Is Saint Andrew’s Church in Lucan Gandon’s last building in Ireland?

Saint Andrew’s Church, Lucan … built on a site donated by James Gandon and consecrated a few days before his death (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

As I strolled along the north bank of the River Liffey before the weir in Lucan village on Sunday afternoon, the spire of Saint Andrew’s Church, peeping up above the willows by the river bank, was reflected in the waters of the river like a scene from a Constable painting.

It was so captivating, that I crossed the bridge and walked along the Main Street to see this church, built almost 200 years ago.

Saint Andrew’s Church was built in 1823 and stands on the Main Street in Lucan Village. The design of the church was influenced by the architect James Gandon who donated the land on which the church was built.

Saint Andrew’s is a prominently-sited church and is a landmark in Lucan village. It is built in a simple Gothic Revival style, and substantially retains its original appearance, including an elegant entrance screen, stained glass and many interior fittings.

According to Professor Edward McParland of TCD, in James Gandon: Vitruvius Hibernicus (1985), Saint Andrew’s may have been based on a design by James Gandon who donated the site to the parish.

James Gandon (1743–1823) is one of the leading architects who worked in Ireland in the late 18th century and early 19th century. His better known works include the Custom House, the Four Courts and King's Inns in Dublin and Emo Court in Co Laois.

Gandon was born on 20 February 1742 in New Bond Street, London, at the house of his grandfather, Peter Gandon, a French Huguenot refugee. His father Peter Gandon was a gun-maker.

James Gandon was educated at Shipley’s Drawing Academy, where he studied classics, mathematics, arts and architecture. He was then articled in the office of Sir William Chambers, an advocate of the neoclassical evolution of Palladian architecture, but who later designed buildings in the Gothic Revival style.

In 1765, Gandon left Chambers to start his own practice. His connection with Ireland began as early as 1768, when he made designs for a deanery at Killaloe, Co. Clare, for his first Irish patron, Joseph Deane Bourke (1740-1794), later 3rd Earl of Mayo. At the time Bourke was the new Dean of Killaloe (1768-1772); he later became Bishop of Ferns and Leighlin (1772-1782) and Archbishop of Tuam (1782-1794).

In 1769, Gandon entered an architectural competition to design the new Royal Exchange in Dublin. His design came second and brought him to the attention of the politicians who were overseeing the large-scale redevelopment of Dublin, then one of the largest cities in Europe.

In 1780, Gandon declined an invitation from a member of the Romanov family to work in St Petersburg and in 1781, at the age of 38, he accepted an invitation to Ireland from John Dawson, 1st Viscount Carlow (later Earl of Portarlington) and John Beresford, the Revenue Commissioner for Ireland, to supervise the construction of the new Custom House in Dublin.

The new Custom House was unpopular with Dublin Corporation and some city merchants who complained that it moved the axis of the city, would leave little room for shipping, and it was being built on what at the time was a swamp. It is said that people were so opposed to the Custom House that Beresford had to smuggle Gandon into Ireland and keep him hidden in his own home for the first three months. The project was completed at a cost of £200,000, an enormous sum at the time.

But the commission was the turning point in Gandon’s career and Dublin. He moved to a house in Mecklenburgh Street (now Railway Street), and over the rest of his career, Dublin grew to become the fifth largest city in Europe, with fine new Palladian and neoclassical buildings designed by Edward Lovett Pearce and Richard Cassels.

The Wide Streets Commission asked Gandon to design a new aristocratic enclave in the vicinity of Mountjoy Square and Gardiner Street, with classical terraces, town houses and large residences. He also designed Carlisle Bridge, now O’Connell Bridge, over the River Liffey to join the north and south sides of the city.

Gandon’s other works in Dublin included the Four Courts (1786), the centre portion of King’s Inns, Henrietta Street (1795-1816), the Rotunda Assembly Rooms (1786), and the Royal Military Infirmary (1787). He designed shops on D’Olier Street and Burgh Quay and in 1785 he extended Pearce’s Houses of Parliament, building the curved screen wall that links his new Corinthian portico for the House of Lords facing College Street to Pearce’s original building.

