Celbridge Abbey is located in Celbridge, County Kildare in Ireland.
Celbridge Abbey is located in Celbridge, County Kildare in Ireland.
The house was built by Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who at the time was the Lord Mayor of Dublin, in 1697. It is, however, more famous as the childhood (1688–1707) and later adult (1714–23) home of his daughter, Esther Vanhomrigh, (1688–1723), who was Dean Swift's 'Vanessa'. Swift was known to travel frequently to Celbridge Abbey to see her. The poem in which Swift fictionalised her as Vanessa, "Cadenus and Vanessa", was written seven years before he visited her in Celbridge in 1720. [1]
The house was acquired by Thomas Marlay, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1723. [2] Thomas Marlay's son, Bishop Richard Marlay, had the house rebuilt in the 1780s. [2] Meanwhile Thomas Marlay's daughter Mary was married to James Grattan, a member of the Irish House of Commons. James' son, Henry Grattan (1746–1821), a renowned 18th Irish patriot politician, lived with his uncle Colonel Thomas Marlay at Celbridge Abbey between 1777 and 1780. He afterwards wrote: "Along the banks of that river, amid the groves and bowers of Swift and Vanessa, I grew convinced that I was right." [3]
An occupant in the late 19th century was Colonel Gerald Dease, a Catholic nobleman who entertained the Empress of Austria and later Prince Henry of Prussia during their visits to Ireland. [4]
Since 1952, the house has been owned and managed by the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, providing a range of Respite, Residential, Day Services and Early Services for people with an intellectual disability. [5] [6]
The rock bridge in Celbridge Abbey grounds is the oldest stone bridge across the River Liffey. [7]
County Kildare is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, which has a population of 246,977.
Henry Grattan was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 1801 and a Member of Parliament (MP) in Westminster from 1805 to 1820. He has been described as a superb orator and a romantic. With generous enthusiasm he demanded that Ireland should be granted its rightful status, that of an independent nation, though he always insisted that Ireland would remain linked to Great Britain by a common crown and by sharing a common political tradition.
The River Liffey is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major tributaries include the River Dodder, the River Poddle and the River Camac. The river supplies much of Dublin's water and supports a range of recreational activities.
Esther Vanhomrigh or Van Homrigh, an Irish woman of Dutch descent, was a longtime lover and correspondent of Jonathan Swift. Swift's letters to her were published after her death. Her fictional name "Vanessa" was created by Swift by taking Van from her surname, Vanhomrigh, and adding Esse, the pet form of her first name, Esther.
Newbridge, officially known by its Irish name Droichead Nua, is a town in County Kildare, Ireland. While the nearby Great Connell Priory was founded in the 13th century, the town itself formed from the 18th century onwards, and grew rapidly alongside a military barracks which opened in the early 19th century. Taking on the name Newbridge in the 20th century, the town expanded to support the local catchment, and also as a commuter town for Dublin. Doubling in population during the 20 years between 1991 and 2011, its population of 22,742 in 2016 makes it the largest town in Kildare and the fifteenth-largest in Ireland.
Celbridge is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Ireland. It is 23 km (14 mi) west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the R403 and R405 regional roads. As of the 2016 census, Celbridge was the third largest town in County Kildare by population, with over 20,000 residents.
Straffan is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, situated on the banks of the River Liffey, 25 km upstream of the Irish capital Dublin. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 853, a nearly two-fold increase since the 2006 census.
The R445 road is a regional road in Ireland. The route is a non-motorway alternative route to the N7/M7 motorway between Naas and Limerick, and at 170 km it is one of the longest regional roads in Ireland. Indeed, much of the route comprises roads that were formerly part of the N7 between the cities, prior to motorway and other bypasses. Some of the R445 route also comprises local link roads to new N7/M7 route sections.
Clane is a town in County Kildare, Ireland, 35.4 km (22 mi) from Dublin. Its population of 7,280 makes it the eighth largest town in Kildare and the 66th largest in Ireland. It is on the River Liffey. Clane gives its name to the associated townland, civil parish, electoral division and barony.
Kilcullen, formally Kilcullen Bridge, is a small town on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Ireland. Its population of 3,473 at the 2011 census made it the 12th largest settlement in County Kildare and the fastest growing in the county, having doubled in population from 1,483 in the census of 2002. By 2016, the population had risen to 3,710. It is situated primarily in the Barony of Kilcullen, with part in the Barony of Naas South, and subsidiary areas include Logstown, Harristown, Carnalway and Brannockstown, Gilltown, Nicholastown, and Castlemartin.
William Conolly, also known as Speaker Conolly, was an Irish politician, Commissioner of Revenue, lawyer and landowner.
Leixlip is a town in north-east County Kildare, Ireland. Its location on the confluence of the River Liffey and the Rye Water has marked it as a frontier town historically: on the border between the ancient kingdoms of Leinster and Brega, as an outpost of The Pale, and on Kildare's border with County Dublin. Leixlip was also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Salt North.
Thomas Marlay (c.1680–1756) was an Irish politician and judge, who ended his career as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He is remembered chiefly for beginning the rebuilding of Celbridge Abbey, and as the grandfather of the statesman Henry Grattan.
Richard Marlay was Dean of Ferns from 1769 to 1787; and Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmacduagh from 1787 to 1795 when he was translated to Waterford and Lismore. He died in office on 1 July 1802.
Harristown is a townland in County Kildare on the River Liffey 2.5 miles (4.0 km) downstream from Kilcullen, just north of Brannockstown in the civil parish of Carnalway in the barony of Naas South. It is the site of a former borough and manor, and Harristown Borough was a borough constituency sending two MPs to the Irish House of Commons before the Acts of Union 1800. Harristown Common is a townland and former commonage north of Harristown proper and separated from it by the townlands of Dunnstown and Johnstown or Dunshane.
Thomas Marlay (1719—1784) was an Irish soldier of the eighteenth century.
Tea Lane Graveyard is a Christian cemetery located in Celbridge, Ireland.
St. Wolstan's Priory is a former Augustinian (Victorine) monastery located in County Kildare, Ireland.
Bartholomew Van Homrigh, also Vanhomrigh was a Polish-born Irish merchant, estate agent and politician who served as the 33rd Lord Mayor of Dublin and twice MP for Londonderry City in William III's Irish Parliaments. Surviving correspondence between 1691-1700 with the Godert de Ginkel, the 1st Earl of Athlone, for whom Van Homrigh served as estate agent after the Williamite War in Ireland, detail later troop movements, and various legal and financial updates.