounding Saint Kevin’s. Trenches were dug near the church to help protect the city, but the marauders were able to make off with cattle, horses and the occasional merchant who was unlucky enough to find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, all of which they transported into the ‘wilds of Wicklow.’

Despite ceasefires, this situation continued until the Battle of Rathmines sealed the fate of the Irish and Royalist forces.

Saint Kevin’s Parish was incorporated into Saint Peter’s Parish when it was formed in 1680. Saint Kevin’s Church became a chapel of ease to Saint Peter’s Church in Aungier Street, and a parish school was set up on Camden Row.

The church was offered to the Huguenot community as a place of worship and cemetery in 1698.

A new Saint Kevin’s Church was built around 1750 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

The Dean and Chapter of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral retained the right to appoint the parish clergy until 1727. The original church was replaced around 1750 by a new one, which remained a chapel of ease in Saint Peter’s Parish.

The Duke of Wellington, the future victor of the Battle of Waterloo and Prime Minister, was baptised in the new church in 1769.

Until the 18th century, Saint Kevin’s Church gave its name to the neighbouring thoroughfare, recorded in maps as Keavans Port (1673), Cavan’s Port (1709), Saint Kevan’s Port (1714), Keavan’s Port (1728) and Saint Keavan’s Port (1756). It became Camden Street in 1778.

Many notable local residents were buried in the churchyard in the 17th and 18th centuries, and it continued to be used by local Roman Catholic families until the end of the 19th century. People buried in the churchyard include:

• Rev John Austin (1717-1784), a Jesuit pioneer of Catholic education in Ireland.

• Jean Jasper Joly (1740-1823), a captain in the Irish Volunteers in 1798.

• John Keogh (1740-1817), friend of Theobald Wolfe Tone, who once owned the land that became Mount Jerome Cemetery.

• Hugh Leeson, whose family gave its name to Leeson Street and became Earls of Milltown and owners of Russborough House, Co Wicklow.

• The Moore Family, the family of the poet songwriter Thomas Moore, who was born nearby in Augier Street.

The grave of the Moore Family, the family of the poet songwriter Thomas Moore (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

John D’Arcy, owner of Anchor Breweries, the second largest porter company in Dublin at the time, died suddenly in 1825 after falling from his horse. He was to be buried in Saint Kevin’s churchyard, but when his funeral from Francis Street reached Saint Kevin’s, the sexton, under the authority of the Archbishop William Magee of Dublin, met it at the gate and forbade Catholic prayers at the graveside.

The mourners withdrew peacefully, but a political outcry ensued. The Lord Lieutenant, Lord Wellesley, brother of the Duke of Wellington, expressed disapproval of Dr Magee’s order, and despite much opposition tried to alleviate Catholic grievances. Daniel O’Connell used the scandal provoked to push through legislation in establishing Golden Bridge (1829) and Glasnevin Cemetery (1831).

At the start of the 19th century the cemetery, like many others in Dublin, became a target of body-snatchers, although it was surrounded by high walls. In February 1830 a Frenchman named Nagles and his friend were attacked by a group of ‘sack-em-ups’ lying in wait near the cemetery. The criminals’ attention was diverted by the arrival of a cart-load of dead bodies, giving Nagles the opportunity to escape and notify the police at Arran Quay, who apprehended the culprits. On one occasion a body-snatcher was chased as far as Thomas Street, where he finally dropped the body of a young girl.

Saint Kevin’s Parish was separated from Saint Peter’s Parish in 1876, and the Trustees of the Shannon Bequest built a new Saint Kevin’s Church on the South Circular Road in the Portobello area in 1888-1889. The new church was designed by the architect Sir Thomas Drew and was consecrated on 8 April 1889. The old Saint Kevin’s Church finally closed in 1912, when the last service was held on 28 April 1912.

At the time, the Rector of Saint Kevin’s (1910-1919) was Canon Thomas Chatterton Hammond (1877-1961). A controversial evangelical, he later became Superintendent of the Irish Church Missions (1919-1936), and then Principal of Moore Theological College in Sydney and Archdeacon of Sydney, where he was instrumental in the strong evangelical direction taken by the Diocese of Sydney.

When Saint Kevin’s closed in 1912, the font where the Duke of Wellington was baptised was given to Taney parish in Dundrum, and it is now in Saint Nahi’s Church.

An archaeological excavation in 1967 uncovered some mediaeval graves and coins on the site.

The last Rector of Saint Kevin’s was the Revd William Joseph Smallhorne (1914-1980) in 1948-1980. He died on 31 December 1981, and Saint Kevin’s Parish became part of the Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Group in 1981. The Victorian church on the South Circular Road was closed after a final Service on 28 January 1983. After lying empty for many years, the church was converted into apartments in the 1990s, and the adjacent church buildings became a community centre.

The last service in the old Saint Kevin’s Church was held on 28 April 1912 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2022)

1916 Commemoration Services in Dublin parishes

This five-column report is published on page 4 in the current edition of the ‘Church of Ireland Gazette’ [3 June 2016]:

1916 Commemoration Services in Dublin parishes

By Nigel Pierpoint

The Church of Ireland parish churches of Christ Church, Taney, and St Nahi’s, Dundrum, remembered the centenary of the Easter rising of 1916 on the anniversary date, 24th April 2016.

Prayers at both services were said for Ireland, for those who laid down their lives during the civil unrest at the time of the Rising and for the victims of war in general.

Louie Lloyd, a parishioner of Taney parish, born in 1916, had been asked earlier in the month if she would be willing to read a lesson. Her advancing years prevented her from attending the actual service but she willingly obliged by allowing a recording of her reading the lesson to be played at both services.

The preacher was Canon Patrick Comerford, a historian and lecturer in Anglican Studies and Liturgy at the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, Dublin, who gave a wonderful account of the history surrounding the Rising.

Canon Comerford began by suggesting that perhaps there were four types of feeling that people might have experienced in the lead-up to the commemorations. These included: 1916 fatigue; a sense of national pride; upset at the 1916 commemorations displacing the Easter Celebrations; and a feeling of alienation. He went on to say that these feelings were “mutually exclusive”.

The many parishioners who attended the services were very grateful to Canon Comerford for shedding light on some Church of Ireland members who were involved during the time of the 1916 rising. The family of the late Patrick Doyle who died in the Rising were present in St Nahi’s for the morning service.

Full transcripts of Canon Comerford’s sermons in Christ Church are St Nahi’s are available from, respectively: http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2016/04/remembering-1916-they-shall-beat-their.html and http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2016/04/remembering-1916-national-shall-not.html

Remembering 1916: ‘nation shall not lift up sword against nation’

Saint Nahi’s Church on Upper Churchtown Road, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Saint Nahi’s Church, Dundrum,

Sunday 24 April 2016.

11. 45 a.m.: A Service of Commemoration of the Easter Rising 1916.

Readings: Isaiah 2: 1-6; Psalm 48, Matthew 5: 43-48.