Outside Dublin, he designed a new courthouse and gaol in Waterford (1784); Abbeville, near Malahide (1792), which he designed for John Beresford and later was the home of Charles Haughey; Sandymount Park for the painter William Ashford; Emo Court, Co Laois (1790-1796) for the Earl of Portarlington.

The churches attributed to Gandon include the Church of Saint John the Evangelist (Church of Ireland), Coolbanagher, near Emo village, the tower and steeple of Saint Peter’s Church, Maryborough (Portlaoise), and Saint Andrew’s Church in Lucan.

On the outbreak of the 1798 Rising, an unpopular Gandon fled hurriedly to London. On his return to Dublin he found the Irish Houses of Parliament, which he had inspired, had closed and with the 1801 Act of Union the titled aristocracy, one by one, were abandoning the fine new town houses he had built near Mountjoy Square.

Gandon withdrew from active practice in 1808 and retired to Canonbrook, near Lucan, Co Dublin, where he and his son, also James Gandon, engaged in large-scale tree planting schemes.

Saint Andrew’s Church reflected in the waters of the River Liffey in Lucan (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Saint Andrew’s Church in Lucan may have been Gandon’s last work. In 1821, Lucan was separated from Leixlip to form a new parish. The site for a new church was donated by Gandon, and the curate of Leixlip, the Revd Caesar Otway (1780-1842) was appointed the new vicar in 1822. The new church was consecrated on 7 December 1823. Gandon had donated the site and the church, if not designed by him, was based on his design.

Within a few weeks of the opening of the new church, Gandon died on 24 December 1823 at his home in in Canonbrook, Lucan. He was buried in the churchyard of Drumcondra Parish Church, in the same grave as his friend Francis Grose the antiquary.

His tombstone reads: ‘Such was the respect in which Gandon was held by his neighbours and friends from around his home in Lucan that they refused carriages and walked the 16 miles to and from Drumcondra on the day of his funeral.’

The church substantially retains its original appearance. Changes have been made to the building over the years. But in 1996, following the completion of the parish centre, work commenced on restoring the church to its former intimate design.

Saint Andrew’s is a Gothic Revival church dating from 1823. There is a three-bay nave with a projecting square entrance to the north having an octagonal ashlar spire. There is a shallow polygonal projection to the east, and a gabled projection to the west.

The roughcast rendered walls have ashlar limestone dressings, including string course, chamfered reveals to the openings, and crenellations and pyramidal finials to the roof and the tower.

The diamond-paned timber Y-tracery windows throughout the church have drip mouldings. The door is timber panelled and the roof is of pitched slate. Inside, there are box pews, panelling and an organ.

The tower contains the original clock manufactured in 1875 by Dent and Co of London, who also made Big Ben at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

At the entrance to the church grounds from the Main Street, there are ashlar limestone gate piers and pedestrian gateways, with cast-iron gates.

Later works on Saint Andrew’s Church included repairs and improvements by the architects of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, Welland and Gillespie. The font was designed by Sir Thomas Drew.

The modern parish centre to the west, of roughly dressed rubble with metal cladding to upper floor. This attractive building adds to the setting of the church.

Leixlip and Lucan were reunited in 1918, and today Saint Andrew’s Church is one of two churches in the Leixlip and Lucan Union of Parishes, with the Revd Scott Peoples as Rector since 1999.

A winter scene at the weir in Lucan, with the spire of Saint Andrew’s Church in the background (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Lunch in a Georgian country house overlooking Leixlip village

Leixlip House Hotel … a country house hotel with charm and 250-year-old history (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Patrick Comerford

Today was the Second Sunday of Easter, which is popularly known as “Low Sunday,” and it was a privilege to preside at the Eucharist this morning in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin.

The setting this morning was Timothy Powell’s Melodious Sonnet described as a “Colonial American Mass,” sung by the Davidson Chorale from Augusta, Georgia. The composer Timothy Powell was present this morning, along with a large number of visitors from Augusta, Georgia, and an interesting number of students from Denmark too.

