Harristown () is a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

on the

River Liffey The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...

downstream from

Kilcullen Kilcullen (), formally Kilcullen Bridge, is a small town on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its population of 3,815 at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census made it the 13th largest settlement in County Kilda ...

, just north of Brannockstown in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Carnalway in the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Naas South. It is the site of a former borough and manor, and Harristown Borough was a

borough constituency In the United Kingdom (UK), each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one member to the House of Commons. Within the United Kingdom there are five bodies with members elected by electoral districts called " constituen ...

sending two MPs to the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

before the

Acts of Union 1800 The Acts of Union 1800 were parallel acts of the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of Ireland which united the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland (previously in personal union) to create the United Kingdom of G ...

. Harristown Common is a townland and former

commonage Common land is collective land (sometimes only open to those whose nation governs the land) in which all persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person w ...

north of Harristown proper and separated from it by the townlands of Dunnstown and Johnstown or Dunshane. Harristown was a part of the

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

Castlemartin House and Estate Castlemartin is the name of a historic house and estate, and the townland in which they sit, on the banks of the River Liffey in Kilcullen, County Kildare, Ireland. Formerly a key estate of the Eustace family, it was for many years the home of ...

owned by the (Fitz) Eustace family, namesakes of nearby

Ballymore Eustace Ballymore Eustace () is a small town situated in County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, although until 1836 it lay within an exclave of County Dublin. It lies close to the border with County Wicklow. The town is in a Civil parishes in I ...

. Harristown Castle on the border of

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

was fortified in the 15th century by

Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester (c. 1430 – 19 December 1496) was an Irish peer, statesman and judge. He was one of the dominant political figures in late fifteenth-century Ireland, rivalled in influence probably only by his son-in-la ...

. In the 17th century, Harristown House was built near the castle by the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

, Sir Maurice Eustace. In 1684 (

regnal year A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a t ...

33), Sir Maurice Eustace obtained a

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...

from Charles II incorporating Harristown as a borough. The borough was a

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

with "not one house and but one tree inhabiting". Its boundaries encompassed 100 acres whereas the townland as a whole had . The 1684 charter also established a manor of Harristown, with a

court leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Etymo ...

court baron The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, prima ...

and

court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written record ...

for of land in the townlands of Harristown, Dunstown, Carnalway, Milltown and others. After Maurice Eustace's death with no son, his estate was divided between three daughters, corresponding to Harristown, Mullacash and Carnalway, the first of which fell to the eldest daughter, Anne. Anne's son Eustace Chetwood sold the estate to

James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster Lieutenant-General James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, PC (Ire) (29 May 1722 – 19 November 1773), styled Lord Offaly until 1743 and known as The Earl of Kildare between 1743 and 1761 and as The Marquess of Kildare between 1761 and 17 ...

, and his son William resold it to David La Touche, whose son

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

took up residence in 1783 in the new Harristown House, designed by Whitmore Davis. Authorised by an Act of the

Parliament of Ireland The Parliament of Ireland () was the legislature of the Lordship of Ireland, and later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1297 until the end of 1800. It was modelled on the Parliament of England and from 1537 comprised two chambers: the Irish Hou ...

, La Touche enclosed the grounds of the house, building the "New Bridge" over the Liffey to carry the redirected

Naas Naas ( ; or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In 2022, it had a population of 26,180, making it the largest town in County Kildare (ahead of Newbridge, County Kildare, Newbridge) and the List of urban ar ...

–

Dunlavin Dunlavin () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland, situated about south-west of Dublin. It is centred on the junction of the R412 road (Ireland), R412 and R756 road (Ireland), R756 Regional road (Ireland), regional roads. It was founded aro ...

road (now the R412). Once the borough was disenfranchised by the Act of Union, the corporate officers, who had no functions other than for parliament, were discontinued. The Corporation Book covering 1781 to 1800 is in the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ) is Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is "To collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the ...

. In 1906 the Corporation Book from 1714 was in the library of Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster at

Carton House Carton House is a country house and surrounding demesne that was the ancestral seat of the Earls of Kildare and Dukes of Leinster for over 700 years. Located 23 km west of Dublin, in Maynooth, County Kildare, the Carton Demesne is a 1,100 ...

. In 1837, Samuel Lewis described Harristown as "an inconsiderable village", though there was an

Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the island was part of the United Kingdom. A separate civic police force, the unarmed Dublin ...

barracks there. From 1886 to 1947 the

Great Southern and Western Railway The Great Southern and Western Railway (GS&WR) was an Irish gauge () railway company in Ireland from 1844 until 1924. The grew by building lines and making a series of takeovers, until in the late 19th and early 20th centuries it was the larges ...

had a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

from

Tullow Tullow (; ), formerly Tullowphelim (), is a market town in County Carlow, Ireland. It is located on the River Slaney where the N81 road intersects with the R725. , the population was 5,138. Tullowphelim is the name of both a townland and civ ...

, which had a station at Harristown. The ruins of Harristown Castle were demolished in 1884 to build a national school. Harristown House was partially destroyed by fire in 1891 and rebuilt smaller by

James Franklin Fuller James Franklin Fuller (1835–1924) was an Ireland, Irish actor, architect and novelist. Life Fuller was born at Nedanone,James Franklin Fuller: Omniana: the autobiography of an Irish octogenarian. London, Smith, Elder & Co (1916) County Kerry, ...

References

{{coord, 53.1367, N, 6.6885, W, type:city_region:IE-KE, display=title Townlands of County Kildare Former boroughs in the Republic of Ireland

See also

References