In the name of + the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

I imagine there is a mixture of feelings about the 1916 commemorations here this morning. Let me just identity four of those types of feelings that we might know are just below the surface:

1, Some of you may feel you are suffering from ‘1916 Fatigue.’ It’s been everywhere since the beginning of the year: on television, in newspapers, in the schools, on advertising hoardings … and may well wonder why you have to listen to more about it in this church this morning.

2, Some of you may feel a certain degree of national pride. Whether you agree or disagree with those we call ‘the men of 1916,’ you may feel thankful that we live in an open democracy and a free society, despite all its failures and weaknesses. Despite the many social, political and economic problems we have today, you may feel ‘we are where we are’ and want to be thankful about that.

3, Some of you, like me, may be very upset about the way the 1916 commemorations displaced our Easter celebrations last month, and wonder why the parades and marches and other events could not have been staged on the actual anniversary of the Rising, 24 April 2016, rather than Easter Day, which fell on 27 March 2016.

4, And some of you may feel alienated: that the whole thing has been staged and has been hijacked by a narrow, myopic vision of Irish identity that is Green, Gaelic and Catholic and that excludes members of the Church of Ireland.

None of these feelings are mutually exclusive. Over the last four weeks, or even over the last four months, you may have moved between these feelings, experiencing one and then another set of emotions at different times this year.

But there is real difficulty if we leave the narrative of 1916 to those who want to see the rebels as Green, Gaelic and Catholic working class heroes. We may both distort the truth and allow ourselves not to engage with the debate about the sort of Ireland we want for ourselves today and for our children and grandchildren in the future.

To distort the past does not allow us to own the present or to have vision for the future. I remember well the commemorations of 1966, and the horror it created within me. It is no coincidence that within three years Northern Ireland was being riven with violence and the Provisional IRA had emerged.

The truth, of course, is so often different from the pedalled myth. For example, despite what they would have us believe, neither Sinn Fein nor the IRA was involved in the events of Easter Week 1916. Sinn Fein was then a monarchist party, supporting Arthur Griffith’s concept of a dual monarchy shared by Britain and Ireland and modelled on the Austro-Hungarian empire. The party was also facing bankruptcy, unable to pay the rent on its premises in Harcourt Street.

Nor is the IRA one of the three armed groups named in the 1916 Proclamation, and it did not emerge until long after the Rising.

On the other hand, many members of the Church of Ireland were involved in the events that led up to the Rising and in 1916 itself.

Douglas Hyde, the son of a Cork-born rector, was a key figure in the revival of the Irish language. Lady Gregory, WB Yeats and ‘AE’ George Russell, all involved in the Abbey Theatre, were born in the Church of Ireland.

The Revd Professor Robert Malcolm Gwynn, who is buried in Whitechurch Churchyard, offered his rooms in Trinity College Dublin, for the meeting at which the Irish Citizen Army took its name in 1913. The Howth and Kilcoole gunrunnings in 1914 were organised mainly by members of the Church of Ireland.

Projecting images of the signatories of the 1916 proclamation as Green, Gaelic and Catholic working class heroes is false and manipulative. Pearse was the son a Birmingham Unitarian, two of the seven signatories were not born in Ireland, one was the son of an Englishman, one had served in the British army, one was the son of an RIC officer, one was born in a British army barracks, one was a titled aristocrat who went to an English public school, and at least three married women who were born into the Church of Ireland.

The key figures in the Rising also included Countess Markievicz, born Constance Gore-Booth, the trade unionist Harry Nicolls, and Dr Kathleen Lynn, a parishioner in Rathmines all her life. The historian Martin Maguire of Dundalk Institute of Technology has counted at least 45 Protestants – 21 women and 24 men – who were active in the Republican movement between 1916 and 1921, and the dramatist of that period, Sean O’Casey, was a member of the Church of Ireland too.

Of course they were not uncritical in their engagement with those events. Many were shocked and feared the worst, so that Yeats could write:

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Among the 1,200 graves in Saint Nahi’s Graveyard in this parish are the graves of the artists Susan Mary (‘Lily’) and Elizabeth Corbett (‘Lolly’), sisters of the poet WB Yeats and the artist Jack B Yeats.

The Yeats family lived on Lower Churchtown Road, opposite the ‘Bottle Tower.’ Lily and Lolly were involved in the Dun Emer Industries in Dundrum, and Lolly was the first woman to run a private printing press in Ireland.

Also remembered in the churchyard is Patrick Doyle from Milltown, who was killed at Clanwilliam House during Easter Week 1916. He was killed on 26 April 1916 and his body was never recovered as Clanwilliam House was engulfed in flames, almost completely destroying the building. A font at Milltown marks his role in the Rising, and he also gave his name to Patrick Doyle Road in the Windy Arbour and Milltown area.

Patrick Doyle was a foreman at the laundry in Milltown. He was a Roman Catholic but his mother was a member of the Church of Ireland. It is likely he inherited his nationalist views from his mother as her brother was a Fenian who had been transported to Australia.

He was only 36 when he died and he left a widow and five children aged from 14 down to 1. Poignantly he died on his youngest child’s first birthday. Although there was no body to bury, he is named on his wife’s grave in Saint Nahi’s.

His eldest son, also Patrick Doyle, was only 22 when he was killed in the Civil War at Crooksling, Co Dublin, on 7 July 1922. He too is buried at Saint Nahi’s.

James Burke, who is also buried in the churchyard, was one of the spectators shot dead in Croke Park on ‘Bloody Sunday,’ 21 November 1920.

Another grave from those troubled times is that of Lawrence Sweeney or Lorcan Mac Suibhne from Goatstown, who was killed in Castledermot during the Civil War on 5 July 1922.

When a memorial to Lorcan Mac Suibhne was unveiled in the churchyard three years later in 1925, it attracted one of the biggest gatherings ever in the churchyard and brought to this parish some of the key figures involved in 1916, including Eamon de Valera, who was still debating taking his seat in Dail Eireann, Sean MacEntee, and Count Plunkett, father of the poet and proclamation signatory Joseph Mary Plunkett.

It was one of the first such gatherings of key figures from the events of 1916, and it took place in this parish.

Perhaps we ought to give thanks this morning that those people beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks (Isaiah 2: 4), that they decided that in this nation that we should learn war no more, that they put aside the differences of the past, and allowed the future to be shaped not by the violence of the previous decade but by a new commitment to democracy.

The democratic handover in this society lacked the trauma of change seen on Continental Europe in the 1920s and the 1930s. They may not have loved their former enemies, but they certainly had put aside hatred (Matthew 5: 43-44).

Despite the presence of the Blueshirts, no credible fascist or racist party emerged in this society, unlike what happened in Italy, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Romania and many other European countries.

The 1937 Constitution made democracy the founding principle of Irish society. We can disagree with each other, but we do not need persecute each other any longer. They created a society in which the people have the final say in a referendum.

Whether you agree or disagree with recent referendum results, we can all agree that this is the best way to make decisions in our society.

And today, of course, I am so pleased that despite our nation being forged in the cauldron of violence, our armed forces are known internationally not for their engagements in wars and battles, but for their contributions to UN international peacekeeping missions around the world, that our naval service has engaged in so many humanitarian rescue missions in the Mediterranean while others have stood aside.