Later, after coffee in La Dolce Vita in Temple Bar, four of us met up for a late lunch this Sunday afternoon in Leixlip House Hotel, a masterfully transformed Georgian home on Captain’s Hill in Leixlip, Co Kildare. It dates back to 1774 and overlooks the picturesque village of Leixlip with its waterfall on the River Liffey.

Leixlip, which was a Norse settlement at the beginning of the 10th century, takes its name from the Danish for “Salmons Leap.” By the beginning of the 12th century, Newtown and Confey; near Leixlip, were formed into a parish with a church, and the ruins of the church can be seen in the present cemetery in Confey.

After the Anglo-Norman arrival in Ireland, Leixlip and the surrounding territories was part of the lands g anted to the de Hereford family in 1175.

By 1500, the Eustace family, who were related to the FitzGeralds of Kildare, owned great areas of land in Co Kildare, including the parish of Confey near Leixlip. In 1540, John Eustace was living in the castle at Confey and he also owned property in Thomas Street, James’ Street and neighbouring areas of Dublin.

Nicholas FitzJohn Eustace of Confey was among the principle gentry of Co Kildare in 1600, and other members of the family owned Clongowes Wood, Castlemartin, Harristown, Newlands and other estates in Co Kildare.

In 1641, James Eustace of Confey, who was described as an Irish Papist, owned about 100 acres of land in the townlands of Newtown and Confey. That year, the Eustace castle at Confey was destroyed in the rebellion of 1641.

A painting of Leixlip House in one of the corridors in the hotel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Despite the Cromwellian Confiscations the Eustace family, the Plunketts and other leading local families succeeded in keeping their lands near Leixlip during. By 1659, the townland of Confey had 34 inhabitants, while Leixlip had 100 people, and James Eustace was one of the three principle citizens in the area.

However, many branches of the Eustace family in Co Kildare were outlawed in the 1690s and their estates possessions were confiscated because of their support of King James II in the Williamite Wars.

In 1728, William Connolly of Castletown House in neighbouring Cellbridge bought great tracts of these confiscated lands on easy terms, including the manor, town and lands of Leixlip and Newtown, for which he paid £11,883. The remaining portions of Leixlip, including the castle, were bought by William Connolly’s nephew in 1731.

Noble and Keenan’s map of Co Kildare in 1750 shows few, if any, buildings in Priest Lane, Leixlip, now called Captain’s Hill.

Captain William Brady held the Lime Kiln holding in Newtown Leixlip from the Conolly family in 1772. The other tenants in the area included Richard Guinness, a brother of Arthur Guinness, founder of the Dublin brewery, and Peter Berrill, the parish priest of Leixlip. Captain Brady, who may have come from Ballaghy in Co Derry, where the Connolly family then had an estate, probably built Leixlip House in the 1770s.

Major-General Brady was active with Thomas Conolly in arranging the surrender of local rebels in 1798. Two years later, his daughter Jane married John Downing of Co Derry, who assumed the additional name of Nesbitt when he inherited the Nesbitt estate in Edenderry. He married in 1800 Jane, the daughter of General Brady of Leixlip House.

When General Brady died in 1828, he was buried in Leixlip cemetery, where there is a monument in his honour. Leixlip House then became the residence of Mr John Nesbitt. At Griffith’s Valuation in the 1850s, William George Downing Nesbitt held Leixlip House and 15 acres, along with 21 acres from Thomas Conolly of Castletown.

When William Nesbitt died in 1857, he was succeeded in turn by his sister and their cousin Edward Beaumount Downing Nesbitt, but he did not live in Leixlip House. In the 1910s, Leixlip House was home to WA West, a land commissioner, and later to the Hone family. In the 1950s, it was bought by Colonel Head, who extended the house.

The gates, railings and pillars of Leixlip House came from the French Estate in Frenchpark, Co Roscommon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

In 1974, Leilxip House and the surrounding 15 acres but without the field across the road that had been sold previously, was bought by the O’Mahoney family from Mrs Carville. They installed the impressive gates, railings and pillars procured, which came from the French Estate in Frenchpark, Co Roscommon.

