Danesmoate House (formerly known as Glensouthwell or Glen Southwell) is a Georgian house in the greater Rathfarnham area of

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Location

Grange Road continues for nearly a mile to skirt the boundary wall of

Marlay Park Marlay Park () is an suburban public park located in Rathfarnham in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland. Lying about nine kilometres (5.5 miles) from Dublin city centre, the parkland comprises woodlands, ponds and walks. Recreational spaces incl ...

as far as the crossroads at

Taylors Grange Brehon's Chair, sometimes Druid's Chair, is a megalithic site, and national monument, in Whitechurch, Rathfarnham, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, in the traditional County Dublin, Ireland. Etymology The name ''Brehon's Chair'' refers to a Victori ...

beyond which it terminates at a group of farmhouses where there was formerly an old passage leading to Stackstown. On the right the road to

Kilmashogue Kilmashogue or Kilmashoge () is a mountain in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county in Ireland. It is high and forms part of the group of hills in the Dublin Mountains which comprises Two Rock, Three Rock, Kilmashogue and Tibradden Mountains. The f ...

passes the entrance to Danesmoate where there is the valley of the Little Dargle River, a tributary of the

River Dodder The River Dodder ( ga, An Dothra) is one of the three main rivers in Dublin, Ireland, the others being the Liffey, of which the Dodder is the largest tributary, and the Tolka. Course and system The Dodder rises on the northern slopes of Ki ...

which rises near the

Ticknock Ticknock or Tiknock () is a townland southwest of Sandyford in Dublin at the northeastern foothills of the Dublin Mountains. The townland of Tiknock is in the electoral division of Dundrum, and has an area of approximately . There are a numbe ...

rifle range.

History

The house was built in the 18th century by the Southwell family and in 1787 was the residence of Irish politician and soldier

William Southwell William Southwell (1669 – 23 January 1720) was an Irish politician and British Army officer. Background 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 ...

. Throughout the following century it was occupied by the Ponsonbys, down to 1896 and later by Professor

Stanley Lane-Poole Stanley Edward Lane-Poole (18 December 1854 – 29 December 1931) was a British orientalist and archaeologist. Poole was from a famous orientalist family as his paternal grandmother Sophia Lane Poole, uncle Reginald Stuart Poole and great-uncle ...

, the author of a number of works on Oriental art and numismatics. For many years down to 1946 it was the home of Lieutenant

Algernon Gainsford Algernon may refer to: * Algernon (name), a given name (includes a list of people and characters with the name) * Algernon Township, Custer County, Nebraska See also * Treaty of Algeron, an agreement signed by the United Federation of Planets and ...

of the

Seaforth Highlanders The Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs, The Duke of Albany's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, mainly associated with large areas of the northern Highlands of Scotland. The regiment existed from 1881 to 1961, and saw service ...

. In 1986, the house was the site of recording by rock band U2 for their album ''

The Joshua Tree ''The Joshua Tree'' is the fifth studio album by Irish rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release, ' ...

''. Bassist

Adam Clayton Adam Charles Clayton (born 13 March 1960) is an English-born Irish musician who is the bass guitarist of the rock band U2. He has resided in County Dublin, Ireland since his family moved to Malahide in 1965, when he was five years old. C ...

currently owns the house. Clayton built a small watchtower beside the 20-bed mansion, apparently based on the Cruagh Tower.

Features

The Brehon's Chair

Within the grounds, in a field visible from the road, is an ancient monument known as the Brehon's Chair, consisting of three tall slabs about nine feet high enclosing a small square space. There was formerly another large slab supported by smaller ones lying to the north east but this was destroyed about 1876 by blasting. The existing remains are apparently the portal portion of a dolmen type of tomb and the stones which were removed would have been part of the destroyed chamber. A similar type of portal can be seen on a dolmen at Haroldstown in

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a Counties of Ireland, county located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region of Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Carlow is the List of Irish counties by ...

Constructions

Beside the Little Dargle is the remains of a tall narrow tower of which only one wall is now standing. This building was about nine feet square and the remaining wall with its battlements is about twenty five feet high. One jamb of a doorway with a pointed arch remains. A little over a hundred years ago this tower was in much better preservation and was surrounded by the old walls of other buildings from which it has been suggested that this was the site of the original Grange of the Harolds. The existing portion however is of very light construction and quite unsuitable for a building of that period and location, whether intended for domestic or ecclesiastical use. It was probably built in the eighteenth century for the better enjoyment of the view over Dublin Bay. Beside the house is an octagonal building with a cellar underneath. It is now filled up with boughs and brushwood to prevent cattle falling through but is said to be elliptical in shape and was apparently an ice house. On the other side of the brook there is a fine arched gateway in cut stone leading into the pasture land.

External links

{{coord, 53.26523, N, 6.262449, W, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Rathfarnham Houses in the Republic of Ireland