Of course, I have many worries for the future. I am worried, for example, that we have still not learned how to cherish all the children of the nation equally. I am worried that access to higher education, health care and the professions is baded on class and wealth rather than ability and need.

But what is your vision not for the next 10 or 20 years, but for the time when we are recalling the events of 1916 in 50 or 100 years from now, in 2066 or 2116?

Is it a society that reflects the values of the Kingdom of God, in which we love our enemies, pray for our persecutors, in which people have beaten their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks?

Is it a vision for a future in which nation shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall learn war no more?

And so, may all we think, say and do be to the praise, honour and glory of God, + Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Saint Nahi’s Graveyard has over 1,200 graves, and the names of 800 of those buried here are known (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

(Revd Canon Professor) Patrick Comerford is Lecturer in Anglicanism, Liturgy and Church History, the Church of Ireland Theological Institute. This sermon was preached in Saint Nahi’s Church, Dundrum, on 24 April 2016.

A note on Shakespeare in ‘The Irish Times’ today

Patrick Comerford

The following paragraphs are included in ‘The Church of Ireland Notes’ in ‘The Irish Times’ this morning [23 April 2016]:

Tomorrow morning there will be 1916 commemorative services in Christ Church, Taney, and in St Nahi’s church, Dundrum, where the preacher will be Canon Patrick Comerford from the Church of Ireland Theological Institute.

There will also be commemorative services in Cashel cathedral and in St Mary’s church, Tipperary, where the Co Tipperary Ryan Youth Orchestra will perform the Irish premiere of Salute to 1916 by the late Danny Ryan.

Today marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare on April 23rd, 1616. Canon Comerford, in his monthly column in two diocesan magazines – the Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough) and the Diocesan Magazine (Cashel, Ferns and Ossory) – looks at Shakespeare’s Irish connections.

Prof Comerford gives particular attention to Irish characters in Shakespeare’s plays, his use of Irish phrases and colloquialisms, and his supposed links with Dalkey, Co Dublin, through his friend the composer John Dowland. This feature on the bard and Ireland is also available at: http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2016/04/ england-and-world-celebrate- shakespeare.html

Similarly, the website of the United Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough carries the following news report and photograph today:

Looking at Shakespeare on his 400th anniversary

Today (Saturday) marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare on 23 April 1616. Canon Patrick Comerford, who writes a monthly column in the diocesan magazine, the Church Review, looks at Shakespeare’s interesting Irish connections in his contribution this month.

Professor Comerford, who lectures in Anglicanism, Liturgy and Church History in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, gives particular attention to Irish characters in Shakespeare’s plays, his use of Irish phrases and colloquialisms, and his supposed links with Dalkey, Co Dublin, through his friend the composer John Dowland.

This interesting feature on the Bard and Ireland is also available at:

http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2016/04/england-and-world-celebrate-shakespeare.html

Sarah Purser’s mosaic of John Dowden in Sorrento Park in Dalkey builds on the legend that William Shakespeare once visited Dalkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford).

The attractions (and distractions) of a chaplaincy training course

Two certificates arrived earlier this week (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

Last month, I completed the Chaplaincy Training Programmes in the Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough. Over 20 people took part in the course this year, including priests, readers and school and hospital chaplains, both lay and ordained, from throughout the dioceses.

The Chaplaincy Training Programmes are run in association with Northridge House Education and Research Centre, which is based in Cork, and are facilitated by the Revd Bruce Pierce and the Revd Dr Daniel Nuzum.

The courses that ran throughout last month were held in Taney Parish Centre, Dundrum, and on one Friday morning there was the added attraction (or distraction) of climbing the bell tower in Christ Church, Taney, with the Revd Nigel Pierpoint. From the top of the tower, high above the Luas Bridge in Dundrum at the start of the day, there were panoramic views across the city, out into Dublin Bay, and over to Howth Head, with the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains rising behind us.

Then earlier this week, two certificates arrived in the post. One certificate covers the module on the Protection of the Vulnerable Older Adult. The other certificate relates to the nine modules on Reflective Practice, Introduction to Loss, Introduction to Listening Skills, Best Practice, Suicide, Dementia Care, Perinatal Bereavement, Resources for Ministry and Hand Hygiene.

I am back in Taney Parish later this month, on 24 April 2016, to preach in both Christ Church, Taney, and Saint Nahi’s Church, Dundrum, at services marking the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising in 1916.

The view from the tower of Christ Church, Taney, across Dublin Bay and out to Howth Head (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Homestead: a house in Dundrum with interesting architectural links

Homestead … an early 19th century house associated with the M’Comas and Collen families and the Pallottine Fathers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

On my way home from work one day earlier this week, I took a slight diversion to look at Homestead, an early 19th century house off Sandyford Road that is now the Irish headquarters of the Pallottine Fathers.

Homestead, which stands on the old road from Dundrum to Balally, was built ca 1825. In the previous century, a house called Runneymede stood on the same site in grounds extending to 15 ha of land.

The new house, Homestead, passed through a number of families. By the 1870s and 1880s, it was the home of Henry M’Comas, a churchwarden in Christ Church, Taney, in 1879-1880, who presented to the church a reredos that is inscribed with the words: “Come unto me, all that travail and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you,” “This do in remembrance of me” and “So God loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.”

Richard Henry Archibald M’Comas of Homestead, Ballawley, was a son of Archibald M’Comas of Cliff Castle, Dalkey, and Elgin Road, Dublin, and his wife Jane (Jones). He was educated at Trinity College Dublin and practised as a barrister. In 1875, he -married Susannah Alice Goodman of Lansdowne Road in Saint Mary’s Church, Donnybrook, and they had nine children.

From 1910, Homestead was the home of Joseph Collen (1856-1941), a distinguished builder who maintained extensive gardens at Homestead and who won frequent prizes at the Royal Dublin Society show for his flowers.

The family began in business in Portadown, Co Armagh, as railway and building contractors. The firm was developed during the 1860s by John Collen with the eldest of his five brothers, Thomas Collen. In 1872, a branch was established in Clanwilliam Place, Dublin.

During its early years, the firm worked with some of the great Irish architectural figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including George Coppinger Ashlin at Saint Anne's, Raheny, at All Saints’ Church, Raheny, and at Portrane Asylum; James Rawson Carroll at Elm Park, Co Limerick; Thomas Drew at Seagoe Church, Co Down, and the new law library at the Four Courts; James Franklin Fuller at Gallaghers, Hawkins Street, Dublin; and Thomas Newenham Deane and Son at the National Consumptive Hospital in Co Wicklow, and at the Great Southern Railway Hotel in Mulranny, Co Mayo.

Other early contracts included Renmore Barracks, Co Galway (1876-1880), the Sligo and Leitrim Light Railway (1880), and the main hall of the Royal Dublin Society (1884).

Joseph Collen, a brother of Thomas Collen, who was also active in the firm. Joseph Collen emigrated to Australia in 1857 but returned to Ireland four or five years later with capital and experience. During the 1860s, he and his brother Thomas Collen developed the family business in Ulster and in 1872 opened an office in Dublin.

