Glenmaroon House – Local History Castleknock

South House, Glenmaroon (formerly ‘Knockmaroon Lodge’). Photo credit – An Taisce.

Glenmaroon House is a house of two halves – the North House and the South House – located on either side of Knockmaroon Hill. The South House, on the River Liffey side of the road, predates the 1850s. Formerly named Knockmaroon Lodge, it has a long garden with an Italian-style water feature and a terraced garden that sweeps down to the Liffey. The South House was in existence before the North House, which is on the Phoenix Park side of the road.

                       

North House, Glenmaroon                                               Portico entrance to North House

In the early 1900s, the Honourable Arthur Ernest Guinness, of brewery fame, acquired Knockmaroon Lodge and the adjacent lands. He completed construction of the North House on the Phoenix Park side of the road. Upon completion this was then known as Glenmaroon (or Glenmaroon House). The North House and South House were connected via a covered bridge that spanned Knockmaroon Hill. Having married an aristocratic society lady, Marie Clothilde Russell, work got under way to make their home luxurious. The fairytale Tudor Revival design had a ‘smoking lounge’ and an indoor swimming pool. The house had a portico-style baronial entrance that led into a panelled hallway. Its decorative red earth chimney pots in barley twist style can still be seen.

Wood panelled hall, Glenmaroon House. Photos credit Coonan Estates

Arthur’s heiress daughters – Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh – were known as the ‘Golden Guinness Girls.’ With eight husbands between them, their antics inspired the gossip pages. Aileen’s father gifted nearby Luttrellstown Castle to her and she lived there for years.

Wood panelled stairway, Glenmaroon House. Photos credit Coonan Estates

When Ernest Guinness died in 1949, the entire property was transferred to the Government of the time in part payment of death duties. It was the subject to a famous court case in 1951. The entire complex then passed to the Daughters of Charity who renovated and extended it for use as a care home and a girls’ school called ‘Holy Angels.’ In time, a dormitory was added in 1956 and a chapel was added c.1967. More recently, it was used for the care of people with intellectual disabilities.  

Fingal County Council zoned the property ‘High Amenity’ in the Fingal Development Plan 2011 – 2017. This objective provides for the protection of highly sensitive and scenic locations from inappropriate development to reinforce their character, distinctiveness and sense of place as well as recognising the potential of opportunities to increase public access to such areas.

Although the houses are protected structures, the land is destined for development. The two privately-owned walkways which spanned the road at Knockmaroon Hill and linked the properties were the subject of a recent appeal by the local historical society to An Bord Pleanala. Following the rejection of this appeal, permission was granted for the removal of both bridges. The ‘open’ walkway made of wrought iron, reached by means of a spiral stairway, has already been removed. The enclosed bridge is destined for removal soon.

This wordpress site has been set up for the purpose of sharing photographs of familiar landmarks in the neighbourhood of Castleknock, school photographs and other groups by way of blogposts:-

https://reynoldshistorycastleknockblog.wordpress.com

In due course, a hard copy folder of photographs of local landmarks as well as group photographs will be submitted to the Local History Section of Fingal County Council Library, Blanchardstown, with the hope of bringing forth more photographs and records for the benefit of all those interested in the local history of the area.

The book ‘Castleknock – Memories of a Neighbourhood‘ by Tony Reynolds, is currently for sale in the following outlets:

*Spar at Carpenterstown Road, Castleknock

*The Newsagents at Roselawn Shopping Centre, Castleknock

*Kennas – Centra Supermarket at Laurel Lodge Shopping Centre

*The Newsagents at Blanchardstown Hospital

*Pat Carey’s Newsagents, Main Street, Lucan

*The Last Bookshop, top of Camden Street

The book is also available to purchase on-line at Amazon.com

Updates regarding retail outlets selling the book will be posted on this site.