Leixlip House and lands were sold by the O’Mahoney family to local developers in 1982. A year later, a fire cause extensive damage to the house, particularly to the roof and the top floors. The cause of the fire was never established, and for some years the house lay derelict and faced a very uncertain future.

The Towey Family from Palmerstown, bought Leixlip House Hotel in 1996, and immediately they began an extensive refurbishment project. They opened the hotel with 19 bedrooms, a restaurant with a capacity for 50 guests, and a banqueting suite that can hold 140 guests.

They have secured the fabric of the house, and 20 years later Leixlip House is now in good shape for future generations.

The future of Leixlip House has been secured for future generations (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Berwick House is impressive, but who was ‘Lady Berwick’?

Berwick House on Whitehall Road, Churchtown … but who was Lady Berwick? (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Patrick Comerford

On my way home from work this evening, I went out of my way to take a look at Berwick House, a tall period house on the bend in Whitehall Road, Churchtown.

This imposing building, which has been converted into apartments in recent years, looks north, as if the first part of Whitehall Road was the drive up to a splendid country residence.

Until recently, this house was the residence of the De La Salle Brothers, who ran a number of schools in the locality. But it may date back to the 18th century or even late 17th century, when there was a house on this site. The present house is probably the house named as Waxfield where John Lamprey died in 1766.

By 1836, the house was known as Hazelbrook, and is referred to by Samuel Lewis in his Topographical Directory in 1837, when he mentions the celebrated guesthouse, patronised by people who came out from Dublin, to the nearby spa and health resort.

From 1844 to 1899, the house was known as Bachelor’s Hall. It was a travellers’ rest with bed, breakfast and stabling facilities. It was later bought by a “Lady Berwick,” who turned it into a holiday house for working girls. As the headquarters of this charity it was known as Berwick Home.

Meanwhile, the name Hazelbrook was transferred to the nearby, now defunct, HB milk bottling plant, ice cream factory and dairy run by the Hughes Brothers.

In 1944, the house again became a private residence and the name was changed to Berwick House. When the De La Salle Brothers first came to Churchtown they were a small group of only three. They eventually bought Berwick House and it became the base for their educational mission in the Churchtown, Rathfarnham and Dundrum area.

The house was recently converted into apartments. A small housing scheme beside Berwick House is known as Berwick Hall, named after the adjoining Berwick House.

The Hughes Brothers’ original house, built in 1898, and called Hazelbrook House, was rebuilt in Bunratty Folk Par, Co Clare, in 2001, and the old HB dairy site is being developed as Hazelbrook Square.

The Berwick Home Charity continues to give holiday grants to girls and women over the age of 14 who have recently been unwell or disabled.

An Edward post box beside Berwick House (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

But who was Lady Berwick who gave her name to this charity and to Berwick House?

She certainly was not the wife of one of the Hill family who held the title of Baron Berwick and lived at Attingham Park, Atcham, Shropshire. William Noel-Hill, 6th Lord Berwick, died unmarried in 1882, and his nephew Richard Henry Noel-Hill, 7th Lord Berwick, died childless in 1897.

The Revd Edward Berwick (1754-1820), Vicar of Leixlip (1795-1820), Co Kildare, has been described mistakenly by some local historians as a son of the 2nd Duke of Berwick, whose mother was the widow of Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, and whose father was an illegitimate son of King James II. However, Edward Berwick was the son of a man named Duke Berwick from Co Down.

Edward Berwick’s son, Walter Berwick (1800-1868), owned 653 acres in Co Cork, and was a well-known judge of the Quarter Sessions in Cork in the mid-19th century. He is remembered for presenting Cork city with an ornamental fountain on Grand Parade in 1859 when he moved to the bankruptcy court.

Walter Berwick was admitted to the Irish bar in 1826, served as assistant barrister for Waterford, and was well regarded by Daniel O’Connell while practising at the bar. His politics were liberal, and he was a founder member of the Saint Stephen’s Green Club in Dublin in 1840, and a founder of the Royal Irish Academy of Music in 1848.

