Rathdown () is the south-easternmost

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 ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It gives its name to the county of

Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown () is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished in 1994. It is named after the former ...

. Before

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

was shired in 1606, Rathdown extended further south: it was named after a medieval settlement which grew up around

Rathdown Castle Rathdown Castle is a ruined castle and ancient settlement site located in County Wicklow, Ireland. Location Rathdown Castle was located in a deep ravine immediately northeast of Kindlestown Castle and north of Greystones village. In the field ...

, at a site subsequently deserted and now in County Wicklow in the

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 ...

of Rathdown Upper, north of

Greystones Greystones () is a coastal town and seaside resort in County Wicklow, Ireland. It lies on Ireland's east coast, south of Bray and south of Dublin city centre and has a population of 22,009, according to the 2022 census. The town is border ...

. The Wicklow barony of Rathdown corresponds to the portion transferred to the new county; although both divisions were originally classed as "half baronies", in the nineteenth century the distinction between a barony and a half barony was obsolete.

Subdivisions

After the

Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 The Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1838 (1 & 2 Vict. c. 56) is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the system of poor relief in Ireland. The legislation was largely influenced by the English Poor Law Amendmen ...

, the

poor law union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

of Rathdown covered a similar area to the Dublin and Wicklow baronies combined; after the

Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 The Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 ( 61 & 62 Vict. c. 37) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that established a system of local government in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots diale ...

, the Dublin portion of the poor law union comprised the

rural district A rural district was a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. I ...

of Rathdown No. 1 and the

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

s of

Blackrock BlackRock, Inc. is an American Multinational corporation, multinational investment company. Founded in 1988, initially as an enterprise risk management and fixed income institutional asset manager, BlackRock is the world's largest asset manager ...

, Dalkey,

Killiney and Ballybrack Killiney and Ballybrack is a former second-tier local government area within County Dublin. It was created as a township in 1866. In 1899, it became an urban district. It was abolished in 1900, with its area becoming part of the borough of Dún ...

, and Kingstown (later renamed

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...

). The barony of Rathdown also included part of the poor law union of Dublin South, comprising after 1898 parts of the rural district of Dublin South and the urban district of

Rathmines and Rathgar Rathmines and Rathgar is a former second-tier local government area within County Dublin. It was created as the Township of Rathmines in 1847. In 1862, its area was expanded and it became the Township of Rathmines and Rathgar. In 1899, it became ...

. Between 1836 and 1842, the boundaries of the County Dublin baronies were regularised, by which detached portions of baronies were transferred to the surrounding barony.

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 ...

es wholly or partly within the barony are:

Booterstown Booterstown () is a coastal suburb of the city of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is also a townland and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the modern county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. It is situated about south of Dublin ...

Dalkey Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...

(transferred from

Uppercross Uppercross () is a historical barony in southern County Dublin, Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being superseded ...

in 1842), Donnybrook, Kilgobbin,

Kill Kill often refers to: *Homicide, one human killing another *cause death, to kill a living organism, to cause its death Other common uses include: *Kill (body of water), a body of water, most commonly a creek *Kill (command), a computing command *K ...

Killiney Killiney () is an affluent coastal suburb on the southside of Dublin, Ireland. It lies south of Dalkey, east and northeast of Ballybrack and Sallynoggin and north of Shankill, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown within ...

Kilmacud Kilmacud () is a suburban area of Dublin in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, Ireland, at least partly contiguous with Stillorgan. It is in a civil parish of the same name. Name ''Kilmacud'' is an anglicisation of the Irish name , "church of aintM ...

Kiltiernan Kilternan (), also known as Kiltiernan, is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, Ireland, near the border with County Wicklow. Kiltiernan is in a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil pa ...

, Monkstown, Oldconnaught,

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside (Dublin), southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Dublin. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16, 16. It is between the Lo ...

(mostly transferred from

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in 1842),

Rathmichael Rathmichael () is a suburb on the southside of Dublin, in the local government area of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, near the southern border of County Dublin with County Wicklow. It is situated west of Shankill from which it is, roughly, separa ...

(two

s transferred from Newcastle in 1842),

Stillorgan Stillorgan (, also and previously or ), formerly a village in its own right, is now a suburban area of Dublin in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Stillorgan is located in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown, and contains many housing estates, shops and oth ...

, Taney, Tully, Whitechurch. Other settlements in the barony include Dundrum. "Little Bray", the part of the

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

north of the River Bray, was transferred from Rathdown, County Dublin to Rathdown, County Wicklow after the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898.

References

External links

1830s six-inch map centred on Rathdown
zoomable first-edition map from

Ordnance Survey Ireland Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI; ) was the national mapping agency of the Republic of Ireland. It was established on 4 March 2002 as a body corporate. It was the successor to the former Ordnance Survey of Ireland. It and the Ordnance Survey of ...

; barony borders are in yellow {{Areas of Dublin Ra

Subdivisions

References

Further reading

External links