A Short History of Some Dublin Parishes.

1. The Sacred Heart, Donnybrook.

2. Star of the Sea, Sandymount.

3. St. Mary's, Haddington Road.

4. St. Patrick's, Ringsend.

In Two Parts.

Part I.

Up to the year 1876 the four Parishes of which we now propose to make a brief historical review, formed but one, registered in the "Irish Catholic Directory" of that day under the joint but cumbrous title of "Irishtown, Donnybrook, Ringsend, and Sandymount."

Of these four the most ancient is

Donnybrook.

The Celtic Period.

Donnybrook, anciently Domnach Broc, i.e., Church of Broc, written by mediaeval scribes as Dovenachbroc, or Donabrok, and now Donnybrook, was formerly the designation of a village of very ancient origin clustered round a church founded by a holy woman named Broc, and dedicated, according to tradition, to the Blessed Mother of God. Broc was one of the seven daughters of Dalibronach of the Desii, of Bregia, in the Co. of Meath, and is mentioned in the works attributed to Aengus the Culdee. This would show her to have flourished about the end of the eighth or beginning of the ninth century. She established a Convent of Nuns, and in the Martyrology of Donegal, Mobi, a Nun of Donnybrook, is noticed on September 30.

Of St. Broc, or of her Nuns, or of the village surrounding them, little more is recorded in our Celtic Annals, and beyond some scare of the Danes, of which a recent discovery of a quantity of human hones near Seaview Terrace furnished traces, the Celtic History of Donnybrook seems to have been uneventful,

The Mediaeval Period.

The old Celtic Church of St. Broc, which occupied the site of the still existing Churchyard, was standing at the time of the Norman invasion, and to this period we may refer the commencement of our parochial history. It had been accounted a member of the Church of Taney or Dundrum, a great monastic centre in Celtic days, and though the monastic arrangement ceased with the advent of the Normans, Donnybrook continued affiliated to Dundrum during the administration of St. Laurence O'Toole and his immediate successors, John Comyn, and Henry de Loundres.

The village and surrounding country formed part of the chieftainry of MacGillamocholmog, one of the leading sub-righs of the provincial King of Leinster, the ill-starred Dermot MacMurrough. The latter's daughter was the chieftain's wife, and under such influence he seems to have tacitly acquiesced in the establishment of the Norman power. As soon as the conquest of Leinster was complete, MacGillamocholmog appears no longer as an Irish Chief, but seems to have settled down into the position of an extensive landlord of the lands he had previously ruled. Some of these he conveyed to the new comers on feudal conditions; whilst he bestowed others on religious houses of Irish foundation, such as All Hallow; and St. Mary's Abbey, as well as on the new Norman foundation, of St. Thomas, which, through one of his immediate descendants became possessed of Kilruddery adjoining Bray.

The largest new grantee in this portion of the ex-chief's district was undoubtedly Walter de Rideleford, a brave Norman knight, and one of the foremost followers of Strongbow. Besides a large tract of country in the Co. Kildare, surrounding Castledermot, and the lordship of Bray, he practically got almost all the land of South Co. Dublin not already in possession of the Archbishop (in trust for the See), Christ Church Cathedral, or St. Mary's Abbey. From Bullock to Blackrock belonged to the latter; from Bray to Stillorgan was Cathedral property, whilst Dalkey, Rathmichael, Shankhill, part of Taney, part of Roebuck and Cullenswood were See lands. But from Blackrock to the mouth of the Dodder at Ringsend, with the townland of "forty acres" on the north side of the Dodder; and up by the Swan river across Up. Leeson St., through Appian way and Chelmsford Road to the Archbishop's laud in Cullenswood, all that fell to De Rideleford. The extensive townland afterwards known as Bagotrath, stretching from Ballsbridge to Merrion Row, does not seem to have formed portion of the Norman adventurer's grant.

De Rideleford soon after coming in to possession of this handsome estate followed the pious custom of his countrymen, and bestowed the townland of "forty acres" on the Priory of All Hallow's; and towards the middle of the following century De Rideleford's descendant and full namesake, leased to John Frambald Fitzbodekyn, one of his Kildare tenants, something more than a carucate of land lying between Donnybrook and Merrion, which nearly a century later came into the hands of Thomas Smothe, who built a house thereon, whence it was called Smothe's Court, gradually softened into Simmonscourt, and still distinguished by the interesting remains of an old castle.

Male heirs of De Rideleford having failed in the 13th century, his property passed to one of his female descendants, who never marrying, but, according to tradition, having taken the veil, had it conveyed to the Crown, and thence passing through various owners, it eventually came into the hands of one of the Fitzwilliams of Dundrum, whose descendant in the female line, - the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery - retains it to the present day.

The Simmonscourt property similarly changed hands, until finally in 1396, it was conveyed to John Drake, Mayor of Dublin, who by will bequeathed it to Christ Church Cathedral on condition that prayers should be offered continually for him and his relations. This the Fitzwilliams also annexed, first by lease, afterwards by purchase, as also Scalled Hill or Scarlet Hill, the modern Sandymount thus becoming sole owners of this extensive area, comprising Thorncastle (Williamstown), Cnocro (Booterstown), Donnybrook, Merrion, Simmonscourt, Sandymount, Irishtown, and Ringsend, which in pre-Reformation days constituted the Parish of Donnybrook.

We have already stated that this Church remained affiliated to Dundrum during the Episcopates of St. Laurence: John Comyn and Archbishop Henry, but in Archbishop Luke's time [1228-1256] Donnybrook achieved an independent parochial existence, and had for its Parish Priest, William de Romney, the Archbishop's Chaplain. This autonomy, however, lasted but a short time, for the Archdeacon of Dublin was induced to exchange his previous Prebend of half Lusk for Taney and its subservient Chapels. Donnybrook had been one of these and was now claimed by the Archdeacon, and henceforward it was accounted a Chapelry of Taney. The result of this arrangement was that the Archdeacon of Dublin became the Rector of Donnybrook or its Parochus habitualis, but non-resident, yet enjoying the Rectorial and all other tithes, whilst to administer the Parish, and have the charge of souls therein, he presented and remunerated a Chaplain who should be resident, and thus became the Parochus actualis or acting Parish Priest. The rank of Chaplain though weighted with parochial responsibilities was not of that conspicuous order to ensure an enduring record of those who filled the office, so that during the three centuries that elapsed from the time of Donnybrook becoming part of the corps of the Archdeacon's dignity, down to the accession of Elizabeth, the names of only two of the Chaplains emerge from obscurity, and find casual mention in Christ Church Deeds. In a Deed of 1312, we meet with "John, Chaplain of Donnybrook"; and again in a Deed of 1391, we read of a transaction with "John Mynagh, Chaplain."

When the Fitzwilliams, about the beginning of the 15th century settled down in Merrion, in all probability they provided a Chapel of ease in that locality, for we find that Richard Fitzwilliam, who died in 1528, bequeathed to the Church at Merrion a "gown of camlet and doublet of satin, and to his ghostly father his finest black hose." The disused graveyard on the Blackrock road indicates the site of this Chapel.

Extensive as the parochial area was, we must bear in mind that it was but sparsely inhabited. It was much exposed to the incursions of what was then called the "Irish enemy," and was in consequence anything but a desirable locality to reside in. In the first quarter of the 14th century the tenants of Thorncastle who lived in a village now marked by Booterstown Avenue, were all killed by the mountain raiders and the village destroyed; and in 1356 it was deemed a short-sighted policy for the men of Donnybrook, who were governed by a bailiff and probably protected by walls, to resist a rate to pay for watchmen on the mountains to warn them when the Irish enemies were meditating an incursion. So that the resident Chaplain at Donnybrook, with possibly an assistant at Merrion, might have been found adequate to the spiritual requirements of the Parish. The Irish item worth recording as belonging to tins period, was the valuation made by the Commissioners of Henry the Eighth in 1546, when that monarch dissolved the Chapter of St. Patrick's Cathedral, It is transcribed as follows

"Donabroke.