The building of Killarney House in Killarney, Co Kerry, was the most extensive project undertaken by the firm for a private client in the late 19th century.

In 1861, Valentine Browne (1825-1905), Lord Castleross and later 4th Earl of Kenmare, was host to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Kenmare House in Killarney. The royal visit put Killarney on the map as a tourist resort and set the scene for the prosperity and popularity it enjoys today. Kenmare House was demolished in 1872 by Lord Kemare, and was replaced by Killarney House, a much more impressive aristocratic residence on a nearby site.

The new house was originally designed by an English architect, George Devey, while William Henry Lynn of Belfast provided architectural expertise on the site. Joseph Collen, who began to work for the firm in his early 20s, took charge of the building project.

This was an Elizabethan-Revival manor house and cost over £100,000 to build. The design was chosen by Lady Kenmare, a granddaughter of the 2nd Marquess of Bath, and inspired by Longleat, Lord Bath’s Elizabethan seat in Wiltshire. The house had many gables and oriels, the interior was panelled and hung with Spanish leather, and it was considered one of the finest mansions in Ireland.

The house built by Joseph Collen was accidentally destroyed by fire in August 1913 and was never rebuilt.

Meanwhile, Joseph Collen and his wife Hannah Moira came to Homestead in 1910, the same year the Collen firm worked on reroofing and renovating Saint Nahi’s Church in Dundrum.

Their son, Lieutenant William Stewart Collen was killed in action on 7 August 1915 at Suvla Bay at the age of 26. He was educated at the Leys School, Cambridge, and Trinity College Dublin. A keen golfer, he had competed in the Irish Close Championship in 1914, and a t the outbreak of war he volunteered and obtained a commission in the 6th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Two other sons followed Joseph Collen into the business. JB Collen managed the Northern Ireland branch of business, based in Portadown, while T Harcourt Collen directed the southern branch, which had moved to East Wall Road, Dublin, by 1915.

Hannah Collen died on 4 March 1935, and Joseph Collen continued to live at Homestead until he died on 25 July 1941; they are buried in Kilgobbin Cemetery. In 1948 the northern and southern branches of the family business became two separate companies, and both are still active.

The Collen family continued to live at Homestead until 1965, when the house was sold to Home Rentals, a company owned by the property developer Fianna Fail TD James Gallagher.

James and Mary Gallagher lived for a time at Homestead before signing an agreement with the Pallottine Fathers, who exchanged their student residence in Stillorgan for Homestead. The agreement was completed in 1978, seven years after the Pallottines had decided to move their provincial house from London to Dublin.

The Pallottine Fathers were founded as the Union of Catholic Apostolate in 1835 by Saint Vincent Pallotti (1795-1850) and came to Ireland in 1909. From 1979, up to 70 students came to Homestead to study for ordination to the priesthood. In 1983, the surviving Pallottine trustees transferred Homestead to the Saint Vincent Pallotti Trust (Ireland).

The basic fabric of the original house remains largely unaltered, with many of the original features still in place. From one side, there are views out onto the rose garden and the conservatory, while the other side faces out towards the redbrick student house, Pallotti House, which was built ca about 1979 in the old kitchen garden and orchard.

The grounds of Homestead include the garage and the coach house with the old stables, which may have been used as a dairy on the old Homestead Estate.

The old conservatory in the grounds of Homestead … a reminder of Joseph Collen’s prize-winning flowers (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

For other postings on the architectural heritage of South Dublin see:

Berwick Hall.
The Bottle Tower, Churchtown.
Brookvale House, Rathfarnham.
Camberley House, Churchtown.
Dartry House, Orwell Park, Rathfarnham.
Ely Arch, Rathfarnham.
Ely House, Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Fernhurst, 14 Orwell Road, Rathgar.
Fortfield House, Hyde Park, Terenure.
No 201 Harold’s Cross Road, the birthplace of Richard Allen.
Homestead, Sandyford Road, Dundrum.
Kilvare House, also known as Cheeverstown House, Templeogue Road.
Knocklyon Castle.
Laurelmere Lodge, Marlay Park.
Marlay Park.
Mountain View House, Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown.
Newbrook House, Taylor’s Lane, Rathfarnham.
Old Bawn House, Tallaght.
Rathfarnham Castle.
Sally Park, Fihouse.
Scholarstown House, Knocklyon.
Silveracre House, off Sarah Curran Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Synge House, Newtwon Villas, Churchtown, and No 4 Orwell Park, Rathgar.
Templeogue House.
Washington House, Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Westbourne House, off Rathfarnham Road.

Thinking about 1916 and 2016: the centenary commemorations

The GPO in O’Connell Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

For easy access, these are links to some of my recent postings related to the Easter Rising in 1916 and the centenary commemorations this year [2016]:

1, 1916: Finding a voice for the Church of Ireland (20 February 2016): my lecture in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick on 20 February 2016.

2, Dispelling the myths while we remember the events of 1916 (6 March 2016): my monthly column in Church Review (Dublin and Glendalough), looking at the events in 1916 and the consequences for how we read history today.

3, Criticism over impact of 1916 events on Christ Church service (23 February 2016): a report in The Irish Times on 23 February 2016 on my lecture in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick on 20 February 2016.

4, 1916: Finding a voice for the Church of Ireland (5 March 2016): a report in the March 2016 edition of Newslink, the Limerick and Killaloe Diocesan Magazine, on my lecture in Saint Mary’s Cathedral, Limerick on 20 February 2016.

5, Remembering the events of 1916 (21 September 2015): the introduction to the resources produced by the Liturgical Advisory Committee of the Church of Ireland for commemorations.

6, Press Releases / Dispelling the Myths While We Remember the Events of 1916: the Dublin and Glendalough Diocesan Website version of my column in the Church Review, March 2016.

Charles Comerford and Adelaide Margaret Field on their wedding day in 1910 … he was the only member of the Comerford family in the GPO during Easter Week 1916 (Photograph courtesy Angela Marks)

7, The role of members of the Comerford family in the events of Easter 1916 (28 March 2016): stories about members of the Comerford family who were caught up in the events of 1916, in various factions with a variety of experiences.

8, ‘Surgeons and Insurgents’ – a 1916 exhibition at the College of Surgeons (5 April 2016): a look at the exhibition ‘Surgeons and Insurgents’ in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, with particular focus on the live of one surgeon, Sir Thomas Myles, and one insurgent, Sergeant Joe Doyle of the Irish Citizen Army.

9, Missing a unique event recalling a pacifist voice in Easter 1916 (9 April 2016): My reflections on an event marking the 100th anniversary of the illegal execution of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington in Easter Week 1916, and a visit to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, which was a baracks and military hospital in 1916 and during World War I.

10, A walk on the beach and meeting the extended family in Co Wexford (12 April 2016): a personal account of attending a commemoration of Máire Comerford and her role in 1916 at Hollyfort, Co Wexford.

11, ‘1916: Tales from the Other Side’ – an exhibition in Marsh’s Library (12 April 2016): a review of the exhibition in Marsh’s Library, Dublin.

