The Liffey Valley Park Alliance

The River Liffey rises at Kippure in the Wicklow Mountains, and flows from there in a great meandering arc for almost 100 kilometers, until it encounters the salt water of the tidal reach at Islandbridge. The river has had a major impact on the settlement patterns, economic development and built environment of the City of Dublin and the satellite towns, villages and countryside of the river valley.

The diversity of scenes between the upper rural reaches of the river, and the lower reaches at the river meets the sea are evidenced in the contrast between the two pictures below. Preserving the unspoilt green nature of the upper reaches of the rive is the main objective of the LVPA, alongside its rich archaeological and natural heritage.




At Cooldrinagh, Leixlip there is remarkable evidence concerning the evolution of the river and its valley. The rich archaeological remains and numerous historic buildings in the heritage towns and villages of Chapelizod, Palmerstown, Lucan. Leixkip, Celbridge and Straffan indicate a history of settlement in the valley stretching back over 6,000 years.
 
The broad sixty-kilometer plain between the Mourne Mountains to the north and the Wicklow Mountains to the south combined with the wide estuary of the Liffey to create a relative accessible gateway for entry to Ireland from the east and penetration inland of Vikings, Normans, English and earlier peoples. Dublin itself is Viking in origin. The original settlement was located to the south-east of the shallow ford that prevented seagoing vessels from navigating further upstream. Later, in smaller boats or perhaps overland, the Dublin Vikings penetrated up the Liffey Valley at least to the falls at Leixlip, which takes its name from the Norse words Lax Hlaup meaning salmons' leap, or lax-hløypa, or salmon's leaping place, is a reminder of the long exploitation of the river’s salmon fisheries.

From its source to the sea, the Liffey and its immediate environs provide examples of almost the full range of Irish historic settlement:

• • Prehistoric sites include megalithic tombs, ring forts and a stone settlement in the vicinity of Pollaphuca. 
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• Lyons Hill near Straffan was a royal seat and place of assembly for the Celtic kingdom of Leinster. 
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• Early Christian settlement is represented by numerous holy wells and by the high crosses at Blessington, Ballymore Eustace, Old Kilcullen and Kilmainham. 
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• From the medieval period there are Norman motes such as Newbridge and Clane; stone castles such as Castleknock and Leixlip. In Norman times castles were built to control river crossings at Lucan abd Leixlip. Also from the medieval period are well preserved parish churches such as St. James’s Coghlanstown and The Blessed Virgin (St John’s) Lucan; and fragments of some of the great monasteries of the Dublin Pale at Kilcullen, Greatconnel, Clane and St. Wolstan’s.
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• The period of peace and prosperity that came after 1660 with the viceroyalty of the great Duke of Ormond gradually transformed Dublin into the ‘second city of the British empire’. Amongst the early achievements was the building of the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham, the development of the Phoenix Park north of the river and the construction at Chapelizod of a residence for the Viceroy, recalled now only in the place name King’s Park. The neo-classical Wellington Testimonial - known more colloquially in Dublin as The Wellington Monument, dominates the park skyline.
  
  
• Upstream, the landscape was transformed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by the addition of river villas erected by the burgeoning Dublin merchant and the political/administrative class, and set in landscaped parks of deciduous trees. Older castles were replaced or remodeled at Leixlip, Lucan and Luttrelstown. Castletown, Russborough, Lyons and Farmleigh are amongst the finest country houses ever erected in Ireland.
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• All along the river there is a rich heritage of lesser villas in classical and Gothic/Tudor-revival times.

Despite the pressure of modern development, many of the settlements along the river preserve a village/town atmosphere. Ballymore Eustace, Celbridge, Leixlip and Lucan all benefited from the Georgian enthusiasm for creating wide new streetscapes. These historic Liffey towns and villages today retain a distinctive character associated with the River Liffey and should be celebrated as such. Their distinctive wide streetscapes with Georgian frontage, and the building of cut stone arched bridges across the Liffey remain among the most attractive features of these historic towns.

• There are many handsome nineteenth-century protestant churches, while the catholic revival added churches, such as those by J.J. MacCarthy at Kilcullen and Celbridge, convents and schools.
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• Great Houses in the Valley include: 
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•               Castletown House, Celbridge, pictured above  during an LVPA walk in Summer 2008, courtesy of J. Byrne.
• Medieval Remains include: 
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• Ashtown Castle (Phoenix Park Vistor's Centre) 
• Mote and Bailey (Castleknock College) 
• King John's Bridge, Esker (Ireland's oldest bridge)
• Remains of Lucan Bridge 
• Palmerstown Church ( possibly 'Isolde's Church') 
• St Finian's Esker 
• Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Lucan 
• St Mary's ( Church of Ireland),
• Leixlip Ardrass Church, Straffan

Kildrought House
Kildrought House, pictured opposite,  has been a home to many interesting individuals and functions. Built in 1720 by Joseph Rotheny for Robert Baillie, a Dublin Merchant, a large extension which included a malt house was added when he sold the property in 1749.