Demesne - In the townland Donabroke the demesne belonging to the Rector consists of a mansion, and 3 stangs of arable land, worth 3s. and 4d. per annum.

Tithes. - The tithes extend over the townlands of Donabroke, Meryon, Smotbescort, Balesclatter, the lands of Allhalloes, and Bagotrath, worth, together with the tithes of fish, altarages, and oblations, £15 per annum (beside the Curate's stipend and repair of the Chancel). Amount £15 3s. 4d."

If we multiply this total by 15 we shall have approximately its value in present coin. The demesne and mansion are described in a lease, dated 1684, as adjoining to the churchyard of Donabrook on the north side and containing half an acre.

The Modern Period.

The Parochial arrangements just detailed continued peacefully down to the accession of Elizabeth in 1558 and for the two first years of her reign. But now came the great apostasy when all this was to be changed.

From 1562 or thereabouts the Queen had her will in all things spiritual. Her supremacy in spirituals as well as temporals should be acknowledged, the Pope's jurisdiction foresworn, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass suppressed, the Seven Sacraments banished, the veneration of the Holy Mother of God and of the Saints proscribed, the Act of Uniformity enforced, and all people compelled to attend on Sundays their Parish Church, [now transformed into a Protestant Church], under pain of spiritual censure and fine. Churches and Chapels, and Tithes, and Benefices, and Parochial Demesnes and Manses, were all sequestrated and devoted to the furtherance of the new State Religion, whilst the people who remained true to the old faith together with their Pastors were driven out into the wilderness. We know not how the then Chaplain of Donnybrook comported himself in this trying time, hut in the absence of records, we feel inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and presume, that, spurning all offers to conformity he continued faithful to his sacred trust. But of the people we can have no doubt, for amongst statistics compiled 70 years later we can only find "about fortie" attending the Parish [Protestant] Church and these mostly outsiders who meanwhile had migrated into the Parish. How it fared with the Catholics in the interval remains unwritten history, but the steadfastness of the Fitzwilliams of Merrion, of the Walsh's of Ballawly, of the Wolverston's of Stillorgan, of the Archbolds of Kilmacud, and of others of the surrounding catholic gentry, secured, as we know, to both priest and people, shelters for celebrating and hearing Mass respectively and for practising their thier religious duties, until a better day should arrive when some attempt could be made to vindicate the right of catholics to live in their own land.

This day does not seem to have dawned until the year 1615, and then with but the faintest streak of dawn. In that year Archbishop Matthews, the Catholic Prelate, then presiding over the See of Dublin, ventured to hold a Provincial Synod in Kilkenny, whereat, amongst many useful and necessary enactments it was decreed that Parishes should be re-constituted and their boundaries defined. The very limited number of Catholic clergy then available did not permit the allocation of a priest to each and all of the pre-existing Parishes, and it therefore became necessary to effect, according to circumstanece, a union of two or more Parishes, and each such newly formed composite Parish was confided to the care of one Priest who thenceforward would be recognised as its Parish Priest. In pursuance of this Synodal Decree, the old Parishes of Donnybrook (including Booterstown), Stillorgan, Kilmacud, Taney or Dundrum, were united and formed into one Parish. The earliest information we have concerning it comes from the Visitation Report of the Protestant Archbishop Bulkeley returned in 1630, and this is what he says:

"Donabrooke

The Church and Chauncel are in good repair and decency. There is a Mass-priest named John Cawhill [Cahill], who says Mass in that Parish and in the near adjoining Parishes, and especially in the towns of Merrion, Dundrum, and Ballawly. . . . In the Parish of Donabrooke there are about fortie that go to Church."

This brief but interesting record may be regarded as the first chapter in our new parochial history. It gives the name of our first pastor, Father Cahill, and locates the several centres wherein he was enabled to celebrate the sacred mysteries. Merrion Castle, the seat of Viscount Fitzwiiliam, now occupied by the Female Blind Asylum, was one of these early rendezvous; Dundrum Castle, occupied by Colonel Fitzwilliam, was another safe resort, and the Walsh of Ballawly, a kinsman of Walsh of Carrickmines furnished a third retreat. For Donnybrook itself no place is mentioned, but we may assume that Irishtown which furnished the largest population in the district, accommodated some modest tenement to serve the purposes of a temporary chapel for itself and neighbourhood. The superficial area of this new Parish looks no doubt extensive, but the population was comparatively small, and clerical assistance might be counted on from time to time from other priests or friars visiting or sheltering at the houses of the surrounding gentry.

From 1630 until the advent of Cromwell records are silent. With Cromwell, "the Priest, the Wolf, and the Tory," went into one and the same category, as "burthensome beasts," to be hunted down and exterminated, and the extermination was accomplished but too successfully. When a Priest managed to escape his pursuers, and hold his ground, it was only by stealth, at dead of night, and at irregular intervals that he and his people could venture to come together. So for this decade of terror our history must remain a blank. But a survey and a census made within this period in 1654 and 1659 respectively, are not without interest; the first showing how that the landed estate of the Parish was entirely in the hands of a catholic owner, the Lord of Merrion, Viscount Fitzwilliam, the other the number of the population. The Survey is entitled "A Survey of the half barony of Rathdowne in the Co. of Dublin by order of Chas. Fleetwood, Lord Deputy, Oct. 4, 1654." We extract the portion referring to the civil parish of Donnybrook.

The Parish of Donnybrooke with its Bounds, etc.

The said Parish is bounded on the East with the sea, on the south with Stillorgan, in the Parish of Kill, on the West with the Parish of Tarmee and Milltown, and on the North with the Ring's-end and Baggotrath.

Observations.

To the Proprietor - The proprietor is possessed of the premises as his inheritance.
To the Building - There is on the premises one house slated and a garden plot. The buildings are valued by the jury at £50.
To the Tythes - The tythes belong to the College of Dublin.
To the Bounds - The premises are bounded on the East with the sea, on the South with Merrion, on the West with Donnybrook, and on the North with Ring's-end.

Observations.

To the Proprietor - The proprietor was possessed of the premises as his inheritance, and did mortgage the same to Richard Earl, of Corke, five or six years before the rebellion [1641].
To the Buildings - There is on the premises an old decayed castle, with a large barron, valued by the jury at £200.
To the Royalties, Tythes, etc. - The premises are a manor, and keep Court-leet and Court-baron. The tythes belong to the College of Dublin.
To the Bounds - The premises are bounded on the E. by the sea, on the S. with Butterstown, W. Rabuck, and on the N. with the Ring's-end.

Observations.

To the Proprietor - The proprietor was possessed of the premises in right of a mortgage from the Lord of Merrion, about 14 or 15 years before the wars.
To the Buildings - There is on the premises one castle in repair, and a yard and plot valued by jury at £20.
To the Woods and Mines - There is on the premises a small grove of ash trees set for ornament.
To the Royalties, Tythes, etc. - The premises are a manor and kept Court-leet and Court-baron, the tythes to Christ Church.
To the Bounds - The premises are bounded on the E. with the sea, on the S. with Kill of the Grange, on the W with Rabuck, and on the N with Merrion.

The Census was made in 1659. it does not profess to give the religious denominations of the people enumerated but only their nationality, distinguishing those of English descent from those of Irish descent. Whilst we may assume the latter to have been all Catholics, it would he wrong to infer that all enumerated as English had been Protestants, for we know from other sources that the great majority remained Catholic. The returns are made by townslands, and give the number of individuals in each Townland.

Four hundred and twenty-two souls all told do not make too heavy a burthen for any Pastor; but look miserably few for such an extensive area. However, again we must remember, that the district had been ravaged more than once by the Irish (Confederate) forces in the civil war of 1641, and moreover it must have suffered from the battle of Rathmines fought on its very borders, and from the constant marchings and countermarchings of Cromwellian freebooters; whilst the plague which desolated Dublin during the Commonwealth did not spare this locality more than any other.