12, Rubicon 2016: ‘1916–2016: Before, Between and Beyond … Ireland: 100 Years On’ (16 April, 2016): the prepared text for my talk on the 1916 commemorations and Ireland 100 years after 1916 at the Rubicon conference in Dublin.

13, Speaking about 1916 at the Rubicon Conference (22 July 2016): The video clip of my talk on the 1916 commemorations and Ireland 100 years after 1916 at the Rubicon conference in Dublin.

14, ‘1916–2016: Before, Between and Beyond’ – speaking at Rubicon 100 years after 1916 (14 April 2016): my ‘curtain-raiser’ on speaking on 1916 and 2016 at the Rubicon conference.

15, Remembering 1916: ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughshares’ (24 April 2016): a sermon in Christ Church, Taney, at a Service of Commemoration of the Easter Rising, 1916.

16, Remembering 1916: ‘nation shall not lift up sword against nation’ (24 April 2016): a sermon in Saint Nahi’s Church, Dundrum, at a Service of Commemoration of the Easter Rising, 1916.

17, How Irish do I have to be before I answer ‘Irish’ on the census form? (25 April 2016): A tongue-in-cheek look at the 2016 census return forms, asking how Pearse, de Valera and Markievicz might have answered some of the questions I had difficulty with.

18, Finding a distant family link to a battle during the 1916 Rising (26 April 2016): the story of Thomasina Lynders, her sister and two brothers, who involved in 1916 Rising; her husband was a second cousin of my grandmother.

19, New on-line collection shows how three Comerfords responded in 1916 (27 April 2016): the story of three members of the Comerford family and why they sought compensation in 1916 for damage to two shop premises and to church buildings in Dublin during Easter Week.

20, Former Comerford house in Rathgar with an Easter 1916 story is for sale (5 September 2016): the story of Charles Comerford of Kenilworth Square, Rathgar, who worked in the GPO in 1916, and the sale of his family home in Rathgar 100 years later.

21, Little remains of the former 1916 prison camp in Frongoch (1 May 1916): a visit to Frongoch, the prison camp in north Wales where 1,800 Irish prisoners were held after the Easter rising in 1916.

22, Another 1916 anniversary – the day my grandfather was sent home from the war (3 May 2016): the story of how my grandfather, Stephen Edward Comerford, contracted malaria in Thessaloniki and was discharged from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 3 May 1916, the day the first leaders of the Easter Rising were executed, and was sent back to Dublin as the political atmosphere became deeply polarised.

23, ‘The Doctor, the Countess and the Organist: 1916 tales from Saint John’s, Sandymount’ (31 July 2016): how the events of 1916, including the Easter Rising and the Battle of the Somme, had an impact on the lives of parishioners in Saint John’s, Sandymount.

24, It was the summer before the ‘Summer of Love’. But did I learn much Irish in Kerry? (23 July 2016): Personal recollections of the 1916 commemorations in 1966, and their influences on my attitudes as a teenager.

25, A romantic Edwardian wedding story points to the former grandeur of Bellingham Castle (3 August 2016): Part 1 of the story of the Bellinghams of Castlebellingham, Co Louth, and how the events of World War I and 1916 changed their lives.

26, Despite wars and a century of change, Bellingham Castle retains its grandeur (4 August 2016): Part 2 of the story of the Bellinghams of Castlebellingham, Co Louth, and how the events of World War I and 1916 changed their lives.

27, The forgotten surgeon who masterminded the Kilcoole gunrunning 100 years ago (4 May 2014): the story of Sir Thomas Myles, who organised the Kilcoole gunrunning in 1914 and later became honorary surgeon to King George V and an officer in the Royal Army Medical Corps.

28, Sir Thomas Myles (1857-1937): surgeon and forgotten organiser of the Kilcoole gunrunning (1914) (17 July 2014): my lecture on Sir Thomas Myles for Kilcoole Heritage Group in Kilcoole Golf Course Club House, Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, on 17 July 2014.

29, Church History (2014-2015, part-time) 7.3: Challenging myths and memories (3): The Decade of Commemorations and centenaries: how history shapes the Church agenda today (15 May 2015): a lecture on the MTh programme looking at 1916 and the decade of commemorations.

30, The Revd Professor RM Gwynn (1877-1962): priest (19 September 2013): a lecture at a seminar in Whitechurch Parish, Dublin, on the centenary of the 1913 lockout, on the Revd Professor RM Gwynn, a founding member of the Irish Citizen Army.

31, 1916 Commemoration Services in Dublin parishes (3 June 2016): a news report by Nigel Pierpoint in the Church of Ireland Gazette on the sermons I preached in Christ Church, Taney, and Saint Nahi’s, Dundrum, on 24 April 2016.

32, The Victorian legacy of a lodge in a corner in Saint Stephen’s Green (5 December 2016): the Park Superintendent’s Lodge in Saint Stephen’s Green had an interesting place in the events of Easter Week 1916.

This page is being updated during 2016. It was last updated on 5 December 2016.

Mountainview House … an old Georgian house in Churchtown

Mountainview House … an imposing Georgian period residence on Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

On my way home from work one evening last week, I stopped to admire and photograph another fine house that is part of the architectural heritage of the Dundrum and Churchtown area.

It is easy to pass by without noticing Mountainview House on Beaumont Avenue, and I can find no mention of the house in local histories or in architectural websites. But this a fine, imposing Georgian period residence on c.0.24 acre (0.097 ha) and the house has an interesting history.

In the early 19th century, the village of Dundrum and the surrounding area attracted the “fashionable unwell” from Dublin. Writing in The Beauties of Ireland in 1826, JN Brewer noted that Dundrum “is in a sheltered declivity, sheltered from the harshwinds. The village is the fashionable resort of invalids for the purpose of drinking goats’ whey.”

This probably explains the name of Goatstown to the east of Dundrum, now a residential area around the Goat Grill, at the junction of Goatstown Road and Taney Road. There has been a pub since the early 18th century, and in the 19th century it was popular to travel to Dundrum and Goatstown as goat’s milk was considered to be excellent for people suffering from tuberculosis.

In the early 19th century, Edward Weston Allen (1765-1848) and his wife Eleanor (Barrington) moved from their house at 22 Upper Bridge Street, in central Dublin, where he was a linen draper, to Mountainview House in Dundrum, which they had acquired as their country seat. They also had a large house at No 201 Harold’s Cross Road, where their son the abolitionist Richard Allen was born.

Edward Allen’s direct descendant, Clive Allen of Buinclody, Co Wexford, tells the story of Edward and his family in The Allens, Family and Friends, ten generations of Quaker ancestry (Dublin: Linden, 2007). Clive notes how Jane Tolerton, a granddaughter of Edward Weston Allen, later recalled the delightful setting of Mountainview House:

“Bridge St. was a pleasant enough place to go to, but it paled in the delights of Mountain View, the Allen’s country house near Dundrum. It had a large old garden bounded on side by a laurel hedge. Near the entrance there had been a pond, now filled up, but there were tales of Edward and Willie Allen having navigated a washtub round it.”