He chaired the inquiry into the Dolly’s Brae riot in 1849, and his report led to the dismissal of Lord Roden and several other prominent Orangemen as magistrates.

In 1854, Judge Berwick bought St Edmundsbury in Lucan, where he did some farming. He was appointed a judge of the court of bankruptcy and insolvency in 1866. Judge Berwick and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, died on 20 August 1868 on the Irish Mail train in the Abergele railway disaster in north Wales. Among the many other victims was a nine-year-old girl, Louisa Symes, who was travelling in the care of the Berwicks.

Walter’s younger brother, Edward Berwick (1804-1877), was a lawyer and educationalist, who was President of Queen’s College Galway (now NUI Galway) from 1850 until 1877.

A nephew of Henry Grattan, he was given personal tuition by Dionysius Lardner (1793-1859), and studied law at Trinity College Dublin. He later lived with Lardner in Bray, Co Wicklow, and later in Gardiner Street, Dublin. He gave evidence in the celebrated Lardner divorce case. He was called to the Bar in 1832. On the foundation of Queen’s College Galway in 1845, Berwick was appointed Vice-President.

The college president, Joseph W. Kirwan, died in office in December 1849, and Berwick succeeded him in 1850. He died in office in 1877.

This family gave its name to another Berwick House in Dalkey, Co Dublin, but this house was later known as Scotch Rath. Was “Lady Beriwck” a member of this family?

I think I need to carry out a little more research.

Berwick House stands on the twist in the road on Whitehall Road (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.

A walk in the park and the grounds of an old monastery by the river

The entrance to Saint Catherine’s Park, between Lucan and Leixlip (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

After a long working weekend, two of us headed west after lunch this afternoon to Saint Catherine’s Park, between Lucan and Leixlip, on the borders of Dublin and Co Kildare, for a brisk country walk away from the city.

The park looks down to the valley of the River Liffey between Lucan and Leixlip, and includes the second part of the Slí na Sláinte 4 km walk. The park features include the remains of an old church and the former farmyards and entrance gateway of Saint Catherine’s House, once a monastery but now a boutique hotel.

The ruins of the penal church in Saint Catherine’s Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

From the carpark, we walked to the Upper Yard and then found our way down a step and twisting path to an old penal church built in the 18th century. It was later used as a school from 1833 until the early 1900s and since fallen into ruins and is surrounded by fencing.

The castellated ruins of the Lower Yard in Saint Catherine’s Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Nearby the castellated ruins of the Lower Yard are also fenced off. But this is a beautiful 33-acre park. Although there are no signs indicating the historical value of any of these ruined buildings, there seem to be plans to restore them as part of the park’s attractions.

The estate was given to the Kildare County Council by the Irish Government after the demesne was acquired by the state. It is located in three county districts: Fingal, Kildare, and South Dublin.

Saint Catherine’s Park takes its name from a Priory of Canons of the Order of Saint Victor, which was established there soon after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. The original priory house was built on each side of a small stream that descends to the River Liffey.

The Priors of Saint Catherine’s included William of Kill, John Warisius, and Richard Shirman, and the chief benefactors of the priory included Wirris de Peche, Lord of Lucan, and Sir Adam de Hereford, Lord of Leixlip, each of whom left an endowment to maintain six chaplains to pray in the priory for the members of their families.

The priory was so impoverished by the early 14th century that the Prior, Richard Turnour, and the canons obtained a royal licence in 1323 to assign the priory and all its possessions to the Abbey of Saint Thomas in Dublin.

After the dissolution of the monastic houses, the priory house and lands were leased in 1541 to Thomas Allen, Chamberlain of the Exchequer, who was also granted the neighbouring monastery of Saint Wolstan’s. When Allen’s lease ran out in 1561, the priory house and lands were leased to George Staynings, and eventually it passed to Sir Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls, who was granted “the Cell of Saint Catherine’s,” along with the Manor of Leixlip.