Whether Father Cahill survived the Cromwellian visitation or not we are unable to say, and the name of his immediate successor has not yet been recovered. A list of the Dublin clergy who attended Archbishop Russell's Diocesan Synod in 1685, gives Patrick Gilmore, who from a later document we know to have been Parish Priest of Booterstowne and Donnybrook. But even supposing the latter to have commenced his Pastorship in 1680 or thereabouts, a gap still remains between him and Father Cahill which possibly further research may bridge over.

The Restoration of the Monarchy put an end to the wild debacle of the Parliament and brought some measure of comfort to the afflicted Catholics of Ireland. Priest-hunting was discontinued, at least for a time, and such of the clergy as survived could now come forth from their hiding places, and walk abroad in heaven's sunlight. Quietly and prudently they re-assumed without apparent molestations, the discharge of their sacred ministry. Yet the amount of toleration vouchsafed during the first 20 years of Charles the Second's reign was ever fluctuating, was sometimes suspended, and mav be said to have been altogether withdrawn when the Venerable Oliver Plunkett was martyred at Tyburn in 1681, and Peter Talbot, Archbishop of Dublin, imprisoned into death. This however was the culminating point, and the blood of the martyr purchased a period of tranquility.

It was during this period and the quickly following reign of a Catholic King, James II. - that the clergy with the aid of their faithful people ventured to erect our first unpretentious Chapels, or rather ventured to adapt existing out-houses, stables, and other such buildings to the purposes of a Chapel. To these years therefore we may safely refer the first appearance of public Chapels in Irishtowne and Booterstown - Donnybrook, as we shall see later on, had to wait a century longer before it saw a Catholic Chapel in its midst. The site of Irishtown Chapel has been recently built over, but can be easily identified from the name "Chapel Avenue" preserved to the adjacent thoroughfare. The site of Booterstown Chapel, called "Mass-House" in Roque's survey early in the next century, is the same as that on which the present Parochial Church stands in Booterstown Avenue.

If, as we conjecture, Father Gilmore commenced Parish Priest in 1680-81 or thereabouts he began his ministrations in peace, and contrasted with all that went before, his lines may be said to have fallen in pleasant places. We first meet mention of him in a list drawn up at the Diocesan Synod of 1685, of those present who made the prescribed profession of faith. The Church was then resting beneath the quiet shade of James the Second's protection and was looking forward to a period of prosperity and development which the events of the previous 120 years rendered absolutely impossible. But this peace was destined to be shortlived, and the disastrous issue of the struggle on the Boyne in 1690, dashed all hopes, rivetted our chains more firmly than ever, and was the prelude to a fiercer and more relentless persecution than almost any that had preceded it. Archbishop Russell was hunted down, arrested, and cast into prison, where he died. An Act of William's first Parliament banished all Archbishops, Bishops, Vicars-General, and all the religious communities, whilst such of the secular clergy as were suffered to remain, were classified and listed for purposes of identification if at any time it should be thought expedient to call them to account The original of one of these lists is preserved in Marsh's Library, dated 1697, and from it we make the following extracts:-

"Mr. Patrick Gilmore, Parish Priest of Donabrook and Kilgobbin, living for the most part within the union of Monkstowne," and lower down, "Parish of Monkstown. Patrick Gillmore, Parish Priest of Stillorgan, living at Newtown-on-the-Strand (Blackrock), and officiates at Butterstowne."

The introduction of Kilgobbin is clearly a mistake of the person who drew up the list, as we have reason to know that Kilgobbin was accounted as in the other Parish which had headquarters in Loughlinstown or Cabinteely. But these extracts, as well as the list of 1704, combine in fixing for us the residence of the Parish Priest as somewhere in the neighbourhood of Booterstowne, Blackrock, or Seapoint This list makes no mention of any curate or assistant to take charge of the Ringsend, Irishtown, and Donnybrook districts, but we may be sure that Father Gilmore had an assistant conveniently located, especially as in the later and more complete list of registered "Popish Clergy" of 1704, we find mention of Father Richard Fox as residing at Beggar's Bush, though registered (to evade the law) as P.P. of Escor (near Lucan). The terrible succession of penal enactments during Queen Anne's reign, and the merciless manner in which they were enforced, easily account for the absence of any details concerning the Parish whose history we are endeavouring briefly to record. The only notable event, and that a sad one, which occurred during this interval the apostasy of Fitzwilliam. Through storm and stress, through persecutions and confiscations, from Elizabeth's time down, the Fitzwilliam family had remained staunch and loyal Catholics. Under the Act of Settlement they had recovered their estates confiscated by Cromwell, and Thomas, the fourth Viscount, was of James II.'s Privy Council, and at the time of the siege of Limerick was in command of a troop of horse which displayed considerable bravery in Kerry in an encounter with King William's forces. For this he was attainted, but subsequently the attainder was reversed, and in 1695 he attempted to take his seat in the House of Lords, but being unwilling to take the Oath of Supremacy he was obliged to withdraw. His son, the fifth Viscount, succeeded to the title and estates in 1704, but being a vain man and ambitious of taking a part in public life, in 1711 he abandoned his faith that he might be able to take his seat in the House of Peers, and thus ended the long line of the Catholic Fitzwilliams. It was his eldest daughter who married the Lord Pembroke of that day, and thus, by will of the seventh Viscount, the house of Pembroke had the reversion of the greater portion of the Fitzwilliam estates when the latter died in 1776.

The defection of his leading parishioner must have been a sore trial to the Parish Priest, especially as all the other Catholic landed gentry of his parish, who had recovered their estates under the Act of Settlement, had gradually disappeared. Stillorgan knew the Wolverstons no longer, for even before the accession of James II. the lands had passed into the possession of Sir Joshua Allen. Kilmacud passed from the Catholic Archbolds to a Protestant branch of the same family; whilst Walsh of Ballawly had long since vanished and his property was in the hands of the Cromwellian Colonel Dobson. Now, the last and most influential of the group, conforms to the established Church that he may sit among his peers and help to frame cruel laws to trouble the conscience of his Catholic fellow country men. The list of renegades from the Faith in the early 18th century far exceeding the number of defections that occurred in the previous persecutions, proves how "ferocious" must have been the acts of Anne. We have no record of the year of Father Gilmore's death, but from dates affecting his successor, it would appear to have occurred between 1724 and 1729. In the latter year we have a document signed in Latin "Franciscus Archbold Pastor de Ringsend."

Before we enter on the period of Father Archbold's administration, it may be well to take a look at the old Parish Church - Protestant since Elizabeth's reign - and follow its vicissitudes. The last mention of it occurred in the report of Bulkeley, published in 1630, and there it is described as in "good repair and decency," both Church and Chauncel. But the suceessive storms of the century evidently told on the venerable pile, for the Protestant Archbishop King, who took a great interest in Old St. Mary's, and who flourished through the reigns of William III., Anne, and George I., spent a considerable sum of money in putting it in proper repair, so that it was thus enabled to live on for yet another century. He prepared a tomb for himself in the adjoining churchyard, and was buried there in 1729, but by a strange irony of fate not a trace of this tomb can now be found.

We do not pretend to be able to record the succession of the curates, so that we cannot say with certainty who succeeded Father Fox when the latter was promoted Parish Priest of Clondalkin before 1720. But if we might venture a conjecture, the interment of a "Mr. Barry, a Roman Priest," entered in the Donnybrook Protestant Burial Register under the date of December 3, 1727, might refer to the then curate of Donnybrook.