Eleanor (‘Ellen’) Barrington Allen (1772-1819) was descended from an old Co Wexford Quaker family and she and Edward Weston Allen were married in Dublin in 1798, at the height of the 1798 Rising. It is said that as they walked through the streets after their wedding “the soldiers stood aside to let the procession pass.”

Edward and Ellen first lived in Saint James’s Street Dublin, and later moved to Upper Bridge Street, where he ran a wholesale drapery and linen business. During the summer months they lived in their house in Harold’s Cross.

In 1811, Edward Allen was one of the founders of the Dublin Institution, based in Sackville Street (now O’Connell Street), Dublin. But, despite his involvement in many city charities, Edward Allen lost his membership in the Society of Friends in 1813 because of his persistent refusal over many years to attend Quaker meetings on Sunday mornings.

Ellen and Edward had a large family of 15 children, and she died in 1819, two years after her last child was born. Their children included Richard Allen (1803-1886) the abolitionist and anti-slavery campaigner, who founded the Hibernian Antislavery Association with James Haughton and Richard Davis Webb in 1837.

Edward Weston Allen lived a long life and died at Mountainview on 23 April 1848, in his 83rd year. Jane Toleron wrote:

“Mother and I hastened to the house of grief, and with hushed footsteps went up to the room where the aged patriarch was lying in his last sleep, his long silver hair combed down on each side of his face and resting on a pillow. All was peace, the sun of spring streaming in like a consolation.”

Although he had ceased attending Quaker meetings and had left the Society of Friends, Edward Weston Allen was buried in the Quaker Burial Ground in Cork Street, Dublin.

The Freeman’s Journal, in a news report on his death, noted his engagement with philanthropic causes in Dublin and his involvement with the Cork Street Fever Hospital.

Mountainview House … once the home of the Allen family (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

When Mountainview House went on the market recently, the selling agents said it was “ideal for extension or redevelopment potential. Mountainview House is currently in use as a commercial building but could quite easily be returned to residential subject to planning permission.”

In addition to the main house, the sale included a collection of out-buildings, both single and two storey, built to the west of the main house. They range in age and building types and provide storage and workshop facilities. The rear of the property is south west facing benefiting from natural sunlight all day long.

The selling agents said the living accommodation was remodelled within the front half of the house, “which could possibly be extended again subject to planning.”

The present accommodation includes two reception rooms downstairs, a kitchen/sun room, guest WC, and two rooms upstairs. The agents said: “This property would be ideal for someone looking for a large unique family home with plenty of scope to extend in the heart of Churchtown.

There are two entrances to Mountainview House and the property from Beaumont Avenue. The house is close to many amenities, including Dundrum Town Centre, Churchtown village, Nutgrove Shopping Centre, a wide choice of schools, the Luas stations at Windy Arbour and Dundrum, and the M50.

Mountainview House … an imposing Georgian period residence on Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

For other postings on the architectural heritage of South Dublin see:

Berwick Hall.
The Bottle Tower, Churchtown.
Brookvale House, Rathfarnham.
Camberley House, Churchtown.
Dartry House, Orwell Park, Rathfarnham.
Ely Arch, Rathfarnham.
Ely House, Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Fernhurst, 14 Orwell Road, Rathgar.
Fortfield House, Hyde Park, Terenure.
No 201 Harold’s Cross Road, the birthplace of Richard Allen.
Homestead, Sandyford Road, Dundrum.
Kilvare House, also known as Cheeverstown House, Templeogue Road.
Knocklyon Castle.
Laurelmere Lodge, Marlay Park.
Marlay Park.
Mountain View House, Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown.
Newbrook House, Taylor’s Lane, Rathfarnham.
Old Bawn House, Tallaght.
Rathfarnham Castle.
Sally Park, Fihouse.
Scholarstown House, Knocklyon.
Silveracre House, off Sarah Curran Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Synge House, Newtwon Villas, Churchtown, and No 4 Orwell Park, Rathgar.
Templeogue House.
Washington House, Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Westbourne House, off Rathfarnham Road.

Swans on the lake at Farmeligh and opera by the mill pond in Dundrum

Opera by the Mill Pond ... Donizetti’s ‘L’Elisir d’Amore’ in Dundrum Town Centre (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2014)

Patrick Comerford

It was quite by accident that I came across today’s “Opera by the Mill Pond” at Dundrum Town Centre this evening [27 June 2014].

At the end of a busy working day, it was surprising how many shoppers, commuters and workers took an air to sit out in the open and enjoy the abridge presentation of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love).

This is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), with an Italian libretto by Felice Romani. It had its premiere in Milan in 1832, and has since become one of the most frequently performed of Donizetti’s operas. It is best known for the plaintive aria Una furtiva lagrima (A furtive tear) – sung by Nemorino in Act II, Scene 2 – one of the most famous and often-recited arias in all of opera.

Other noted arias include: Quanto è bella, quanto è cara (How beautiful she is), sung by Nemorino in Act I, Scene 1; Come Paride vezzoso (Just as the charming Paris), by Sergeant Belcore in Act I, Scene 1; Della crudele Isotta (Of the cruel Iseult), by Adina in Act I, Scene 1; Udite, udite, o rustici (Listen, listen, o peasants), by Dr Dulcamara in Act I, Scene 2; and Prendi, per me sei libero (Take it, I have freed you), sung Adina in Act II, Scene 2.

The main characters in L’elisir d’amore are: Adina, a beautiful, a young, rich land-owning woman (soprano, Sandra Oman); Nemorino, a poor peasant farmer who falls in love with Adina (tenor, whose name was not on the programme); Sergeant Belcore, an over-confident and brash soldier (baritone, Simon Morgan); Dr Dulcamara, a travelling quack (basso buffo, Stephen Fennelly); and Giannetta, a village girl (soprano) – although Giannetta was absent from this evening’s performance.

David Wray was the musical director, and Eoin Cannon was in charge of stage direction.

This comic opera, which is part of the programme for this year’s Dundrum Arts and Cultural Festival, which ends on Sunday [29 June 2014].

The two-act opera is set in a small Italian village in the early 19th century, and opens with Nemorino and the other farm workers listening to Adina telling the story of Tristan and Isolde, and their love potion. Nemorino knows that it is impossible to be in love with such a beautiful and smart woman. The self-important Sergeant Belcore arrives with his regiment and is smitten by Adina’s beauty. He gives her a flower and proposes to her in front of everyone, asking her to marry him at once.

The travelling quack salesman, Dr Dulcamara, who claims encyclopaedic knowledge, arrives in the town, peddling his bottles of potions. Nemorino remembers the story of Tristan and Isolde, and innocently asks Dulcamara if he has anything like Iseult’s love potion. Dulcamara claims he has the Elixir of Love – the potion that gives this opera its name. He says it will work within 24 hours, and sells Nemorino a bottle at a price matching all that Nemorino has in his pockets. Unknown to Nemorino, the bottle only contains cheap wine. Nemorino drinks the bottle and in his drunken state grows in confidence.

Emboldened by the “elixir,” he meets Adina. She teases him mercilessly, but not so much that in the audience we cannot catch a hint that the attraction might be mutual, despite her plans to marry the pompous sergeant in six days’ time. Nemorino still believes that he can win Adina’s love tomorrow because of the elixir, and so acts indifferently towards her.

