History of Orlagh House
Orlagh House, The Orlagh Estate, Gunny Hill, Dublin
Orlagh House has a fabled history. It was built in 1790 by Dublin snuff merchant Lundy Foot,
and was originally called “Footmount”. It would not be renamed Orlagh until it’s third owner
came to possess it.
Frequent visitors included the Great Emancipator, Daniel O’Connell, Eoin O’Neill, Padraig
Pearse and William Smith O’Brian, among many other famous figures from Anglo-Irish
history. Less welcome visitors were the United Irishmen whom attacked the house in 1798 !
They were fought off by Alderman Foot and I would imagine the local militia.
It most recently changed hands in March 2017 and has been sensitively restored and
refurbished to be used as an Events venue, hosting wedding, corporate getaways and
private parties with guest accommodation.
It was up until then owned by the Augustinian Religious Order and used as a Novitate and
spiritual retreat. The walled estate comprise some 45 acres including forestry and trails and
is close to both the infamous Hellfire Club, which is on the top of Montpelier Hill and St.
Colmcille’s Well at the entrance on Gunny Hill. Another important adjacent landmark is the
ruins of Carthy’s Castle which are just to the west of the grounds.
The original owner, Lundy Foot, was head of the celebrated firm of Lundy Foot & Company,
well known snuff and tobacco merchants of Essex Street and Westmoreland Street. At the
time Lundy Foot was said to be more famous than Arthur Guinness, and the company
eventually was acquired by what we now know as Carroll’s cigarettes today. There still exists
a commercial snuff available today known as Lundy Foot.
Lundy Foot’s eldest son (also called Lundy) was called to the Bar in 1788 at the age of 24,
and in 1816 became involved in the trial and subsequent conviction of three members of
the Kearney Family. The Kearneys, (father Peter and two sons, Joe and Billy), were arrested
for conspiracy to murder John Kinlan, a steward of Ponsonby Shaw. Kinlan’s body was not
found at the time, and was not uncovered until a new sand-pit was being opened in nearby
Tallaght in 1933. The Kearneys had however been heard to threaten Kinlan on a number of
occasions and, following the discovery of a blood-stained hatchet with hairs matching
Kinlan’s, their fate was sealed. They were brought from Kilmainham Jail and hanged in a
field beside the River Dodder at Old Bawn.
Foot was an acquaintance of John Philpot Curran (24 July 1750 – 14 October 1817). Curran
was an Irish orator, politician, wit, duellist, lawyer and judge, who held the office of Master
of the Rolls in Ireland. Started in 1780, his drinking club The Order of St. Patrick also
included Catholic members along with liberal lawyers (who then had to be Protestant). The
Club members were called The Monks of the Screw, as they appreciated wine and
corkscrews. Curran was its Prior and consequently named his Rathfarnham home “The
Priory”. His youngest daughter Sarah’s romance with the rebel Robert Emmet, who was
hanged for treason in 1803 has been immortalised as a tragic love story. Both of their
names are celebrated on many modern Dublin place names and a number in the local
vicinity such as Sarah Curran Avenue at St Enda’s Park.
Irish Poet, Thomas Moore (1779-1852) recalled this tragic love story in one of his many fine
poems:-
She is far from the land where her young hero sleeps,
And lovers around her are sighing,
But coldly she turns from their gaze, and weeps,
For her heart in his grave is lying.
John Philpot Curran
Lundy Foot, once asked Curran to suggest a Latin motto for his coach.
“I have just hit on it!”, exclaimed Curran. “It is only two words, and it will explain your profession,
your elevation, and your contempt for the people’s ridicule; it has the advantage of being in two
languages, Latin and English, just as the reader chooses… Put up “Quid Rides” upon your
carriage!”
(A quid was a lump of tobacco to be chewed, and also slang for a sovereign (£1). “Rides” is Irish
slang for being physically intimate with someone, whereas in Latin, the entire phrase “Quid rides”
means “so you may laugh”).
Other witticisms from Philpott include:-
Judge (whose wig was awry); “Curran, do you see anything ridiculous in this
wig?” Curran: “Nothing but the head, my lord!”
A prosecutor, infuriated by Curran’s insults, threatened to put him in his pocket. “If you do
that,” replied Curran, “you will have more law in your pocket than you ever had in your head.”