Francis (Canon) Archbold succeeded Father Gilmore as P.P. about 1728. He was certainly Parish Priest in 1729. When we first met the name, we thought we might be able to trace him to the Archbolds of Kilmacud, but a letter written to Rome in the middle of the century by the then Catholic Primate of Armagh, describes him as of obscure origin. However that may be, he distinguished himself in his collegiate course abroad, and graduated laicentiate in Sacred Theology. Very soon after his return to Ireland in 1720, he was adopted into the Metropolitan Chapter as Prebendary of Donoughmore, and in 1726 promoted to that of Timothan, vacated by the death of Dr. Michael Moore, the learned rector of the University of Paris, and who had been, during James the Second's time, Provost of Trinity College, Dublin. Of Father Archbold's pastoral administration no history has come down to us, and the only item concerning it calling for remark is the change of address which he adopted, for he always signed himself "Pastor of Ringsend." This clearly indicates that he had shifted head quarters from Booterstown to Ringsend, presumably that he might be nearer town. We have this confirmed by an entry which we are now about to transcribe. During the reigns of William, Anne, and George the First, so many Acts of Parliament had been passed "to prevent the growth of Popery," that they began to get confusing, and a Committee of the House of Lords in 1731, thought it was high time to cheek the results and see what progress had been made, and ascertain, if possible, "the present state of Popery." Wherefore an Order was issued by a Committee of the house of Lords to all Ministers and Churchwardens to make a Return, each in their own Parish, of "the number of Popish Priests, Friars or Nuns, Mass-houses, and Popish Schools and Schoolmasters." The Return for the Parish of Donnybrook was made on the 9th November, 1731 by Dr. Whittingham, Protestant Archdeacon of Dublin, and was to the following effect:

"In the Parish of Donybrook within the Liberties of the City of Dublin, there is one Popish Priest who goes by the name of Father Archbold and lives in Irishtown in the said Parish, where there is also one Mass-house, but noe Convent or reputed Convent of Fryars or Nuns, nor Popish Schoolmaster.

Die Martis, 9th Nov., 1731.
Chas. Whittingham,

This Return does not make mention of the Booterstown portion of the Parish, which had its own Mass-house and where the Curate was established as we may presume. But it would be strange if there had been no school, for, at any risk, every Parish managed to keep a School going during the Penal times, and the Priest and the Schoolmaster were equally the objects of the unwelcome attention of the authorities and had prices set upon their heads.

Canon Archbold appears to have taken a very active part in the doings of the Chapter as its records testify, and in 1742, his name appears with three others as postulated for in an abortive attempt to get a Coadjutor appointed to Archbishop Linegar, who, even then, was showing signs of age and infirmity. Ten or 12 years later the Primate of Armagh, Michael O'Reilly, writing to Rome in favour of a Coadjutor being then appointed, urges as an argument that His Grace of Dublin now approaching his 90th year, had become so enfeebled and childish, that his Vicars General felt compelled to resign, and that he was then entirely under the influence of an unnamed layman and of an old priest named Archbold. This must have been our Parish Priest as there was no other of the same name in the Diocese. He would appear to have lived up to the summer of 1759, but the exact date of his death or place of his interment are for the present unknown.

Canon Archbold had for his immediate successor Dr. Mathias Kelly₃ who also was admitted into the Metropolitan Chapter on 23rd October, 1759, as Prebendary of St. Audoen. From the Archives of tIte Irish College, Rome, we learn that Dr. Kelly was of Connaught parentage, that he had entered the College on the 15th August, 1733, and he is described as a student "di gran genio, studio a dottrina." later on, about the year 1740, and when this distinguished student - crowned with the aureola of a Doctor in Sacred Theology - had already entered upon his missionary duties, Father Alexander Roche, S.J., known in Rome as "della Rocca," and who had been at frequent intervals Rector of the Irish College, writes of him to Cardinal Corsini, then Cardinal Protector of Ireland, as "a man of singular ability and profound learning, of saintly and exemplary life, and a zealous and indefatigable missioner." Before assuming the Pastorship of Booterstown and Donnybrook, Dr. Kelly had been for some years previous Parish Priest of Skerries, and left there behind him, as a memento₃ a renovated Chalice still in use and bearing the following inscription: "Me augeri et renovari fecit ad usum paroeciae de Holmpatriek, R.D. Mathias Kelly. 1759." Father Archbold as we have seen elected to reside in Irishtown, but Dr. Kelly returned to the older practice, and again made Booterstown head-quarters, leaving Ringsend, Irishtown and Donnybrook in charge of the Curate, a Father Brady. The changed aspect of the locality and growing importance of the southern end of the Parish may have determined this change. For some 20 years past Booterstown and its neighbourhood had been in a state of transition from a purely agricultural to a residential locality. There was no longer any need to be in dread of mountain raiders, or of the restless clans of the O'Byrnes and the O'Tooles. For more than a century the prolonged, but fruitless, yet not inglorious struggle of these valiant native warriors had come to an end, and peace had definitely prevailed. Moreover, Lord Fitzwilliam, the sixth Viscount, whose residence was now fixed at Mount Merrion (Merrion Castle being long since abandoned and suffered to fall into ruin) had begun to let out the lands in small plots for the building of country houses, and by the time of Dr. Kelly's advent in 1760, St. Helen's and Sans Souci had already come into existence, and many other such commodious residences began to increase and multiply. Yet another Parliamentary Return, completed in 1766, and which has the additional advantage of furnishing a Religious Census at least by families, gives us a fair idea of the advance made in the matter of population.

"St. Mary's, Donnybrook, 1766.

.Two Popish Priests reside in said Parish, one John [Mathias] Kelly at Old Merrion near Butterstowne and - Brady at Irishtown.

L. Grace, Curate Assistant, St. Mary's, Donnybrook."

If we multiply the number of families by five we get almost 1,200 souls committed to the care of Dr. Kelly. But to this we must add Dundrum, Stillorgan, Kilmacud, and what was beginning to develop into Blackrock as far as Seapoint, for all this was included in his parish.

We have now come to a period when authentic Diocesan records commence and thenceforward continue without interruption. The first complete list of parishes and their corresponding pastors that has been preserved to us dates from 1771, and is made out in the clear and beautiful handwriting of Archbishop Carpenter. On this list, after the denomination "Booterstown," we find entered as its pastor "Mathias Kelly," and on the next page, containing promotions and exchanges, we read at January 17, 1775, "Rev. James Nicholson P. of Booterstown." This clearly indicates that Dr. Kelly had just passed to his eternal reward, and that he was succeeded by Father Nicholson.

We have no details of the antecedents of Father Nicholson, unless a confused memory of having read somewhere that he had been a curate in Liffey Street Chapel, and the certainty that he was adopted into the Chapter as Prebendary of Kilmactalway on the 18th April, 1768, seven years before he became Parish Priest. During the time of his administration, however, a momentous change was made in the condition or the parish, and the Donnybrook portion was severed from Booterstown and erected into an independent parish. From this forward, therefore, we shall say no more of Booterstown, leaving it to he dealt with in its proper place, and confine our brief history to the progress and development of the new Donnybrook Parish.

1787 marks the year when the division of the parish was effected, and the boundaries separating Donnybrook from Booterstown, then fixed by Archbishop Troy, subsist, with slight modifications, down to the present day. Canon Nicholson was left Parish Priest of Booterstown, Dundrum, etc., whilst for the new Parish of Donnybrook, Irishtown, and Ringsend, the Archbishop selected as first Parish Priest, quite a young man, only just ordained, the Rev. Peter Richard Clinch, aged 24. He was of the same family as Councillor Clinch, so well known as first Professor of Belles Lettres in Maynooth College, and author of the celebrated controversy with "Columbanus ad Hibernos." Father Clinch went through his studies at Louvain University, and had only just returned from Belgium when he was appointed to the parish. The first immediate result of his fresh zeal and youthful energy was the erection of a chapel at Donnybrook. For over 200 years, since Old St. Mary's was turned over to the Protestants, the village and neighbourhood was without any place of public Catholic worship. The residents were compelled to go either to Booterstown on the one side, or to Irishtown on the other, in order to hear Mass. The site for the new erection was secured from Lord Downes within the old churchyard, close beside what was left of Old St. Mary's, whence the pealing of the organ during Protestant service could be heard while Mass was being offered in the new structure. As soon as it was in a fit condition, Father Clinch began to say his second Mass in Donnybrook each Sunday and Holiday, having said his first in Irishtown. He had no curate. This active young pastor of such promise was destined to fill the office but for a short time. When only five years in charge he got an accidental blow of a boat oar which broke his jaw, from the effects of which he soon afterwards died. This tragic termination to such a promising career elicited universal sympathy, and amid the deep regret of Catholics and Protestants alike, he was interred in St. Matthew's Churchyard, Ringsend, where his tombstone may yet be seen. The following eulogistic epitaph is inscribed on the stone

"To the Memory of the Rev. Peter Richard Clinch, Roman Catholic Pastor of this Parish, who died on the 29th of December, 1791, in the 29th year of his age, and the 5th of his Mission.