Saint Catherine’s Priory became White’s principal residence. But he fell out of favour and in 1589 he was sent to London, where he was detained first at Charing Cross and then placed under house arrest in the house of the Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, London, before being imprisoned in Marshalsea, and then in the Tower of London. When he was released, he was allowed to return to Ireland and he died in February 1593.

His son Andrew White and grandson, Sir Nicholas White, lived at Leixlip Castle, and during the Cromwellian era Saint Catherine’s was leased by Sir Robert Knight. In 1655, the White family sold Saint Catherine’s to Alderman Ridgely Hatfield, who was Mayor of Dublin the following year.

After the Restoration, Saint Catherine’s was sold in 1664 to Sir John Perceval. It then passed to Sir William Davys, who was Attorney-General and Chief Justice of the Regalities of Tipperary Recorder of Dublin, Prime Serjeant, and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in Ireland. He was a son-in-law of Archbishop Boyle of Armagh, and later, when he was widowed married a daughter of the Earl of Kildare.

When Davys bought Saint Catherine’s in 1666, the buildings had fallen into disrepair, and he rebuilt the house. For generations, the house remained in the hands of the Davys family, who received the titles of Baron and Viscount Mountcashel.

When the family died out, Saint Catherine’s passed to Sir Samuel Cooke, who was twice Lord Mayor of Dublin and married Judith Trench, daughter of the Very Revd John Trench, Dean of Raphoe. His grand-daughter, Mary Welden, married her cousin, the Very Revd Thomas Trench, Dean of Kildare.

The Leixlip Manor Hotel stands on the site of the mediaeval Saint Catherine’s Priory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Saint Catherine’s Park was rebuilt in 1765, and became a home of Sir Richard Wolseley of Mount Wolseley, MP for Co Carlow, who died there in 1781. By 1795, the house had been bought by Robert Butler, third Earl of Lanesborough, who built considerable additions to the house and modernised the older parts of Saint Catherine’s. It then passed to David La Touche of the Huguenot banking family, who was related by marriage to Lord Lanesborough.

When the house was burned to the ground and a new house – also called Saint Catherine’s Park – was built around 1798, designed by the architect Francis Johnston. A boutique hotel since 1996, and it was known as the Liffey Valley House Hotel when I attended a wedding there in 2010. It was relaunched in 2011 as a private wedding venue and renamed Leixlip Manor and Gardens.

The River Liffey above the weir at Lucan and below Saint Catherine’s Park (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

From Saint Catherine’s Park, we drove down the steep hill that leads down to the banks of the River Liffey and the weir and bridge at Lucan Village.

The bare winter branches provided a clear view down the river to Lucan Bridge spanning the River Liffey. This is the largest single span masonry arch bridge in Ireland. It is built with ashlar masonry and has a span of 33 metres (110 ft) and a rise of 6.7 metres (22 ft). It is framed by iron balustraded parapets made by the Royal Phoenix ironworks in Parkgate Street, Dublin.

The bridge was designed by the architect George Knowles and was built in 1814 in collaboration with James Savage to replace several previous bridges that had been carried away by floods. This 1814 bridge built by Savage and Knowles has been largely unaffected by the flooding on this stretch of the river.

By now, it was cold and darkness was closing in. It was time to think of dinner and a restful evening before the beginning of a new semester tomorrow morning.

Lucan Bridge, built in 1814, remains the largest single-span masonry arch bridge in Ireland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Marking the end of an era in TCD as the BTh course comes to an end in CITI

The setting sun, glimpsed through the aged trees in the grounds of Saint Catherine’s Park, Leixlip (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Patrick Comerford

The past week saw the passing of an era. The B.Th. students had their last lectures in Trinity College Dublin and in the Church of Ireland Theological Institute, and both the Revd Dr Billy Marshall and the Revd Dr Wilfrid Harrington delivered their last lectures at the institute.

The B.Th. course is about to come to an end, although the students still have exams to sit later this month, and an end-of-year Eucharist is being planned for Ascension Day.

At the end to the teaching year, the third year students as a group were together in the Chapel of Trinity College Dublin on Saturday when for a service conducted by the Revd Darren McCallig, the Church of Ireland chaplain and Dean of Residence.

