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Famous People
Rev. Mother Frances Mary Teresa Ball (1794
- 1861) - Religious
Foundress of the Irish Branch
of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Sisters of Loreto).
In 1814, under the direction of Dr. Daniel Murray, Archbishop of
Dublin, Frances entered the novitiate of the Institute of the Blessed
Virgin Mary. There she received her religious training, and made
her profession in 1816, taking, in religion, the name of Mary Teresa.
Recalled by Archbishop Murray, she returned to Dublin with two novices,
in 1821, to establish the Irish Branch of the Institute of the Blessed
Virgin Mary for the instruction of children. In 1822 she opened
the first institution of the order in Ireland, in Rathfarnam House,
four miles from Dublin. Mother Frances was a woman of great piety
and administrative ability. Her energies were devoted to the establishment
of schools and to the development of the sisterhood which now has
members in many countries
Padraic Colum -Poet, playwright, novelist.
Played
a major role in the shaping of Irish theatre. He was a member of
the National Theatre Society and wrote three of the Abbey's earliest
plays. He taught at St. Enda's, Patrick Pearse's school in Rathfarnham.
William Conolly (1662-1729)
- Speaker of the Irish House of Commons
A member of the privy council, ten times a lord justice of Ireland
between 1716 & 1729. Bought Rathfarnham Castle form Lord Wharton
in 1723 for £62,000. The lands of the castle extended over the Dublin
mountains, including Mount Pelier where Conolly built a hunting
lodge, known today as The Hell Fire Club.
John Philpot Curran (1750-1817),
Lawyer and nationalist.
After the 1798 Rebellion he defended the
United Irishmen Wolfe Tone and Hamilton Rowan. After the 1803 Rebellion,
however, he refused to represent Robert Emmet who had become privately
engaged to his daughter, Sarah. He lived at the Priory, Rathfarnham.
His daughter Gertrude was buried on the grounds there.
Sarah Curran (died 1808)
- Friend of Robert Emmet
Youngest daughter of John Philpot Curran. Was secretly engaged to
the United Irishman Robert Emmet. Lived at the Priory, Rathfarnham.
Anne Devlin
(c1778-1851) - Heroine
Devoted servant of Robert Emmet. Lived in Rathfarnham where, in
1803, Emmet rented Butterfield House. As well as being Emmet's housekeeper
Devlin became an accomplice in his plans for rebellion. After the
failed insurrection, Butterfield House was raided and Anne Devlin
was arrested and tortured but still refused to give any information
about Emmet. She was imprisoned in Kilmainham for high treason and
was not released until 1806.
Robert Emmet
(1778-1803) - Patriot
United Irishman. Joined the Society of United Irishmen while attending Trinity College. In 1802 he discussed Irish independence with Napoleon and Tallyrand in France. When he returned to Ireland he rented Butterfield House in Rathfarnham and became secretly engaged to Sarah Curran. He was determined to organise a rising and decided to act on 23 July 1803, with planned attacks on Dublin Castle, Pigeon House fort and Islandbridge barracks. The rebellion was disorganised and ineffective, and afterwards Emmet went into hiding in the Dublin mountains. He was eventually arrested at Harold's Cross in August, was tried for treason and found guilty. He was hanged at Thomas Street Church on 20th September 1803.
George Grierson
- King's Printer in Ireland
Among his productions were the first edition published in Ireland,
in 1724, of Paradise Lost; Sir William Petty's Maps of Ireland;
and other valuable works. His wife, Constantia, was regarded as
one of the most learned scholars of her age. Owned Rathfarnham House,
now incorporated in the Loreto Abbey buildings.
Bulmer Hobson
(1883 - 1969) - Revolutionary and Writer
Lived at Mill House Whitechurch Raod. After the establishment of
the Free State in 1922, he was appointed chief of the revenue Commissioners
Stamp Department. On retiring in 1948, he went to live in Roundstone,
Co. Galway and later in Limerick. Among his publications were
The Life of Wolfe Tone (1919), A National Forestry Policy
(1923), and Ireland Yesterday and Tomorrow (1968).
Evie Hone (1894-1955)
- Artist
Outstanding painter of religious subjects. Became interested in
stained glass windows. One of her windows My Four Green Fields (1938-39)
was commissioned by the Irish government and was exhibited in the
Irish Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York. Considered
to be one of her most important works, it is now to be seen in Government
Buildings on Upper Merrion Street in Dublin. She lived at the Dower
House in Rathfarnham and is buried in St. Maelruain’s Churchyard
in Tallaght.
Adam Loftus
(c.1533-1605) - Archbishop of Armagh and Dublin
He purchased the estate of Rathfarnham from Barry, Viscount Buttevant
in 1589 or 1560, where he built Rathfarnham Castle.