In debate with John Fitzgibbon, 1st Earl of Clare, Fitzgibbon rebutted one of Curran’s
arguments by saying “If that be the law, Mr. Curran, I shall burn all my law books.” To which he
replied “You had better read them first, my lord.”
On another occasion Fitzgibbon objected that Curran was splitting hairs- surely the words
“also” and “likewise” have exactly the same meaning? “Hardly, my Lord”. Curran replied. “I
remember when the great Lord Lifford presided over this Court. You also preside here, but you
certainly do not preside likewise”.
Foot eventually sold Footmount, as it was called at the time, to Nathaniel Caldwell and
moved to Co. Kilkenny where he purchased Rosbercon Castle near New Ross. Caldwell, who
was governor of the Bank of Ireland from 1866 to 1868 and a director from 1847 to 1890,
sold Orlagh to Andrew Carew O’Dwyer in 1836. It is not clear exactly when the name of the
house was altered but it was probably during O’Dwyer’s time. The name Orlagh has been
interpreted as ‘hill of gold’ and also as ‘an inch’.
Daniel O’Connell
It was during O’Dwyer’s tenure that changes were also made to the original building. To the
east side a new wing as added with a large banqueting hall having tapestries from Marie
Antoinette’s room at the Tuileries. When Louis Philippe altered the Tuileries apartments, the
tapestry was put on sale and purchased by O’Dwyer. Carew O’Dwyer was a great friend of
Daniel O’Connell, The Great Liberator, and arguably the greatest Irishman of all time.
O’Connell was entertained there on a number of occasions, and witnessed the signing of the
land deed of Orlagh.
Among other famous visitors to Orlagh as well as Daniel O’Connell were Irish patriots Patrick
and William Pearse. Eoin McNeill of 1916 fame was given refuge and slept there for the first
few days of the Easter Rising. It was said that from the steps of Orlagh he witnessed the
British gun boats enter the Liffey.
The drawing room has an ornate ceiling figuring bunches of grapes with vine leaves
executed by the famous artificer of hand painting, Cesar. O’Dwyer also added a small Gothic
chapel displaying rare specimens of fifteenth and sixteenth-century glass. O’Dwyer was
responsible for the landscaping of the grounds and had the stream which passes through
them incorporated into an oval pond.
O’Dwyer leased Orlagh to a wealthy Scottish family named Brodie and on the death of the
head of this family it was sold to the Augustinian Order on 16th July 1872 and occupied by
them continuously ever since. This acquisition fulfilled a long desired wish for a Novitiate for
the Irish Province, as prior to this time it had been found necessary to send the young
priests to Rome and from 1863 onwards to Ghent in Belgium. This latterly closed down
following the purchase of Orlagh. Upper stories were added to the centre wing of the house
in 1872/3 to provide room for the novices and a new wing was added in 1887, containing
the present Oratory with its impressive choir stalls.
The Augustinians used the house for various uses throughout the years, but eventually put
it up for sale. It was acquired by a group of investors in March 2017 and is now a private
venue that has been lovingly restored.
Orlagh was built around the same time as three other local landmarks: The Hermitage
(1786) which is now the the Pearse Museum in St Enda’s Park; Hollypark (1774) now known
as St. Columba’s College; and Marlay Park House (1750) which was remodelled in 1794.
St. Columba’s College
St. Columba’s College
St Columba’s College is now recognised as Ireland’s most expensive and exclusive Boarding
School. It is a co-educational boarding and day school founded in 1843 elsewhere but
relocated to Whitechurch, County Dublin, Ireland. Among the founders of the college were
Viscount Adare (who later became The 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl in 1850),
William Monsell (who was later created The 1st Baron Emly in 1874), Dr William Sewell and
James Henthorn Todd.
The house was built by Jeffrey Foot, brother to Lundy Foot of Orlagh House. The school
is affiliated with the Church of Ireland and caters to 300+ pupils, aged 11 to 18. Alumni are
organized in the Old Columban Society. Its campus consists of 140 acres (0.6 km2) on the
edge of Dublin and the M50 motorway.
Montpelier House (1763) was built as hunting residence for Henry Loftus, the Earl of Ely. It
was originally called Dollymount but unfortunately no longer stands.
The ruins of The Priory (c1780) are still visible in the Hermitage Housing Estate close to both
St Enda’s Park and Marlay Park.
Kilakee House was owned by Lord Massey. The property was demolished in 1941 and was
located in what is now known as Masseys woods in close proximity to the Hellfire Club.