An upset Adina is upset not only tries to hide her feelings, but ups the stakes by agreeing to marry Belcore immediately after the sergeant receives orders to join his regiment the next morning. However, Adina and Belcore notice Nemorino’s reaction to this news – the Sergeant resents this reaction, while Adina is filled with despair. Nemorino panics and cries out for Dr Dulcamara to come to his aid.

Act 2 opens with Adina’s wedding reception in full swing outdoors. Dr Dulcamara sings a song with Adina to entertain the guests. When the notary arrives to officiate, Adina is sad that Nemorino has not turned up. As everyone goes in to sign the wedding contract, Dulcamara stays outside, helping himself to food and drink.

When Nemorino arrives and sees the notary, he believes he has lost Adina. Frantically, he begs Dulcamara for more of his elixir, but this time wants a potion that works immediately. However, the desperate Nemorino is penniless and the doctor refuses, making his way inside. Belcore emerges on his own, wondering aloud why Adina has suddenly put off the signing their wedding contract. He asks Nemorino why he is feeling down. Nemorino says he has no money, and Belcore suggests that if he joins the army he can pay him immediately.

When Nemorino signs up, he gets cash on the spot from Belcore. Nemorino now thinks he can buy more of the elixir of love from Dulcamara, while Belcore thinks he is about to send his rival off to war. After drinking the second bottle of wine, the village girls begin to swarm around him. They have heard the news – which Nemorino has not yet heard – that his rich uncle has died, leaving him with a large inheritance.

Poor Nemorino is the worse for the weather having spent the cash he received from Belcore on more wine, deluded into believing that it is the “Elixir of Love.” In his drunken state, he thinks he is the object of the affections of the village women, not because of his inheritance but because of this second bottle of elixir.

When Adina sees Nemorino in such a jolly mood, she asks Dulcamara what has happened. The quack-doctor is not aware that Nemorino has fallen in love with Adina, and so he tells her the story of how the poor man is smitten, has spent his last penny on the elixir, and has signed his life away, joining the army to get more money, so desperate is he to win the love of some unnamed cruel woman.

At last, Nemorino’s sincerity dawns on Adina and regrets teasing him. She realises she has fallen in love with him, and is taken by the sincerity of his love. For his part, Dulcamara thinks her behaviour is some sort of condition that needs to be cured with one of his potions.

Nemorino appears alone and recalls a solitary a tear he saw in Adina’s eye when he was ignoring her earlier – the tear that gives the title to the plaintive aria he now sings, Una furtiva lagrima (A furtive tear). This received the greatest applause from this evening’s open-air audience in Dundrum – and, of course, he is now convinced that Adina loves him.

Adina returns and asks why he has signed up for the army and is leaving. Nemorino tells her he wants a better life. Adina tells him he is loved, and that she has bought out his military contract. She offers him the redeemed contract, telling him he is free and that if he stays in town he will no longer be sad.

Nemorino takes the contract but as Adina turns to leave Nemorino thinks she is abandoning him and says that if he is not loved, if the elixir has not worked, if the doctor has fooled him, he might as well go anyway and die a soldier. Adina stops him and confesses that she loves him. Nemorino is ecstatic. When Adina begs him to forgive her for teasing him, they kiss and embrace.

Belcore returns to find the two in an embrace. Adina explains her love for Nemorino to a disdainful sergeant, who tells her there are plenty of other women in the world. Seeing his opportunity, Dr Dulcamara offers to provide the elixir for the sergeant’s next conquest. Everyone agrees the elixir has worked and they bid a fond farewell to the doctor.

Donizetti’s ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ from ‘L’elisir d’amore’ is immediately recognisable (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2014)

Alongside Bellini and Rossini, Donizetti (1797-1848) is one of the leading composers of bel canto opera. His most famous opera is Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), yet his most immediately recognisable work is this evening’s aria Una furtiva lagrima from L’elisir d’amore (1832).

Seven years ago in 2007, while staying near Venice, I visited his grave in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, and I was moved by the sad life this composer lived, despite the great love stories in his operas.

When L’elisir d’amore was first staged in 1832, it was deemed one of the masterpieces of the comic opera. After the success of Lucrezia Borgia (1833) boosted his reputation, Donizetti followed both Rossini and Bellini to Paris. But he soon returned to Naples to produce his masterpiece, Lucia di Lammermoor, based on Sir Walter Scott’s novel, The Bride of Lammermoor. This became his most famous opera, and one of the high points of the bel canto tradition, alongside Bellini’s Norma.

In 1838, Donizetti returned to Paris after the Italian censor objected to the production of Poliuto on the grounds that such a sacred subject was inappropriate for the stage. In Paris, he wrote La fille du regiment, which became another success.

More fame came with Don Pasquale in 1843. But by then Donizetti was showing signs of syphilis and what we now know as bipolar disorder. After being institutionalised in 1845, he was sent to Paris, where he was taken care of by his friends, including Verdi. But, after several years of insanity, his friends eventually sent him home to Bergamo, where he died in 1848.

To add to this tragic tale, Donizetti and his wife Virginia Vasselli had three children, but none of them survived and she died tragically from cholera. Donizetti’s body was later moved to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo, where he was buried close to his former teacher, Father Johann Simon Mayr.

The restored Victorian glasshouse at Farmeligh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2014)

Earlier in the afternoon, two of us visited Farmleigh, the state guest house beside the Phoenix Park, just in time for the last guided tour of the former palatial residence of the Earls of Iveagh and their branch of the Guinness family.

The house retains much of its original interior decoration including portraits by Sir William Orpen and Sir Joshua Reynolds, and stucco ceilings decorated by the Stapleton brothers.

As part of the guided tour of the house we also saw the current exhibition, Seán O’Casey: A Rebel Playwright with a Cause, exploring the themes of rebellion and conflict that permeate Seán O’Casey’s life and work, from his involvement in the 1913 Lockout and Strike, the Dublin Trilogy, his politically-charged masterpiece, his conflicts with the Abbey Theatre, and controversies involving the Roman Catholic Church.

The exhibits are drawn from the Benjamin Iveagh Library at Farmleigh and include O’Casey’s printed works and correspondence from the papers of the former the Abbey Theatre director, Lennox Robinson.

Estonian jewellery from the exhibition ‘Rethinking The Everyday’ in Farmleigh Gallery ... the exhibition continues until 20 July (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2014)

Before the guided tour of the house, we paid a brief visit to ‘Rethinking The Everyday,’ an exhibition of Estonian contemporary jewellery and textiles in Farmleigh Gallery.

Later we had coffee (two double espressos) in the Boathouse, a delightful and welcoming café by the lake in the grounds of Farmleigh. I had promised myself a return after my first visit after last Christmas.

Although the coffee machines had been washed and the place was about to close for the day, they welcomed us in, and still made fresh coffee for us.

As they continued to clean up inside and unobtrusively, we sat on the deck outside, where we were joined by a friendly swan and a half dozen hungry ducks.

