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Famous People
Sir John Betjeman (1906 - 1984) Poet
Laureate
John Betjeman was a British poet and
writer on architecture. He was born in Highgate, London, to a furniture-maker
of Dutch ancestry and was educated at Marlborough College before
going to Oxford. He left Magdalen College, Oxford, without a degree
when he neglected his work. He was employed as a teacher at a preparatory
school and later worked as a journalist before joining the civil
service.
When the Second World War broke out,
Betjeman was rejected for active service and went to work for the
Ministry of Information. This led to a posting as press attaché
to Sir John Maffey, Britain's High Commissioner in Ireland. The
Betjemans lived at Collinstown House, Clondalkin from 1941 to 1943,
and their daughter Candida was born there.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Betjeman were registered as eligible for service
on the Select Vestry of St. John's Church and John regularly read
the Lessons.
After the war, Betjeman resumed his career as poet and architectural
critic, dividing his time between London, rural Oxfordshire and
the Cornish coast which he had loved as a child.
He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1972. He
died in 1984, aged 77, and is buried in Cornwall.
Dudley Colley (1911 - 1959) Engineer,
businessman and motor enthusiast
Dudley Colley was the last of the Finlay/Colley
family to own Corkagh House and Demesne. Making use of his engineering
background, he established a very succesful milk distribution business
at Corkagh. He was a brilliant motor engineer, notable motor racer
and author of the book Wheel Patter, Memoirs of Irish Motor Sport.
He died in 1959, aged 48 years.
Colonel James Fitzmaurice (1898 - 1965)
Aviator
Colonel Fitzmaurice was a member of the Royal Flying Corps,
later the Royal Air Force during the First World War. After the
signing of the Treaty, he joined the Irish Army Air Corps as a lieutenant.
On the 12th April 1928, the Bremen aircraft left Baldonnel
airfield with Captain Koehl, co-pilot Fitzmaurice and Baron Von
Huenefeld as crew. Thirty sx and a half hours later they landed
on a frozen lake at Greenly Island off Labrador. This was the first
successful east to west crossing of the Atlantic by plane. This
was an event of international importance> The fliers were feted
wherever they went in America and they received a ticker tape reception
in New York.
Lord Kilwarden (1739 - 1803) Lord
Chief Justice
Arthur Wolfe, later First Viscount Kilwarden
was born 19th January 1793 at Forenaughts, Co. Kildare. He later
resided at Newlands House, Clondalkin and served as a Warden of
St. John's Church Clondalkin. In 1798 he was appointed Chief Justice
of the King's Bench and created Baron Kilwarden. He supported the
Union with Great Britain in 1800 and received a viscountcy and a
peerage. On 23rd July 1803 he set out from Newlands for Dublin City
with his nephew. Both Lord Kilwarden and his nephew were dragged
from their coach in Thomas Street and murdered.
St. Mochua or Crónán
(died 630 AD)
The first abbot of
Clondalkin was St Mochua, according to one authority he was also
a Bishop and Confessor. An ancient tradition seems to have prevailed
that he was elected Bishop there.
In Celbridge there
was a stone trough, dated 1783, bearing St Mochua's name, at the
side of the road beside the mill. Possibly it stood over the 'Tober
Mochua' which was used by the Saint to baptize his converts. Rev
O'Hanlon in his "Lives of the Irish Saints" states that
local tradition has it that people living in or near Clondalkin
formerly held a patron at St Mochua's well near Celbridge. The image
of St. Mochua above is based on a carving on the font.
Archbishop Dermot Ryan (1924
- 1985) Archbishop Emeritus of Dublin
In 1913 Dr. Andrew Ryan,
the Clondalkin Dispensary Doctor purchased Cappaghmore House. His
son Dermot was born there on 24th June 1924. In 1950 Dermot was
ordained a priest in the Dublin Diocese. He was appointed Archbishop
of Dublin on 29th December 1971 and ordained Bishop on 13th February
1972. In April 1984 he was appointed Pro-Prefect of Evangelization
of Peoples in the Roman Curia and resigned as Archbishop of Dublin
on 1st September 1984. He died shortly after his transfer to Rome
on 21st February 1985.
The public park in Merrion Square is named
Archbishop Ryan Park in his honour as is Archbishop Ryan
School in Balgaddy.
Katharine Tynan (1861-1931)
- writer
Prolific novelist and poet. Lived at Whitehall, Tallaght. She was
a close associate of W.B. Yeats who used to stay at Whitehall for
long periods.
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