It also housed John Begnall's/Bagnall's Academy after 1782. Attendees included Colonel George Napier's sons, who later became known collectively as 'Wellington's Colonels' - namely, George, Charles, william and Henry. 

In the early 1800's, the owner of the Mill, Jerimiah Haoughton lived there. Later in addition to         serving as a police barrackes it also had a cholera hospital attached to it. 

It has been lovingly restored by it's current owners, who kindly open it to visitors by appointment. 

Click here to read about the threat posed to it and the valley by major development proposals at Donacomper, Celbridge. 

Luttrelstown and Farmleigh
There are a number of large estates along the valley, the largest and most impressive being Luttrelstown, named after the family who established it. Lutrellstown Castle dating from the early 15th century. King John had granted the land to Sir Geoffrey be Luterel in about 1210. Sir Geoffrey, descended from the Lutrells of Dunster Castle in Somersetshire in England, served as King John's minister on many mission of state to Ireland from 1204 to 1216.  By the 17th century the family had become the biggest landowners in the district. Robert Luttrell was treasurer of St. Patricks Cathedral and Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1235-1246. The castle was started by the 5th Lord Luttrell, Sir Geoffrey Luttrell, born circa 1385. Since then It has been owned by various families including the notorious Lutrell family, by the book seller Luke White and his descendants, Baron Annaly, the Guinness Family and is now currently owned by the Primwest Group. Now it is regarded as one of Ireland's finest five star resorts complete with golf course and country club situated amidst it's extensive grounds. In it's day it hosted visits by Queen Victoria in both 1844 and 1900. More recently, another Victoria, Victoria Adams A.K.A 'Posh Spice' married the famous footballer David Beckham there in 1999. The world famous American rock band R.E.M. also recorded part of one of their albums there.

Also on the north of the valley is Farmleigh, recently acquired by the State from the Guinness family. Edward Cecil Guinness, a great grandson of the famous founder of the Guinness brewery Arthur Guinness, originally purchased Farmleigh, on his marriage to his cousin Adelaide Guinness in 1873.  It was then only a small Georgian house. However there followed a major building programme to design of the Irish architect James Franklin Fuller , this was further enhanced by the addition of the Ballroom wing as designed by William Young, a Scottish architect.

In 1901, a magnificent conservatory was added adjoining the ballroom, and combined with extensive and exotic planting of the gardens - by the early 20th century - Farmleigh was truly the epitome of gracious living, with architecture styles encompassing the classical, Jacobean, Louis XV, Louis XVI and Georgian.

Following an extensive renovation project today Farmleigh is mainly used to entertain visiting dignitaries and 'guests of the nation'. The house and grounds are however open to the public and summertime sees the grounds used for picnics and open air concerts.

 

Please visit www.Farmleigh.ie for further information on events and opening hours.

 

Up until relatively recently most of the land on the north side of the Liffey belonged to the Guinness family. Now both the Luttrelstown and Farmleigh estates are under threat of development, further eroding the wonderful amenity that is the Liffey Valley.

Lucan House (Italian Embassy)

Agmondisham Vesey created this beautiful Palladian villa on the site of Patrick Sarsfield's family castle. The house contains wonderful plasterwork by the Dublin stuccadore Michael Stapleton. The grounds contain a monument to Sarsfield and an unusual cold bath.

The house has most appropriately been home to successive Italian ambassadors.

St Edmunsdbury, Lucan

Originally the home of Edmund Sexton Pery, a speaker of the Irish House of Commons it has long been a part of St Patrick's Hospital. Extensive parkland, together with the lands of the adjoining Woodville (demolished in the 1960s), are a distinctive feature of Lucan that give it a rural character despite rapid development in recent years

Lucan Bridge

This busy crossing point has the distinction of being the widest single-span stone arch in the country, and is pictured below:

Brooklawn, Palmerstown

This late 18th century riverside villa built for a member of the Brooke family of Co Fermanagh is now part of The King's Hospital. Dublin's Bluecoat School was established by the Duke of Ormond in Queen Street, Dublin and was granted a Royal Charter by Charles II. It originally catered for the sons of deceased Dublin craftsman. In the 18th century it moved to the Irish architect Thomas Ivory's fine building in Blackhall Place. This is now the home of the Law Society of Ireland.