Thomas “Buck” Whaley
Danesmoate
Danesmoate House is another Georgian mansion in the immediate vicinity. It was built in
the mid 18th century by the Southwell family. William Southwell (1669 – 1720) was an Irish
politician and British Army officer. He was the third son of Richard Southwell of Castle
Matrix, Co. Limerick, and his wife Lady Elizabeth O’Brien, daughter of Murrough O’Brien, 1st
Earl of Inchiquin. During the Glorious Revolution of 1689, he and his brother were attainted
by the parliament of King James II of England.
Southwell entered the British Army under King William III of England in 1693. During the
Nine Years’ War, he was wounded at the 2nd Siege of Namur in 1695 and was afterwards
promoted to captain. In the War of the Spanish Succession, he took part in the Battle of
Cádiz and Battle of Vigo Bay as major of the 6th Foot in 1702. He was promoted to
lieutenant-colonel a year later. Southwell commanded four hundred grenadiers in the 1st
Siege of Barcelona in 1705 and was made colonel of the 6th Regiment of Foot the following
year.
He sold his colonelcy to Thomas Harrison in 1708 and was appointed captain of the
Battleaxe Guards in 1714, protecting the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was elected to the
Irish House of Commons for Kinsale in 1703, representing the constituency until 1713.
Subsequently, Southwell sat for Castlemartyr until 1715 and then for Baltimore until his
death in 1720.
The property has been the residence of U2 basis Adam Clayton since the 1980’s.
Brehon’s Chair
Brehon’s Chair (also known as Taylor’s Grange) is a sacred megalithic site in Rathfarnham. It
is a national heritage site. The Grange Road is named after it. The Brehon Laws were
statutes that governed everyday life and politics in Ireland until the Norman invasion of
1171 (the word “Brehon” is an Anglicisation of breitheamh (earlier brithem), the Irish word
for a judge).
The laws were written in the Old Irish period (ca. 600 – 900 AD) and probably reflect the
traditional laws of pre-Christian Ireland. These secular laws existed in parallel with, and
sometimes in conflict with, Canon law throughout the early Christian period.
The monument comprises three 8.5 metre granite stones in the shape of a chair. The
Brehon’s Chair is believed to have been the seat of Judgement of the Archdruid. When the
settlement around the chair was excavated, flint tools were among the artefacts found
there. This stone passage tomb is often misunderstood to have been a chair, as is often told
in local history. However, excavations have found it to have been a passage tomb similar to
that of Newgrange found in Boyne Valley. The two side stones were a basic door frame with
the rear stone being the door or portal stone. These remaining features of the tomb
entrance now give the impression of a large seat.
Similar to the UNESCO World Heritage Site at Newgrange, the Brehon’s Chair passage tomb
was once a place of astrological, spiritual, religious and ceremonial importance. Despite the
proximity to the M50 motorway and nearby housing, the dolmen door of the tomb entrance
maintains its uninterrupted line of view, south towards the Dublin mountains. As one of the
largest passage tombs in Ireland, the Brehon’s Chair remained a landmark for the
inhabitants of the area throughout the prehistoric and early historic period.
St. Columcille’s Well
Just down from the entrance gate to the Orlagh Estate, just a small walk along a pathway
leading across a bridge over a stream, will bring you to this ancient well nestled in the trees.
It is known locally as St Colmcille’s Holy Well, but obviously the well was here long before
Christianity. Local tradition states that Colmcille stopped here to quench his thirst during
one of his many journeys throughout Ireland and subsequently blessed the well. The shrine
which now stands over the well was added in the early part of the 20th century. A poem
marks the fascination with this pilgrimage site.
As I went out from Dublin
To climb mount Pelier Hill
To Killakee and Fetherbed and up the mountain still
My thoughts were scare a penny-worth
Until I chanced to see
The name of dear Saint Columcille
Bright-lettered on a tree
A rugged stile, a rustic bridge
Soon added to the spell
They led me to a lovely Shrine
Beside a holy Well
A statue of the Saint is there
He looks so young and sweet
In robe of white, with script and staff
And sandals on his feet
In olden times, in golden times
I hear the waters say
Saint Columcille from Tolka side
Came wandering up this way
O bless the Lord, bright noon-day sun
Fair land and shining sea
Clear springing water happy stream
Come, praise His name with me
And so the memory that we keep
The story that we tell
The Saint, the blessing and the prayer
Beside his holy well