As we drove back through the Phoenix Park, a young deer jumped across our path. Our hearts were beating even before Donizetti invited us to taste the ‘Elixir of Love’ in Dundrum.

The Boathouse is a friendly and welcoming café beside the lake in the grounds of Farmeligh (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2014)

A table for three in Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum

Diners in Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum last night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2013)

Patrick Comerford

Many of us have read Jamie Oliver’s cookery and recipe books and watched his television programmes. I have already had lunch in Jamie’s Italian at Milsom Place in Bath and shortly after it opened in Cambridge at Jamie’s Italian in the Old Library in Wheeler Street, between the Eagle and Market Hill.

But I had never been to Jamie’s for dinner, and never eaten in Jamie’s in Dublin until last night.

Jamie Oliver says he set up his chain of Italian restaurants, beginning in Oxford in June 2008, “to re-create what Italians are most proud of – fantastic, rustic dishes, using recipes that have been tried, tested and loved!”

He was inspired by his meeting with Gennaro Contaldo in the kitchen of London’s Neal Street restaurant back in the early 1990s. Gennaro Contaldo grew up in a tiny fishing village on the Amalfi coast, where he learned how simple, fresh ingredients, prepared and cooked with love and passion, become truly great dishes.

On the back of his success in Oxford, Jamie Oliver opened a second restaurant in a Georgian conversion in the centre of Bath. Since then, this has grown to more than 30 restaurants worldwide. In February 2010, he acquired the Old Library in Cambridge – a Grade-II listed building with a magnificent dome that rises above the main dining room – and he opened his first Irish restaurant in Dundrum last September 2012.

Inside Jamie’s Italian in the Old Library in Cambridge (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2013)

Jamie’s Italian was designed to be accessible and affordable, a place where anyone is welcome and everyone is comfortable, no matter how much you spend or how long you stay.

Jamie Oliver says he wanted to create an environment with a “neighbourhood” feel, inspired by the “Italian table” where people relax, share, and enjoy each other’s company.

Inside Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum last night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford,2013)

However, the Dundrum restaurant hardly has a “neighbourhood” feel to it – it is large, at a number of levels, and the music in the background could hardly have been Italian. Three of us were squeezed into a small table, while many other larger tables, with seating for four, had only two people at them.

On the other hand, it is silly to fault a restaurant with being noisy or busy on a Thursday evening. We were welcomed warmly and received good attention throughout our meal.

Fresh ingredients in Jamie’s Italian in Dundrum last night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2013)

For starters we had:

Fennel and orange salad: oranges, fennel, lemon and olive oil; olives on ice: large green olives, black olive tapenade and crispy “music bread”; fried three-cheese gnocchi: gnocchi with an arrabbiata dip; and we shared an Italian bread selection: rosemary focaccia, sourdough, crispy “music bread”, ciabatta and tortano, served with olive oil and balsamic.

For our main courses, we had:

Spaghetti alla Norma: a Sicilian pasta dish of aubergines, oregano, chilli and basil, all in a tomato sauce; Crab Man ’n’ Cheese: baked crab with tube pasta, brown crab and tomato sauce, fontina cheese and herby breadcrumbs; and Sausage Pappardelle: slow-braised fennel sausage ragù with Torrione red wine, parmesan and herby breadcrumbs.

With these, we shared a bottle of house wine and two of us had espressos.

The food was good, the portions were generous, but we were in and out in less than an hour and a half. I would not have made a mental link between Jamie Oliver – and definitely not between authentic Italian restaurants – and “fast food.”

But it was a good evening, and we enjoyed strolling through Dundrum afterwards.

Strolling in Dundrum last night (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2013)

Concern for Ely Arch monument

The Ely Arch in Rathfarnham ... covered in graffiti and vandalised only a few months after renovation work (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2011)

The current edition of the Dundrum Gazette has followed up my recent blogpostings on the state of the Ely Arch in Rathfarnnham with the following half-page report on page 6:

Rathfarnham: Call for more attention

Concern for Ely Arch monument

Paul Hosford
dundrum@gazettegroup.com

‘This is a beautiful corner of Dublin, and the local authority must pay more attention to our heritage here. We are approaching the 250th anniversary of the erection of the arch – I hope it’s still standing in 2017, and that it’s fully renovated.’

Local residents in Rathfarnham have expressed concerns this week over the state of the historic Ely Arch.

The arch, which was recently renovated and cleaned, has been targeted by graffiti vandals, and litter has been left strewn around the important monument.

Local resident, the Reverend Patrick Comerford, told the Gazette this week that he is deeply saddened by the state of the arch, which is approaching its 250th anniversary.

“This is a unique area that needs more careful attention from South Dublin County Council so that it can remain the rich resource it is for generations to come.

“It seems odd that there would be so much spent on the restoration of Rathfarnham Castle and the Ely Arch would be allowed to fall into disrepair,” said Rev Comerford.

The arch, which originally led to Rathfarnham Castle, was built to mark the recovery of Rathfarnham Castle and estate by the Loftus family in the second half of the 18th century.

It now stands near the banks of the River Dodder and was not included in the Rathfarnham Castle renovation.

Large metal doors which were installed at the arch have since been removed.

“My worry is now that someone can get inside and set fire to the whole inside of the structure,” said Rev Comerford.

The gateway was erected in 1767 by Henry Loftus, Earl of Ely, who was also responsible for the classical redesign of Rathfarnham Castle.

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 direcy Woosdie Drive entrance.

When asked what he would like done, Reverend Comerford was adamant that the arch be taken in hand by the Office of Public Works and made available to the public.

“I would love to see the interior taken in hand and that it would be opened as a tourist attraction.

“I think it has huge potential and the OPW should take it in hand.

“This is a beautiful corner of Dublin, and the local authority must pay more attention to our heritage here. We are approaching the 250th anniversary of the erection of the arch – I hope it’s still standing in 2017, and that it’s fully renovated. Is it too much to ask that it might be fully restored and open to the public?”

For more on the Ely Arch, see http://revpatrickcomerford.blogspot.com

For other postings on the architectural heritage of South Dublin see:

Berwick Hall.
The Bottle Tower, Churchtown.
Brookvale House, Rathfarnham.
Camberley House, Churchtown.
Dartry House, Orwell Park, Rathfarnham.
Ely Arch, Rathfarnham.
Ely House, Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Fernhurst, 14 Orwell Road, Rathgar.
Fortfield House, Hyde Park, Terenure.
No 201 Harold’s Cross Road, the birthplace of Richard Allen.
Homestead, Sandyford Road, Dundrum.
Kilvare House, also known as Cheeverstown House, Templeogue Road.
Knocklyon Castle.
Laurelmere Lodge, Marlay Park.
Marlay Park.
Mountain View House, Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown.
Newbrook House, Taylor’s Lane, Rathfarnham.
Old Bawn House, Tallaght.
Rathfarnham Castle.
Sally Park, Fihouse.
Scholarstown House, Knocklyon.
Silveracre House, off Sarah Curran Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Synge House, Newtwon Villas, Churchtown, and No 4 Orwell Park, Rathgar.
Templeogue House.
Washington House, Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham.
Westbourne House, off Rathfarnham Road.