In humble hope with Christ again to rise,
Beneath this stone the Friend, the Pastor lies.
His manners open, elegant and sage;
His youth revered like venerable age;
His charity, which oft her all bestowed,
And oft in sorrows for the helpless flowd,
Alas, could not reverse the mournful doom
And torture sunk him to an early tomb.
Here still his image lives in every breast;
Here laid in peace his honourd ashes rest;
Here all with tenderness his virtues own,
And grateful rear this monumental stone,"

A fine portrait of this esteemed clergyman was preserved in the family.

We now reach a personality of no small importance whose life and labours are still within living memory. In Dr. Troy's register the following entry occurs (we translate from the original Latin):- "3rd April, 1792, Rev. Charles Joseph Finn is instituted Parish Priest of St.

Dr. Finn, appointed in 1792, survived into the year 1849, thus achieving the almost unequalled record of being 57 years Parish Priest of one and the same parish. Much was accomplished during his time, So we shall be obliged to tarry with him a little.

Dr. Finn, like Father Clinch, made his studies at Louvaun University, and became so distinguished there as to win his Doctorate in Theology, and had the flattering compliment paid to him of being pressed to remain in the University as Professor of Hebrew. This he declined, either through personal motives, or what was still more likely, because summoned home by his Diocesan, who repeated in him the experiment so successfully tried in the case of his predecessor, and appointed him Parish Priest of Irishtown immediately after his ordination, he being then 25 years of age.

In answer to some queries issued by Archbishop Murray in 1830, he writes:- "I received it [the parish] as the Parish of Irishtown, and was inducted into it by Dr. Talbot, then Vicar-General - the Chapel of Donnybrook was not then entirely finished - but Mass was said in it four or five years before. I got the insides of it completed, and made some additions to it afterwards. The title of the whole parish when held by Rev. Mr. Nicholson, with the single Chapel of Irishtown, was St. Mary's - and I suppose none of the Chapels in that district would have been dedicated under any other name. The Chapel of Irishtown and the Priest's house is held from the heir of Lord Pembroke who succeeded to Lord Fitzwilliam, under the annual rent of £2 1s. 6d., which sum is returned to me. The Chapel at Donnybrook is held by lease from Lord Downes, as long as it shall be occupied as a Chapel - in trust to Mr. John Madden, of Donnybrook - the rent is £1 per annum." We have here in this brief extract a perfect picture of the parochial situation in 1792. A Chapel and residence in Irishtown rent free, a new Capel just completed and enlarged in Donnybrook, the pastor young, active, and learned, dispensing with the aid of a curate, and passing rich on £60 a year; for such was the sum total of his income as given in a return furnished by Dr. Troy to the Government in 1800, and published in the "Memoirs and Correspondence of Viscount Castlereagh. (Vol. IV. p. 133).

This was ease and affluence compared with the condition of his predecessor, Father Gilmore, of a hundred years previous. The days of persecution were numbered, and the foul spirit that inspired the Penal laws was slowly but steadily receding into an inglorious past, and the way was being prepared for the long promised measure of Catholic Emancipation.

It was Dr. Finn's destiny just at this period to be brought into immediate touch and intimate familiarity with the future Emancipator. Daniel O'Connell was engaged to be married to Miss O'Connell, of Tralee, his own second cousin. The engagement was not agreeable to many of his relatives and friends, and he fully expected to be cut off by the uncle on whom he placed most reliance. But it was a case of genuine affection, as his published letters amply testify, and he was determined to go through with it. So they were married privately in 1802 in the house of a relative in Dame Street, and Dr. Finn it was who blessed the union.

The Opening years of the 19th century reveal nothing unusual in the parochial life of Irishtown and Donnybrook, except the nomination of the Parish Priest to a stall in the Metropolitan Chapter so early as 1801. He was then made Prebendary of Howth, a prebend which he held to his death, 40 years later. But this precise period may be said to have inaugurated that "out of town movement which went on through the whole century and even now shows no sign of abating. The region now known as Sandymount was the first to wake up. In ancient deeds and leases it was designated "Scalled Hill" or "Scallet Hill," and was a mere agglomeration of sand-dunes and rabbit warrens. In the 18th century Lord Fitzwilliam utilised a large portion of it for the manufacture of bricks wherewith to build the houses of Merrion Square, Fitzwilliam Square, and the streets adjacent. Hence for a while it was known as "Brickfield Town." But with the 19th century came developments. The citizens of Dublin were attracted by the fresh sea breeze wafted in by each returning tide, and longed to settle down in a place so favoured and so convenient to town; so house was added unto house, slowly but steadily, and the progress thus commenced continued throughout the century and made it the flourishing suburb which it has since become.

Similarly, though some 10 or 12 years later, another district in the neighbourhood was roused from its prolonged slumber. This was Baggotrath. Extending from Merrion Row to Ball's Bridge in one direction, and from Donnybrook Road to Ringsend and Irishtown in the other, for centuries it was used as pasture land for the use of the citizens of Dublin. Occasionally it was let out to good substantial tenants, and in 1280, Sir Robert Bagod, Chief Justice of Ireland, was the occupier. He gave it its name, and constructed, towards the southern end of it, a strong and well fortified castle, which in 1649 fortified the centre of the opening struggle between the Parliamentarians, under Colonel Jones, and the Irish Confederate forces under Ormonde, culminating in the disastrous defeat of the latter, an event known in history as the "Battle of Rathmines." Soon after the castle was dismantled and suffered to fall into ruin. Some remnants of it survived into the beginning of the last century, but now all traces are blotted out, and we only know that it stood on the site now occupied by the houses Nos. 42 and 44 Upper Baggot street. The lands at the northern end of Baggotrath, of which Lower Baggot Street formed the main artery, began to be built upon towards the middle of the 18th century, but the section stretching from the Grand Canal to near Ball's Bridge remained " void and empty" until about 1815 or 1816. Then a few houses appeared in Upper Baggot Street, a terrace of cottages round the corner on Haddington Road, and one or two in Percy Place. Within 50 years this region blossomed into a bustling and attractive township, and now in what had been so long a terra inanis et vacua, and which continued so until after 1800, scarce a square yard can be got for building purposes. All this progress beginning to develop so rapidly in the first quarter of the last century, set the Parish Priest thinking, and in order to meet increasing responsibilities he resolved to ask the assistance of a curate. In 1825 his first curate was appointed to him in the person of Rev. John Baptist Grosvenor.

This clergyman had been for many years a Christian Brother, and one of the first and most energetic disciples of Mr. Rice, the founder. In Dublin he had charge of the school opened by the Brothers in Hanover Street East, but feeling himself called to a higher state, he passed into Maynooth, and after a short course of study was in due course ordained. He worked hard and energetically, principally in the Donnybrook district of the parish, but his time was, destined to be short, and within two brief years, after a short illness, he died, greatly regretted. To perpetuate his memory the parishioners erected a handsome marble tablet in Donnybrook Chapel, with the following epitaph inscribed on it:-

Near this spot are deposited
The Mortal remains of
The Revd. Thos. John Baptist Grosvenor,
For several years Superior in the City of Dublin,
of the Religions Society of Christian Schools,
For the last two years of his life
R.C. Curate of the United Parishes of
Irishtown and Donnybrook.
His Sacerdotal career was short
But replete with merits,
In him society possessed a member ever active to promote its best interests;
Youth found him a wise and gentle instructor;
The unfortunate a friend, the poor a parent;
His last request was
That his bones might repose among those
For whose sanctification he had laboured,
To record the gratitude of an admiring people,
And by every means in their power,
To perpetuate the edification
Which his virtues had inspired.
The inhabitants of the above-named Parishes have erected this simple Monument to his memory.
He died on the 4th November, 1827. Aged 48 years.