Later in day, as a group we were in the Liffey Valley House Hotel a charming boutique hotel in Leixlip, Co Kildare, in a house once known as Saint Catherine’s Park on a hill above the banks of the River Liffey.

It was a beautiful, warm sunny day, and the temperature reached 20 at one stage. There were pleasant walks in the grounds and through the former walled gardens and the old. As we sat to dinner the sun was setting in the west over Leixlip, casting an orange glow through trees, some of which must have been centuries old.

The Liffey Valley House Hotel, formerly Saint Catherine’s Park, stands on the site of the mediaeval Saint Catherine’s Priory (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Saint Catherine’s Park takes its name from a Priory of Canons of the Order of Saint Victor, which was established on these lands shortly after the Anglo-Norman invasion. The original priory house was built on each side of a small stream, which descends into the River Liffey.

The Priors included William of Kill, John Warisius, and Richard Shirman, and the chief benefactors of the priory included Wirris de Peche, Lord of Lucan, and Sir Adam de Hereford, Lord of Leixlip, each of whom left an endowment to maintain six chaplains to pray in the priory for the members of their families.

The Priory fell into such poverty in the early 14th century that Richard Turnour, who was Prior in 1323, and the canons obtained a royal license to assign the priory and all its possessions to the Abbey of Saint Thomas in Dublin.

After the dissolution of the monastic houses, the priory house and lands were leased in 1541 to Thomas Allen, Chamberlain of the Exchequer, who was also granted the neighbouring monastery of Saint Wolstan’s. When Allen’s lease ran out in 1561, the priory house and lands were leased to George Staynings, and eventually it passed to Sir Nicholas White, Master of the Rolls, who was granted “the Cell of Saint Catherine’s,” along with the Manor of Leixlip.

Saint Catherine’s Priory became his principal residence. But in he fell out of favour and in 1589 he was sent to London, where he was detained first at Charing Cross and then placed under house arrest in the house of the Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, before being imprisoned in Marshalsea, and then in the Tower. Eventually, he was allowed to return to Ireland and he died in February 1593.

His son Andrew White and Andrew’s son, Sir Nicholas White, lived at Leixlip Castle, and during the Cromwellian era Saint Catherine’s was leased by Sir Robert Knight. In 1655, the White family sold Saint Catherine’s to Alderman Ridgely Hatfield, who was mayor of Dublin the following year.

After the Restoration, Saint Catherine’s was sold in 1664 by Hatfield to Sir John Perceval. It then passed to Sir William Davys, who was Attorney-General and Chief Justice of the Regalities of Tipperary Recorder of Dublin, Prime Serjeant, and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in Ireland. He was a son-in-law of Archbishop Boyle of Armagh, and later, when he was widowed married a daughter of the Earl of Kildare.

When Davys bought Saint Catherine’s in 1666 the buildings had fallen in disrepair, and he rebuilt the house. For generations, the house continued in the hands of the Davys family, who received the titles of Baron and Viscount Mountcashel. When the family died out, Saint Catherine’s passed to Sir Samuel Cooke, who was twice Lord Mayor of Dublin and a son-in-law of Dean John Trench.

Saint Catherine’s Park, which was rebuilt in 1765, was later lived in by Sir Richard Wolseley of Mount Wolseley, MP for Co Carlow, who died there in 1781. By 1795, the house had been bought by Robert Butler, third Earl of Lanesborough, who built considerable additions to the house and modernised the older parts of Saint Catherine’s. It then passed to David La Touche of the Huguenot banking family, who was related by marriage to Lord Lanesborough.

About that time, the house was burned to the ground and a new house – also called Saint Catherine’s Park – was built around 1798 to a design of Francis Johnston. It was lived in by a succession of generals in the 19th century, and is now Liffey Valley House Hotel.

The monks, generals and sons-in-laws of deans and archbishops have left us with a very fine house in a peaceful location, and its use as an hotel today continues a tradition of hospitality and maintains an interesting legacy.

The entrance to the Liffey Valley House Hotel (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2010)

Updated: 26 March 2025.