William Dargan circa 1860
William Dargan of Mount Anville
William Dargan was born in County Carlow. After finishing school he worked with his father who
was a tenant farmer on Lord Portarlington's land. It is believed he worked in a surveyor's office in
Carlow before getting a job with Thomas Telford on the London to Holyhead road project which
ran from 1819 to 1824. His next project was in a supervisory capacity on the Raheny to Sutton
road. Having won contracts to provide turnpikes including the North Circular Road and at
Malahide in 1831, he then won the contract to build Ireland's first railway from Dublin to Kingstown.
A five and a half mile stretch where trains would run at an average speed of 20 miles per hour. The
engineer on the project was Charles Vignoles another of Telford's students. This project was not
without problems including the line running through the access to the sea from Lord Cloncurry house
and Edward Lees house at Blackrock. These problems were resolved with Dargan designing a
beautifully crafted bridge for Cloncurry at Maretimo and Mr Lees at Blackrock House being paid
compensation. The project started in on 4 Mar 1833 but in June there was a work stoppage as workers
were unhappy with the rate of pay. This was resolved very quickly when Dargan introduced a new way
of paying by productivity and was soon employing nearly 2000 men. Dargan continued to win railway
contracts and it is thought that he is responsible for nearly 600 miles of railway built in Ireland. He
offered unskilled labourers a flat rate of 9 shillings during winter and ten shillings during the famine
years which they appear to have been quite happy with. He was considered to be the best and most
extensive employer of his day, possibly employing upwards of fifty thousand men.
He set up a flax farm at Rathcormac in Cork and a flax mill in Chapelizod, neither were a success.
He won the contract for the Ulster Canal and the Belfast waterworks and was the founder of the
Great Exhibition of 1853 which was to showcase Irish Industry and Art. Although its purpose was
fulfilled and the exhibition was a huge success, Dargan lost twenty thousand of his own personal
money in delivering it. According to some reports he was offered a Baronacy by Queens Victoria
on her visit to Ireland but it's more likely that he was offered a Knighthood which would have
elevated him to Peerage and would have caused him a problem because of his hands on approach
to his projects and begged permission to decline the offer and instead accepted a bust of the Queen
and the Prince Consort.
He was the contractor on the Bray railway extension and instrumental in Bray becoming a seaside
resort - designing the esplanade, terraces of houses, Turkish baths and the installation of street lights.
Plants from Mount Anville were transplanted into the public garden at Bray seafront. He became a
DL and JP in 1859 and in 1863 was Sheriff of Dublin.
In 1863 a statue of William Dargan was placed upon a pedestal on the lawn of the Royal Dublin
Society, in front of the National Gallery of Ireland. This was sculpted by Thomas Farrell who
moved to Redesdale House in his later years.
In May 1865 Dargan suffered a fall from a horse at the top of Booterstown avenue on his way
to Mount Anville from Donnybrook. He suffered a cut to his head and was unconscious when
John Edward Vernon of Mount Merrion Demesne found him and had him conveyed to Mount Anville.
Although this fall is often given as the reason for his death, this seems unlikely as he was present
when the medals were awarded for the exhibitors of the Great Exhibition and made frequent trips
to London in the following months. His financial problems seem to start around this time. In July
of 1865 he sold Mount Anville to Madame Scully of the Sacred Heart nuns for 10,000 pounds.
The contents of the house were sold.
In November 1866 rumours circulated that he had executed a deed in favour of his creditors, that his
liabilities exceeded one million pounds and that the liquidator was expected to pay out 20 shillings
in the pound. This was refuted and that in fact, although he owed 180K that his assets exceded 400K.
In December 1866, his trustees Robert Hoey of Kilmacud House and Thomas Pooley sold his
lands in Wexford and Bray and the Royal Marine Hotel in Kingstown was also disposed of.
William died of liver disease, most likely cancer at number 2 Fitzwilliam Square East on the evening of
7 Feb 1867. His funeral was one of the biggest that Dublin had ever seen with two hundred and fifty
coaches following the cortege which was preceded by hundreds of working men. He was buried at
Prospect cemetery (Glasnevin) in a vault in the O'Connell circle. After his death his friend and neighbour
Robert Hoey of Kilmacud House also took on the onerous tasking of collecting money from some of his
personal debtors to ensure the financial security of his widow. Jane Dargan his wife died 22 Jun 1894
at Annerly Park, London aged 91.
He left a huge portfolio of works including the viaduct in Milltown which would be familiar locally and
the cable stayed bridge for the LUAS in Dundrum was named Dargan bridge in his honour.
Patrick Dargan married Elizabeth (Ivers?)