When the chapel fell into disuse and was unroofed, this tablet would have shared in the general impending destruction did not the present Parish Priest thoughtfully take steps to have it taken down and removed to the new church, where it is carefully preserved.

To Father Grosvenor succeeded as curate Father Paul Smithwick, who died Parish Priest of Baldoyle in 1880. Meanwhile two events occurred which deserve special mention. The first was the final disappearance of "old St. Mary's," Donnybrook. It had come down through many changes and alterations certainly from the 12th century, and possibly from the days of St. Broc and her convent of nuns, but being found too small and inconvenient, the new Protestant Church of St. Mary, Simmonscourt, was built and opened in 1827, whereupon the old church was demolished and the materials sold to the great indignation of many of the Protestant parishioners. The other important event is the enlargement of the parish. The tract of land lying between the Canal and Lansdowne Road did not originally belong to Donnybrook parish, but to St. Andrew's, Townsend Street. However the canal, which was opened in 1791, seemed to offer a more scientific frontier than the irregular course of the Swan river coming down through Clyde Road, crossing to Lansdowne Road, and thence to the Liffey. Moreover, this stream, which for so long had formed the parochial boundary, was gradually being covered over and could no longer safely serve its delimitation purposes. So some time between 1825 and 1830 that portion of Baggotrath, intervening between the Swan river at the upper end of Pembroke Road, and the canal, was added to the Parish of Irishtown and Donnybrook, and placed under the jurisdiction of Dr. Finn.

We have now reached the year 1830. In this year Dr. Murray included Irishtown in the list of parishes in which he would hold confirmations and visitations. On these occasions it was the Archbishop's practice to send out before him a printed and tabulated query sheet which he required to be filled up, signed both by Parish Priest and curate, and handed to him on his arrival. The query sheet for this year is fortunately forthcoming, and gives a brief but satisfactory account of the parish, which we think worth transcribing. We have already transcribed the answers to the queries in first column referring to titles and title deeds of church property. The second column deals with the items of church equipment in chalices, vestments, altar linen, missals, and number of volumes in parochial library, and Dr. Finn's answers are:- Two chalices, one of which is for Irishtown, the other for Donnybrook; there are three pixes, and a large one which we use as a ciborium. I have 8 or 10 suits of vestments, 5 of which are nearly new. There are 4 albs and three or four suits of altar linen. There are 4 missals, and about 200 volumes in the parochial library I have been since informed by the librarian that there are 300 vols. in the library."

The chalice described as "for Irishtown" is a venerable and interesting piece of church plate. It is a solid silver chalice of early 17th century style and workmanship, and has a Latin inscription running round the base which, with the exception of two words, are easily decipherable. "Orate pro animabus Dni Joannis Burgatt et Dnae Genetae ... qui me fieri fecerunt filio sus fratri Henrico ... Ord. Praed. Thos. Burgatt." The letters H. B. are rudely incised under the base. There is no date on this chalice, but a short paper in Vol. XIX. of the R. S. of Antiquaries' Journal, p 216, gives a description of another chalice still used at St. Saviour's, Limerick, and presented to the Dominican Convent, Kilmallock, in 1639, while Brother Henry Was Prior. This is the same Henry Burgatt to whom his parents donated our chalice about the same time or perhaps earlier, so that it is over 270 years in service. It is still in daily use in St Patrick's, Ringsend. It may be asked how a chalice presented to a Dominican Friar found its way to Ringsend. It would be difficult to answer this question, but if a surmise would suffice, we venture the following:- In the year 1697 all Friars and religions were banished the kingdom, and as Ringsend was then the port of Dublin many of them took shipping there. It is just possible that the then possessor of the chalice presented it to the Chapel of Irishtown in return for some kindness or hospitality received at the hands of the local priest whilst awaiting the favour of wind and tide.

* * * *

O'Heyne, the Dominican writer of the 17th century, gives a rather lengthy account of Father Henry Burgatt, and pourtrays him as a very learned man and a saintly man as well. In fact he does not hesitate to attribute to him the gifts of prophecy and miracles. He was remarkably successful in the conversion of heretics, and died sometime after 1684 in the house of Sir Simon Pourdon, High Sheriff of Limerick, and was buried in Askeaton. (See Irish Dominicans of the 17th century, O'Heyne, edited by Father Coleman, O.P.) The Donnybrook chalice has no date, but is comparatively modern provided probably at the time the chapel was built in 1788. It has for inscription - "This Chalice, purchased by subscription of the parishioners of Donnybrook who beg to partake of the Sacrifice," The "large Pixis used as a Ciborium" sounds oddly at the present day, but it was then a common practice, especially in rural parishes, where it was found convenient for bringing about on stations. There is no mention in this list of Monstrance or Thurible - clearly the beautiful Rite of Benediction with the Blessed Sacrament had not yet penetrated as far as Irishtown. To column 3, inquiring about the number of confraternities, monthly Communions, observance of Easter duty, etc., he answered:- "There are confraternities of the Christian Doctrine both in Donnybrook and Irishtown. There are, I think, upwards of 100 monthly communicants, many of whom communicate weekly, and I believe within these eight or 10 weeks 900 persons, adult and otherwise, have received Communion. There are many no doubt who have not approached the Sacrament at Easter, but I don't think their number is very great, and a considerable number are yet going to confession, for whom Communion has been deferred. There is also a Purgatorian Society."

Column 4 inquired about school statistics, and the following are the replies:- "There are three or four small schools in the parish where parents pay for the education of their children. There is a Sunday school in Sandymount, the Catholics do not attend it. There is an Erasmus Smith school in Donnybrook, but the Catholics have discontinued going there. There are two free schools in Irishtown for boys and girls. The boys' school is supported by a charity sermon and the contributions of the school, but chiefly by a collection made every Sunday through the parish. On an average 80 boys receive instruction in it - the master's name is Christopher Leeson. 70 or 80 children are generally in the girl's school - it is supported by a penny a week from them, which is, however, not insisted on - and in every other respect by Mrs. Verschoyle who pays the rent and gives a salary to the mistress. Her name is Mary Gravenor. There is a boys' free school in Donnybrook, at which on an average upwards of 70 boys attend. There is also an evening school kept by the same master. This is supported like that of Irishtown by its share of the product of the charity sermon - a penny a week from the boys, which many, however, do not pay, but chiefly by some subscribers and a Sunday collection made in that part of the parish. The master's name is Michael Carroll. There is a very good school for girls in Donnybrook and a schoolhouse, at which there are sometimes 120 children. They are furnished with books and every requisite for education, free of any expense. It is supported by subscription front some respectable families in the neighbourhood, many of whom attend frequently and assist in the education of the children. The name of the mistress is Agnes Gaffney."

From these statements we can easily infer that the schools were well in hand and well worked, and this, be it remembered, before the Board of National Education had come into existence and without public subsidy of any kind. To the questions of fifth column respecting number of public Masses, Catechism, Vespers, etc., he answers:- "There are two public Masses in Irishtown and one in Donnybrook. The catechism is taught in both places immediately after Mass by their respective confraternities. Vespers in present circumstances cannot be celebrated in either chapel.,

Signed. C. J. Finn, P.P
P. Smithwick, C.C.
Irishtown, June 8, 1830."