The Guinness Bridge
At the bottom of Knockmaroon hill, there is the distinctive “Guinness Bridge”, again easily visible in many of the Laurence Collection photographs. This is an Iron open trellis bridge, formerly floored with timber, which provided a means of access for domestic staff and estate workers, who lived on the south side of the river. It has no floor at present, and is in very poor condition.
 
It was acquired by the former Dublin County Council, prior to the establishment of three smaller administrative areas, but unfortunately very little has been done to maintain it since that time.  

• The Industrial Heritage
• An impressive industrial infrastructure of water mills was established, powered by means of weirs, sluices and millraces, of which Ballymore Eustace, Celbridge, Palmerstown and Islandbridge are excellent examples. 
• The Anna Liffey Weir/Shackleton's Mill
   
  The Anna Liffey Weir provides water for the Anna Liffey Mill which is the successor of a building that was popularly known as "The Devil's Mill" . This was because of the story that it was erected in the course of a single night by his ‘Satanic Majesty’. Now better known as Shackleton’s Mill, it was until 1999 a working flour mill. It is in good condition with all of the machinery being intact, and its two-inch thick floors remain. 

  The stone buildings and the Georgian Miller House are also in good condition.

   

  The Mill was recently acquired by the Council, and hopefully will become a centre for the local community, as well as a centre for local tourism.
  
  
  
  
  
  The Wren's Nest Weir
  
  The Wren's Nest Weir, pictured opposite, provided water as a source of power for what was most recently the Coates Printing Ink factory. The mill race is almost three kilometers in length.
   
  The remains of an old Iron Factory, originally established as a linen mill, by Dutch immigrants, can be seen opposite the Wrens Nest.
  
  The Weir at Palmerstown was constructed to provide a water supply and to generate electricity for the Guinness Estates. Water was pumped from the Liffey just above this weir to the Water Tower in the grounds of Knockmaroon house by gravity.
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• Terraces of industrial cottages, which provided accommodation for the mill workers, survive at both Lucan and Palmerstown. 
• Those pictured opposite are at Lucan Weir. 

• The valley also has a rich heritage of canal and railway architecture. 

Personalities
The Liffey Valley has many associations with famous personalities. Chapelizod is said to take its name from Iseult, the Celtic princess who was the inspiration of Wagner’s opera ‘Tristan and Isolde’.
Reference to Chapelizod in James Joyce’s ‘Finnegan's Wake’ inspired the modern renaming there of Anna Livia Bridge.
Patrick Sarsfield, the famous soldier was from Lucan. St. Edmundsbury was built by Edmund Sexton Pery,, the Speaker of the Irish Parliament. William Conolly, another Speaker, Swift’s Vanessa and the talented Napier family were all associated\with Celbridge. The poet Emily Lawless, lived at Lyons, while Theobald Wolfe Tone is buried at Bodenstown.

At Islandbridge, Sir Edwin Lutyens’s memorial park commemorates the 30,000 Irish dead of World War 1. Nearby, Kilmainham Gaol was the scene of the execution of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising.

A Recreational Destination
In tandem with the human development and utilisation of the resources of the Liffey Valley, the area has long fulfilled an important cultural and recreational function for the surrounding urban areas. A number of spa waters are found in the River, and this was exploited from the eighteenth century onwards. For example, Lucan remained a popular resort for ‘the taking of the waters’ up to the twentieth century, and the Lucan Spa Hotel remains a key landmark in the area.

The Strawberry Beds, which supplied strawberry crops to Dublin from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, were the destination of one of Thomas Cook's first tourist trips to Ireland.

The river banks of the Liffey have for long attracted anglers and provided a scenic environment in which urban dwellers could enjoy a serene landscape, with a variety of natural and cultural features.

Managing the Valley
That the Liffey Valley remains today is testament to strong local interest and usage from the adjacent communities which come together under the Liffey Valley Park Alliance. It is time, as a matter of urgency, to manage the Liffey Valley as a major and unique recreational resource to the Dublin, its environs and far beyond. The Liffey Valley Park Alliance was formed out of a strong desire to create a linear park under progressive management in one of the few remaining green spaces within the Dublin/Mid-East Regions.

There has been extensive population growth in the surrounding areas within the past decade and there is now an urgent and pressing need to ensure that the entire valley can function as a recreational space with green space facilities for the wider area.The Liffey Valley Park should be recognised as a Regional Park, with the long term objective of becoming a National Park.