The Old House at Corkagh

Corkagh House in the early 20th century (courtesy SDCC)

For many centuries what we know as Corkagh Park was part of the lands under the control of the monastery founded by St Cronan Mochua at Clondalkin in the 7th century.

A burial enclosure and corn drying kiln dating from as early as the 8th century were discovered when 'Swan' Lake (behind the playground) was being created in 2001. Twenty burials were removed before the area was covered in geotextile to preserve any remaining burials for investigation in the future.

The Round Tower at Clondalkin is over 1200 years old.

Some of the finds associated with these burials indicated a Viking influence and indeed the Vikings under King Amhlaith (Olaf) founded a fort somewhere near the present townland of Deansrath in the 8th century. That fort was attacked by the native Irish tribes who having killed the occupants paraded around Clondalkin with Vikings heads mounted on poles. It is more than likely that the Gaels passed through Corkagh with their grizzly trophies. The Vikings had their revenge in the end, attacking and murdering hundreds of Irish who were gathering in the area to celebrate a Gaelic festival.

Area next to the lower lake (sometimes known as Swan Lake) where the medieval burials were found inside a circular enclosure.

Outer ditch of medieval enclosure at Corkagh

When the Normans arrived in the 12th century and took control of this part of the country the monastic lands at Clondalkin, including Corkagh, came under the control of the Archbishop of Dublin. The Church in turn rented much of their lands to trusted English and Welsh tenants and excluded the native Irish. One of the stipulations of the leases required that fortified (tower) houses be built to defend the lands from the Gaelic tribes who had retreated to the mountains south of Tallaght. If there was ever a 'castle' at Corkagh it would have dated to this period however no traces remain.

During the Reformation of the 16th century Church lands were sold off and when those lands were being valued Corkagh came in for particular mention: apparently farmers were unwilling to work the land in the area due to its tendency to flood!! Its possible that in the 16th century Corkagh simply referred to the ribbon of flood plain on either side of the Camac and if that is the case, and in order to make the land more saleable, the former Corkagh may have been enlarged to include more 'profitable' lands. By the 1640s Ralph Mills is recorded as owning lands at Corkagh. On the northern side of the Camac Alderman John Carbery owned land stretching from the present day Corkagh towards the townlands of Kilbride and Baldonell. Following the wars of the 17th century land was confiscated from Irish papists including Ralph Mills and we can assume that Corkagh changed hands at this time.

Civil Survey of 1654 indicating that 100 acres at Corkagh is owned by Ralph Mills an 'Irish Papist'!

In the second half of the 17th century a substantial farmhouse was built at Corkagh but it's not known who the owner of the property was. The surname Trundell is mentioned in records associated with Corkagh in the latter decades of the 17th century.

House built at Corkagh approx 1690. Belltower at Gable end may, according to local tradition, come from a decommissioned Church. This bell rang out several times a day to indicate the time to workers on the estate.

Record of purchase of Corkagh in 1703

In 1703 Lewis Chaigneau, a successful Dublin merchant who hailed from a French Huguenot family bought the estate and added a large new house. He retained the older house for use as staff quarters and kitchens. The new house contained 10 bedrooms and at least 4 reception rooms. In its heyday Corkagh had a staff of 25 house servants!

The estate buildings today (these buildings would have been hidden by the house). The tree in the centre is also visible in the photo below taken around 1960.

Corkagh prior to demolition: The older house to the right was built around 1650.
The original house at Corkagh built in the 1650s with Bell Tower on the right.
Image courtesy SDCC

Lewis parcelled off the south western end of Corkagh, known locally as Kilmatead, and this land was leased to another Huguenot family, the Gruebers, who developed a large gunpowder mill on the site. At this time Gunpowder was in great demand and was a most profitable industry and the Grueber family already ran a successful operation in England. An added bonus came from the fact that parts of Corkagh next to the Camac were quite overgrown with trees like Hazel and Alder which provided the charcoal necessary in the manufacture of Gunpowder.

Following Lewis Chaigneaus death the Corkagh Estate was sold to the Finlay family.

The original farmhouse stood directly in front of this building with a narrow alley separating them. There was access through this door to the alley and from there across to the kitchens and the main house. The larger Corkagh house stood in front of the modern tin roofed building on the left, originally there was a small walled rose garden behind where that building is today.

One of the oldest maps of Corkagh dating to 1760. The Naas Road is highlighted in blue with Oak Avenue highlighted in pink. At this time it ran straight towards the house. Highlighted in green is an old road called The Green Road to Newcastle. Part of this road still exists within the modern layout of the park, running from Oak Avenue between the Dog run and cycle track.

The Finlays, were an Anglo Irish family with land in Co Cavan, and were involved in banking, politics and the military during the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 1730s Thomas Finlay established one of Dublins most successful banks at Ormond Quay in the centre of Dublin and had a house nearby. He and his wife Deborah Steele (from Kilbride, Co Kildare) rented Corkagh House and subsequently purchased the estate around 1750. It is the Finlay family who filled Corkagh Demesne with the fine old specimen trees that survive to this day. It was they who built the estate cottages and stables and designed the Walled Garden and Stewarts house. Their descendants continued to own Corkagh for over 200 years.