The special mention of a benefactress - Mrs. Verschoyle - calls upon us to say something of this good lady. She was the widow of Richard Verschoyle, who died at Brighton in 1827, and was a devout Catholic. Her husband in the latter years of his life resided in Mount Merrion, and acted as agent to the Fitzwilliam estate. Strangely enough, .after his death, the agency was continued to his widow notwithstanding her sex and religion. She was known to enjoy very great influence with the then owner, the Hon. Sidney Herbert, and this enabled her to do many kind services for her co-religionists in the two parishes of Booterstown and Irishtown. To her must we ascribe the great parochial event of the next year, 1831 - the coming of the Sisters of Charity. Mary Aikenhead had been labouring to establish and consolidate this great religious congregation for the service of the poor which, in conjunction with Archbishop Murray, she had inaugurated just 15 years before. Stanhope Street and Gardiner Street stood out as the first glorious results of her work in Dublin. The schools of the latter were just barely getting into order when Mrs. Verschoyle applied to the Rev. Foundress for a small community to superintend a poor school which she had just erected in Sandymount with £500 bequeathed for that purpose by the Lord Fitzwilliam. Mrs. Verschoyle kindly undertook to build the convent, and to settle upon it about £1,200, the interest of which, as it was specially named for annual Masses, was to go towards the payment of the chaplain. On the 16th of August, 1831, Mrs. Aikenhead and four sisters took possession of the convent, situated at the Sandymount end of Sandymount Avenue. The house was very small, the chapel was to be open to the public, and as no provision was made in the way of a choir for the nuns, they had to hear Mass in the parlour which opened on the Sanctuary. Small as the house was, it was a veritable Godsend at that precise moment, for the health of Mrs. Aikenhead had been rudely shaken by the anxieties and labours of the past 15 years, and perfect rest and bracing air constituted the only hope for its restoration. So for four years the Rev. Foundress, bedridden and suffering, guided and governed this rising institute from the humble little convent of Sandymount. Here again we have a chalice carrying on history. The chalice of the convent has the following inscription:- "Donum Barbarae Verschoyle Conventus Sororum Charitatis Sandymount Fundatrici AD. 1831. Orate pro ea.

The advent of the Sisters of Charity, with their Chapel open to the public entailed the services of yet another assistant to Dr. Finn. So towards the end of the year 1831, the Rev. John Hussey was appointed second Curate.

This year was moreover a census year, and the first of its kind in which a census was made by religious denominations. The result for Donnybrook and Irishtown Parish gives a total of 10,394, and of those 6,712 were returned as Catholics. Dr. Finn was not quite satisfied with this return, and claimed 8,000 Catholics out of the entire population. Of course, in the civil enumeration, the parts of Taney and Roebuck included in the Catholic Parish were not counted, neither was the new acquisition of Bagotrath which belonged to St. Peter's Parish. But allowing for all this, and leaving nearly 3,000 as the population of Ringsend and Irishtown alone as Dr. Finn contended, we still think that seven would be nearer the exact figure than eight thousand. A considerable advance on 1766, when, with Booterstown and Dundrum included, the Catholics only numbered 1,200.

In the course of the year 1833, a Royal Commission was issued to inquire into the condition of the poor in Ireland, which may be quoted as "Poor Inquiry Ireland," Archbishop Murray and Richard More O'Ferrall were the two Catholic members of the Commission. In pursuance of the inquiry they sent their Query Sheets to a limited number of Parish Priests, and amongst others to Dr. Finn, whose clear and comprehensive answers merit transcription as giving a faithful and vivid picture of the social condition of the Parish in 1833.

Query 1 - Name of the Parish, etc.
Answer 1. - "The name of the Parish is the Parish of St. Mary's, Donnybrook. According to the R.C. Division, it. takes in a considerable portion of the Parish of Taney, - part in the Co. of Dublin, and part in the County of the City."

Q. 2. - Number and description of the houses.
A. 2. - "I have no means of taking an exact calculation of the number of houses. It may be ascertained however by an inspection of the books of the Collectors of Grand Jury Cess and parochial taxes. The houses (except in Ringsend and Irishtown and those in general inhabited by the poor) are of a good description; those which are now building in Upper Baggot Street are fit for the residence of people of fortune."

Q. 3. - Has the population of your Parish increased of late?
A. 3. - "The population has been on the increase for a considerable number of year's."

Q. 4. - What is the population of your parish?
A. 4. - "In the last census the population was taken very accurately. I do not now remember what it was rated at; I have however a distinct recollection that the population of Ringsend and Irishtown alone ran above 2,000, from whence I should conclude this Parish according to the R.C. division contains certainly not less than from 9 to 10,000 people."

Q, 5, - If the population has increased from what period do you date the increase?
A. 5. - "The chief increase has taken place within these 10 or 15 years."

Q. 6. - What number of houses, and of what description have been built within the last three years in your Parish and of what average rent?
A. 6. - "Forty or 50 houses have been built in Upper Baggot Street within the last three years; perhaps the same number in other parts, besides a few cottages and smaller houses; the new houses in general are only fit for wealthy people; the smaller houses which have been built for the poorer classes are much more comfortable than those which they have replaced. The average rent of the houses in Baggot Street (I am informed) is about £52 10s. a year with a fine; that of the smaller houses and cottages from £12 to £30 a year."

Q. 7. - What description of persons are the proprietors of the new houses?
A. 7. - "The best description of houses are occupied by persons apparently affluent; in general, all the new houses are occupied by persons in comfortable circumstances."

Q. 8. - Have you any, and what, manufacture established in your parish. How long established, and in what condition ? What trades are most prosperous?
A. 8. - "In Ball's Bridge, there is Duffy's cotton manufacture; in Ringsend, Clarke's foundry, some salt works, about 20 fishing boats, and some ship carpenters. These have been established a great number of years. I believe their present condition, just now, is not very prosperous."

Q. 9. - What are the chief occupations of the labouring classes?
A. - Their employment is uncertain - in various kinds of labour as they may be wanting."

Q. 10. - Do women find any employment and of what description?
A. 10. - "Some women get employment at the cotton factory at Ball's Bridge, spinning, etc., etc.; women from Irishtown and Ringsend sell fish."

Q. 11. - Do children find any employment. Of what description and from what age?
A. 11. - "Some children also get employment at Duffy's factory in Ball's Bridge, spinning, assisting in printing, etc., from 7 to 12 or 13 years of age."

Q. 12.-What may be the average earnings of an average family - say a man, his wife, and four children, all of an age to work (the eldest not more than 16 years of age), obtaining an average amount of employment?
A. 12. - "I am informed that the earnings of a family of that description, even in full employment, would not amount to more than a £1 a week. In the case of artist or regular tradesman it surely would be more."

Q. 13. - Are the wages of working tradesmen or labourers in your parish always paid in money? Or if not in what other modes?
A. 13. - "Always paid in money."

Q. 14. - On what kind of food do the labourers and working tradesmen of your parish subsist?
A. 14. - "The labourers chiefly on potatoes, seldom flesh meat more than once it week; the working tradesmen (except when addicted to drink, which often is indeed the case) live better."

Q. 15. - Has any alteration taken place in their food, clothing, and habitations. If any, from what period do you date that alteration, and has it been for the better or worse?
A. 15. - "1 know of no great alteration in their food or clothing. From want of regular employment, however, from sickness, and particularly in this season of the year, the condition of many of them, in these respects, is indeed most wretched."

Q. 16. - Have any new sources of employment been open to the labouring classes, or has any change, beneficial or otherwise to them, taken place?
A. 16. - "No new sources but the railroad [Dublin and Kingstown] Labourers, however, from the country are principally employed."

Q. 17. Are there any saving's banks or benefit societies in your parish? In what state of prosperity are they in respect of the contributions made thereto, and what description of persons generally, are the contributors?
A. 17. - "There is no saving's bank. There may be some societies among the poor, but no benefit society of any note which I am acquainted with. There is a loan fund, chiefly under the direction of a single individual, and supported by private subscription, in which money is lent on unexceptionable security, and therefore, not so much wanted by those who apply for it; they are persons generally in employment, or in such circumstances as their more opulent neighbours who go security for them, can safely trust to but there is no fund for the relief of the really poor, who are in great numbers, in a starving state in many parts of the parish."