Seán Keating
(1889-1977) - Painter
Elected to the Royal Hibernian Academy in 1923 and was president from 1949-1962. In 1939 he painted a large canvas which was exhibited at the New York World's Fair. In 1961 he was commissioned by the government to paint a mural for the main hall of the International Labour Office in Geneva. He lived in Ballyboden, where he had a house built on the site of Millbrook Mills in 1935.
Thomas McDonagh
(1878-1916)- Patriot and Teacher
Thomas McDonagh was born
at Cloughjordan in County Tipperary. A teacher, his interest in
the Irish language prompted him to join the Gaelic League. During
a trip to the Aran Islands he met Patrick Pearse and the two became
friends. McDonagh later became the first teacher on the staff at
Pearse’s school, St. Enda’s. He continued his studies
at UCD, where he was awarded a Master of Arts degree and was appointed
to the English department. He published several volumes of poetry
and his play When Dawn is Come, was produced at the Abbey
Theatre. McDonagh joined the Irish Volunteers when they were formed
in November 1913 by his UCD colleague Eoin MacNeill. He joined the
IRB in 1915 but was only drafted onto the military council a few
weeks before the Easter Rising. He was in command of the Jacob’s
biscuit factory on Bishop Street during Easter week. He was executed
on May 3rd 1916.
Eoin MacNeill
(1867-1954) - Patriot
A founder member of the Gaelic League in 1893 of which he was vice-president,
he founded the Feis Cheoil the following year. He was appointed
the first Professor of Early including Medieval Irish History in
UCD in 1908, a position he held until 1941.Commander in Chief of
the Irish Volunteers, he was unaware of the planning for the Easter
Rising and on the Sunday Morning he issued an order countermanding
the mobilisation. Arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, he
was released in the general amnesty of 1917. Minister for Education
in the Executive Council of the Irish Free State, 1922-25. He was
appointed Free State representative on the Boundary Commission on
its foundation in 1924. Lived at Woodtown Park in Rathfarnham.
Fr. William
O'Leary S.J. - Jesuit
Lived in Rathfarnham Castle. He constructed a seismograph. This
machine could detect earth tremors and earthquakes from anywhere
in the world and for a time, Rathfarnham Castle became a source
of earthquake information for the national media.
Patrick Pearse (1879-1916) -
Teacher, writer and patriot.
Patrick Pearse was born in Great Brunswick Street (now Pearse Street
in his honour) in Dublin. His father, a Catholic convert, was from
a Cornish family and was an artisan and stonemason, and his mother
was from County Meath. Patrick was educated at the Christian Brothers
school on Westland Row and subsequently attended the Royal University
(a fore-runner of UCD) where he studied arts and law. He had a deep
interest in the Irish language and in 1896, at the age of just sixteen,
he joined the Gaelic League. In 1903 at the age of 23, he became
editor of its newspaper An Claidheamh Soluis. For him and other
language revivalists, saving the Irish language from extinction
was a cultural priority of the utmost importance. The key to saving
the language, he felt, would be a sympathetic education system.
In order to advance this goal and his ideal of an Ireland "not
free merely but Gaelic as well", in 1908 Pearse established
St. Enda's School (Scoil Éanna) in Ranelagh, and later Rathfarnham.
The school was intended as a model for a new Irish education stytem,
with the pupils taught in Irish and a strong emphasis placed on
nationalism.
Pearse wrote stories, essays and poems in Irish and English and
became an exponent of the notion of 'blood sacrifice' in order to
redeem Ireland's freedom. He joined the IRB in 1913 and was co-opted
onto its supreme council. He was also elected to the provisional
committee of the Volunteers. In 1915 he gave a famous speech at
the funeral of the Fenian O'Donovan Rossa in Glasnevin Cemetery.
Pearse delived the historic oration which ended with the resounding
phrase "Ireland unfree shall never be at peace". In 1916
he was the commander-in-chief of the insurgents and was regarded
as the president of the Provisional Republic. After a week of fighting
he agreed to surrender unconditionally to prevent the further slaughter
of Dublin citizens. Pearse was subsequently held at Kilmainham Gaol
and executed on 16th May 1916.
John Millington
Synge (1871-1909)- Playwright
Born at 2 Newtown Villas, Rathfarnham. Literary advisor and director
of the Abbey Theatre, along with W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory. His
comedy The Playboy of the Western World is now a classic of the
Irish Theatre, but it caused a riot on its first production in the
Abbey in 1907. His other plays include Riders to the Sea and In
the Shadow of the Glen.
Mother
Teresa (1910-1997) - Missionary
resided at Loreto Abbey, Rathfarnham while starting out to become
a Loreto Sister.
William
Butler Yeats (1865-1939) - Poet and dramatist
Greatest poetical figure of his age. Co-founder of the Irish National
Theatre. In 1923 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
Lived for some time at Riversdale House, Ballyboden Road, Rathfarnham,
which was his last home in Ireland.
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