Corkagh House was reached via an Oak lined Avenue, that swept down from the Naas Road. Even in the 18th century the Naas Road was an important and busy route but it was also liable to become a mire of muck and water in bad weather and the journey to Dublin city could at times be difficult. Some of the original Oaks, now almost 300 years old, remain today. A gate lodge stood at the entrance to the avenue but was demolished many decades ago to allow for the widening of the Naas Road. Originally this avenue travelled straight towards the house terminating in a large semi circular drive.

Corkagh Park circa 1960: Note the ditch ('haha') clearly visible in the foreground. The stable buildings can be seen behind the house.
Source:http://source.southdublinlibraries.ie

In the early 19th century Oak Avenue was diverted to the side of the house and remains so today.

The house now looked out over open fields as was the fashion at that time. A stone lined ditch, known as a 'Haha', was dug to prevent cattle straying towards the house. This ditch provided a seamless view of the countryside to the south and visitors walking in the garden would be surprised to come upon this sudden drop hence the name 'Ha Ha'! The ditch can still be seen behind the rose garden, and indeed, in dry weather you can walk along it.

Oak Avenue in winter

In the later part of the 19th century there were tennis courts in front of the house at the spot where the Rose Garden is now located.

Popular spot for afternoon tea in the days of Corkagh House

Cedar trees near the estate cottages. On sunny days the Finlay family
would take afternoon tea underneath their shady branches.

Corkagh House prior to demolition.
Image courtesy SDCC

Next to the older house there was a small rock garden and aviary with access through an iron gate. .

Gate leading to a rock garden shaded by mature trees (only a couple remain)

The rock garden was developed into a popular pet farm in the mid 2000s' but the farm has been closed for some years and only the wishing well and charming hen house (built by a talented local man: Noel Cavanagh) remain.

After the Gunpowder Mills ceased operations around 1820 the Finlays took possession of the lands at Kilmatead which then became known as Little Corkagh. The family occasionally rented out

Corkagh House during the 19th century and lived at Kilmatead instead.

The Finlay family had a long history of military service and during the late 1700s headed the Dublin Militia who were tasked with combatting the threat from Irish rebels. Colonel Henry Thomas Finlay, who owned Corkagh in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,

served in the Boer War in 1900 and his regimental tunic is on display at the National Museum of Ireland at Collins Barracks. Henry survived the Boer war but unfortunately his eldest son Frances

who also served with him in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers died in South Africa. Sadly the two younger Finlay brothers, Robert (Royal Dublin Fusiliers) and George (Royal Irish Regiment) were killed in France during World War 1. There were now no male heirs to Corkagh and so the estate passed to their sister Edith and her husband George Colley.

Colonel Finlays regimental tunic at Collins Barracks

George and Edith's son Dudley, an engineer, managed the estate as a successful farm and dairy until he died prematurely in the 1950s. The dairy business which operated from the estate offices at the

rear of the house was called Corkagh Dairies and was one of the first mechanised bottling plants in Ireland. The logo for the dairy was Connie the Corkagh Cow!!

The farm buildings at Corkagh are now used as a depot by SDCC

Dudley Colley courtesy of SDCC

Dudley Colley was enthusiastic about motor racing and was Irish Champion Race Driver for the year 1946. The area that is now the Famine Arboretum was used by Dudley as a racing circuit.

The arboretum was the site of a racing circuit in the 1940s and a show jumping ring in the 1960s.

Following Dudleys' untimely death, in 1959 Corkagh was bought by Sir John Galvin an Australian millionaire. The Colley family moved to Kilmatead and Dudleys son Finlay is still resident there.

Prior to the sale many of the contents of the old house were auctioned off. According to a member of Friends of Corkagh Park: " The big house also contained one of the largest private libraries in the country. I stumbled upon some of the bookcases years ago, in a restored castle somewhere in Limerick."

John Galvin
photo courtesy of oldvirgil

John Galvin used the estate to raise prize cattle and also stabled and trained horses. During this time Corkagh was the home of Irelands first riding school! The Famine Arboretum was at that time used as a show jumping ring, and the business was known as Treemare Stud. Some of the horses trained here by the well known equestrian Cyril Harty completed in the Olympics of 1972 and 1976.

Inside the stables at Corkagh. The roof was repaired in the 1990s.

In 1960 Galvin had the stately old house demolished. He had bought Corkagh for the excellent grazing land and had no interest in the maintenance of the house on which he would also have to pay taxes When he moved his family and wealth to Ireland from America in the late 1950s the U.S revenue were pursuing him for unpaid taxes to the astronomical tune of 21 million dollars! He settled that bill for 10 million dollars in the mid 1960s.