Q. 18. - Are the working tradesmen generally industrious and sober in your parish?
A. 18. - "I do not think there is any want of industry among them, or desire of remaining idle; they are desirous of getting employment, and keeping it when obtained. I wish I could speak equally advantageously of the manner in which they spend their earnings, too great a portion of which many of them certainly waste on drink, to the manifest injury of their minds and bodies, and the total neglect and ruin of their families; generally speaking, however, I think tradesmen are more sober and industrious than they used to be,"

Q. 19. - What hospitals, dispensaries, or other charitable institutions, are there in your parish? how long established, and how supported?
A. 19. - "There is a local dispensary at Donnybrook but no public medical relief for Sandymount, Irishtown, or Ringsend; there is also an hospital for incurables in Donnybrook, supported partially by an annual grant from Parliament, which is extremely well conducted, and gives relief to a great many poor people in the most liberal kind of way; there is also a surgical hospital, lately established, in Upper Baggot Street, supported by subscription, and the revenue arising from medical and surgical lectures."

Q. 20. - Of what class of persons generally are those who seek admission into these charitable institutions?
A. 20. - "With the exception of some, who may have met with accidents and apply for admission to the surgical hospital in Baggot Street, they are persons destitute of all means of support and sunk in the greatest misery."

Q. 21. Do you often receive applications for admission from persons whose friends are able to support them, yet have refused to do so?
A. 21. "Those who apply have scarcely ever any friends able to give them the least assistance; besides the Catholic clergymen have no power of procuring admission, nor indeed, I believe, has any clergyman; their signature and recommendation are required for the Hospital of Incurables, but nothing more."

Q. 22. - if a house of industry has been established in your parish, how marry individuals are supported in it, and is the number of applicants for admission increasing?
A. 22. - "There is no house of industry in the parish."

Q 23. - What number of persons are there ordinarily resident in your parish, who from old age and infirmity are incapable of work, and how are they usually supported?
A. 23.-" It would not be easy to determine their exact number, but it must be very considerable indeed, particularly in Ringsend and Ball's Bridge, where many old and infirm and others without employment drag on a wretched existence, destitute of everything, in the severest season, without fuel, food, or covering for themselves and many children. How they do live has been often to me a matter of surprise. Some of them beg, but are much oftener relieved than get anything. I have often advised them to go and take their children with them to the Mendicity, but they seldom do so. They have certainly no visible means of support, and I believe their chief dependence is on the compassion of their next neighbours in every sense, who are scarce able to support themselves and who are just a step above them."

[The next few queries have reference to deserted children, their number', etc., so we pass on to]

Q. 27. - Are there any persons known to have died from destitution in your parish within the last three years?
A. 27. - "I have heard of no persons who have died of actual starvation, but life I am persuaded is greatly shortened with the greatest number of the destitute poor from the incredible hardships and privations of every kind which they endure, to say nothing of the sick who when enabled by strength of natural constitution to shake off disease, finally sink from mere weakness, having no suitable nourishment or comfort of any kind."

Q. 28. - Where two or more families reside in the same house, state the number of families so resident, and the number of individuals in each family.
A. 28 - "In some houses there are from five to six families ; some families contain, perhaps from six to seven individuals."

Q. 29. - How are those lodging houses which are frequented by persons of the lower classes, usually provided as to beds and bedding? In what condition are they as to ventilation and general repair?
A. 29. - "Nothing can be more wretched than the beds and bedding in such houses; some have none whatever; in some the broken panes admit freely both air and rain; when stopped there is no ventilation; the window is never opened."

Q. 30. - What is the state of your parish with respect to sewers and cleanliness generally?
A. 30. - "There are no sewers in Ringsend or Irishtown, nor in general, sufficient room behind the houses to build offices; besides the great want the inhabitants labour under of fresh water by pipes from the city, though, as I understand, paying city taxes; until these circumstances are changed it is unreasonable to expect cleanliness. Some improvement, indeed, has of late taken place, by having the streets more regularly swept."

Q. 31. - What are the number of public houses or houses where spirituous liquors are retailed in your parish?
A. 31. - "There are 20 or 30 licensed houses for the sale of spirituous liquors within the parish."

Q. 32. - What number of pawnbrokers' shops are there in your parish?
A. 32. - "There are no pawnbrokers' shops in the parish ; the poor, however, here as everywhere else, are pawning their things continually, but they go to town for that."

Q. 33. - What are the classes of persons with whom their dealings are principally carried on?
A. 33. - "Labourers and tradesmen, and, among these, chiefly the drunken and the dissolute. Few persons emgrated from the parish. They went chiefly to America."

Such is the sad and lurid picture of the conditions of labour, homelife and surrounding of his poor, which the pastor of 1833 was compelled to draw. Let us hope that the prevailing dark tones have since been somewhat brightened, and that though we must have the "poor always with us" - and a blessed thing that it should be so - yet that the devices of charity, coupled with the advance of social science, have gone far to better those conditions in our days.

The year we just referred to - 1833 - followed the terrible visitation of cholera in 1832 - a visitation still quoted as epoch. The cholera had begun to subside, and all but disappear in the city towards the close of that year, but the summer of 1833 brought it back with increased virulence to the villages of Ringsend and Irishtown. Then it was that the Sisters of Charity proved their worth. In a letter of Rev. Mother's of this date, she says:-

"We are in the midst of cholera. In Irishtown and Ringsend it is much worse than last year. By the aid of Sister Francis Teresa's brother (More O'Ferrall) we got £20 from the Lord Lieutenant. I sent her and another to the fine house of the landlord's agent and we have obtained a store in Ringsend. With God's blessing we open our poor hospital this evening," and writing somewhat later she adds:- "Sisters M Jerome and Francis Teresa spend all their time in the poor little (cholera) hospital."

But a letter which Mrs. Aikenhead addressed to the Commissioners of Inquiry into the condition of the Poor in answer to their Query Sheet, which escaped the notice of her gifted and industrious biographer, will better than all else give us a true idea of the sufferings and privations of the poor, and furnishes us at the same time with a concise exposition of the works to be promoted by the Sisters of Charity - their Magna Charta in a word - declaring it to be their sole and single purpose, "to be ever ready to lend our humble assistance in those works of mercy which may tend to alleviate the sufferings of our fellow creatures of every creed." With this noble device, and the document which authenticates it, we may fitly conclude this first part of our brief history.

Convent of the Sisters of Charity,
Sandymount, 30th Dec., 1833.
"My LORDS AND GENTLEMEN - A copy of the 'Queries for Parishes in large Towns' has been sent to me, requesting that I will favour 'The Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of the Irish Poor' with an early reply to such of them as may come within my cognizance.

"There are many of the Queries which I cannot be expected to reply to; therefore, I have preferred furnishing the Commissioners with such information on the state of the poor, in the district in which our convent is situated, as I have been able to collect in discharge of the duties of a Sister of Charity.

"Our convent has been established at Sandymount, Parish of St. Mary, Donnybrook, City of Dublin, about three years. The object of our Institution is to attend to the comforts of the poor, both spiritual and temporal; to visit them at their dwellings and in hospitals, to attend them in sickness, to administer consolation in their afflictions, and to reconcile them to the dispensations of an all-wise Providence in the many trials to winch they are subject.

"The education and relief of orphans, and the religious instruction of the lower orders, is part of our duty. The villages of Sandymount, Ball's Bridge, Irishtown, and Ringsend are more immediately within our care. It would be painful to describe the instances of heart-rending misery which we daily witness. Many in the prime of life are reduced to debility from want of food, subsisting for 48 hours on one meal, without sufficient clothes to cover them, their wretched furniture and tattered garments being pledged as a last resort. Within the last year we have witnessed 40 cases of men willing to work, if they could procure employment, who were reduced to sickness, which in some instances terminated in death, from excessive misery