Stillorgan Village 1911
The growth of residential areas was a common phenomenon in the early twentieth century right across Europe and Dublin was no exception. The city was already surrounded by outlying villages on the southside eg Donnybrook, Blackrock and Kingstown. Stillorgan remained fairly remote from Dublin, a lot of the same families still in residence from 1901 and continuing their occupation well into the 1960's. 1911 would bring significant change to the pattern of Dublin life, in May of that year Jim Larkin, published The Irish Worker, the paper of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. The city was on the brink of a a new era, the Lock Out, WW1 and the 1916 Rising were to follow and would change Ireland for ever. Dublin was a mass of contradictions, a nationalist city but also the second city of the British Empire. A city of diversity, rich and poor, immigrant and native, nationalist and unionist, Catholic, Protestant, Jew and Quaker living cheek to jowl.
Stillorgan village was a close knit community with a small population and many families intermarried. Living accommodation was basic, the sewage system allowed for a toilet at the rear of each cottage and water including drinking water was supplied via water pumps/fountains. The main employment was at the local big houses or on home farms where men were employed as gardeners, agricultural workers and labourers. Other work was available at the numerous dairies in the area and St John of God was also a large employer. In 1911 most men in Stillorgan were employed and the women worked at home as laundress, seamstress, tailoresses or as domestic servants/chars in the large houses dotted around the area. Stillorgan Park Golf Course opened in 1908 and some of the local teenagers were employed as caddies, the downside of the new golf club was that many of the local teens ended up in Kingstown Court for trespass. The Irish Training School of Domestic Economy opened circa 1905 at Redesdale House aka St Kevin's House. This was a residential college for the training of Domestic Economy Instructresses, who were then employed by the local authorities throughout Ireland to lecture on cooking, dairying and allied subjects.
Jolly's lane (adjacent to what is now Stillorgan Decor) was a short lane of 21 single storey cottages still extant in 1937. Peter Moore held the lease on these in 1906 from the Earl of Carysfort. The cottages were rented out and yielded a return of about £100 per annum. 60 houses were built at Beaufield Park to replace what houses were considered to be uninhabitable houses by the District Medical Officer and Jolly's lane was demolished. There was also Moore's Terrace, Cullen's Cottages, and Moore's Cottages which were only demolished in the 1960's to make way for Stillorgan Shopping Centre.
There are over 200 census returns for Stillorgan in 1911, including Stillorgan Park and Stillorgan Grove. We have looked at 176 of these returns which cover the area of the village of Stillorgan, mainly Stillorgan North comprising of the Dublin Road and the Kilmacud Road and have provided a little information on each of the residents (just click on either of the links below and then click on the family name).
Please get in touch if you can supply further details and bear in mind that the numbering system of the 1911 census does not reflect the modern numbering system. The photo is a post card from circa 1963 during the construction of the Bowling Alley.
The Dublin Road in 1911 The Kilmacud Road in 1911
© June Bow & Karen Poff – August 2021
The growth of residential areas was a common phenomenon in the early twentieth century right across Europe and Dublin was no exception. The city was already surrounded by outlying villages on the southside eg Donnybrook, Blackrock and Kingstown. Stillorgan remained fairly remote from Dublin, a lot of the same families still in residence from 1901 and continuing their occupation well into the 1960's. 1911 would bring significant change to the pattern of Dublin life, in May of that year Jim Larkin, published The Irish Worker, the paper of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union. The city was on the brink of a a new era, the Lock Out, WW1 and the 1916 Rising were to follow and would change Ireland for ever. Dublin was a mass of contradictions, a nationalist city but also the second city of the British Empire. A city of diversity, rich and poor, immigrant and native, nationalist and unionist, Catholic, Protestant, Jew and Quaker living cheek to jowl.
Stillorgan village was a close knit community with a small population and many families intermarried. Living accommodation was basic, the sewage system allowed for a toilet at the rear of each cottage and water including drinking water was supplied via water pumps/fountains. The main employment was at the local big houses or on home farms where men were employed as gardeners, agricultural workers and labourers. Other work was available at the numerous dairies in the area and St John of God was also a large employer. In 1911 most men in Stillorgan were employed and the women worked at home as laundress, seamstress, tailoresses or as domestic servants/chars in the large houses dotted around the area. Stillorgan Park Golf Course opened in 1908 and some of the local teenagers were employed as caddies, the downside of the new golf club was that many of the local teens ended up in Kingstown Court for trespass. The Irish Training School of Domestic Economy opened circa 1905 at Redesdale House aka St Kevin's House. This was a residential college for the training of Domestic Economy Instructresses, who were then employed by the local authorities throughout Ireland to lecture on cooking, dairying and allied subjects.
Jolly's lane (adjacent to what is now Stillorgan Decor) was a short lane of 21 single storey cottages still extant in 1937. Peter Moore held the lease on these in 1906 from the Earl of Carysfort. The cottages were rented out and yielded a return of about £100 per annum. 60 houses were built at Beaufield Park to replace what houses were considered to be uninhabitable houses by the District Medical Officer and Jolly's lane was demolished. There was also Moore's Terrace, Cullen's Cottages, and Moore's Cottages which were only demolished in the 1960's to make way for Stillorgan Shopping Centre.
There are over 200 census returns for Stillorgan in 1911, including Stillorgan Park and Stillorgan Grove. We have looked at 176 of these returns which cover the area of the village of Stillorgan, mainly Stillorgan North comprising of the Dublin Road and the Kilmacud Road and have provided a little information on each of the residents (just click on either of the links below and then click on the family name).
Please get in touch if you can supply further details and bear in mind that the numbering system of the 1911 census does not reflect the modern numbering system. The photo is a post card from circa 1963 during the construction of the Bowling Alley.
The Dublin Road in 1911 The Kilmacud Road in 1911
© June Bow & Karen Poff – August 2021