1 William Dargan a Roman Catholic is thought to have been the son of Patrick and Elizabeth Dargan*
and born in County Carlow circa 1799, if these are his parents then they are buried at Killeshin
graveyard, Co Laois. He married Jane Arkinstall, an Anglican at Adbaston, Staffordshire on
13 Oct 1828 and he gives himself as being of the parish of St Thomas, which is not a reference to
his religion but an area of Dublin similar to that of Dublin 1 of today. The couple had no children
but were very close to the children of his sister who married James Boland of Mountmellick.
His niece Maria Allen was married from Mount Anville to George Philips at Taney in 1856 which led
some to believe he was Church of Ireland. His niece Kate Crosby married John Roche in New York in
1858 and he left 1000 pounds in his will to niece Louisa Haslam.
2 James Dargan born c1814, and of Temple Street married Jane Walsh on 7 Sep 1839 at St Philip's
C of E, Liverpool. He was an engineer and worked with his brother William on the Waterford and
Limerick Railway line. He died at Thomas Street, Limerick on 6 Jun 1854 aged 40 and was interred
at Tipperary. Jane Dargan born circa 1818 died on 27 Nov 1885 at 59 Rathmines Road.
1 James Dargan born circa 1841 married Teresa Johnson daughter of Richard and Mary
Johnson from Mill Mount Avoca on 9 Jan 1866. James was a civil engineer and Teresa
was the granddaughter of Matthew Johnson who had discovered the mines of Tigroney
and Cronebane near Avoca, and the grand niece of Father Daniel Murray of Sheepwalk,
Avoca who became Archbishop of Dublin. James died 11 Feb 1873 aged 32 at Cork while
working on a railway project at Bandon. Teresa moved back to Millmount and lived with
her sister Margaret Johnson. She died there on 19 Jan 1929 age 86. She was buried at
Glasnevin.
1 Mary Dargan born 17 Jan 1767 at Millmount Avoca.
2 William Joseph Dargan born 10 Jan 1869 at 45 St Stephens Green, was a MD and
visiting Physician to St Vincent's Hospital. He married Argentinian born Teresa
Ronayne at the University Chapel, St Stephen's Green on 18 Feb 1903. They lived at
Stephens Green and by 1911 they had five children of whom three survived. William
died on 3 Oct 1944 at Milltown Park, Sandford and Teresa died 5 Feb 1950 at 85 Eglington
Road, Donnybrook.
1 Teresa Dargan born 25 Dec 1903 at St Stephens's Green. Ena was a teacher, writer
and broadcaster.
2 William Richard Cecil Dargan born 22 Nov 1904 at St Stephen's Green joined the
Jesuit order.
3 Kathleen Dargan born 4 Jan 1906 at St Stephens's Green died 25 Apr 1910 at
Avoca.
4 Edward Dargan born 9 May 1907 at St Stephen's Green.
5 Dermot Dargan born 19 Nov 1909 at 45 Stephens Green.
6 James Edward Francis Dargan born 8 Jul 1912 became a solicitor.
7 Thomas Dargan born 24 Jan 1915.
8 Daniel Dargan born circa 1916 joined the Jesuit order.
9 Herbert Dargan joined the Jesuit order and was rector at Stanislaus College for
Formation studies at Tullabeg.
4 Annie Dargan, youngest daughter born circa 1873 married Captain H J Harrington,
Wicklow Artillery (SDRA) son of John Harrington, JP, Canny Court, Brannockstown, Co
Kildare on 16 Jul 1886 at Avoca parish church.
1 Maura T Harrington put Millmount, Avoca up for sale in 1961.
2 Henry Harrington
2 Jane Dargan died unmarried after 1873.
3 William Dargan
4 John Dargan
3 Mary Dargan married James Boland of Mountmellick.
1 Thomas Boland born circa 1828 died age 21 in 1849 at Shammrock Lodge, Navan
2 James Boland married Margaret Walsh, daughter of Redmond Wash, Architect
in Limerick on 18 Jan 1853.
3 Fanny Boland married John Lalor 24 Jan 1865 at Mountmellick Parish Church.
4 Francis Boland born circa 1835 died 29 Mar 1860 at Navan.
5 Mary Anne Boland became a nun (Sister Mary Augustine).
6 John Boland became a priest.
7 Jane Boland, third daughter married John Rafter of Tullamore in Mountmellick on
24 Jan 1854.
4 Selina Dargan
5 Elizabeth Dargan married Eugene Crosby on 9 Feb 1825 in Carlow.
6 Thomas Dargan
1 John Dargan qualified as a civil engineer and immigrated to Canada in 1872.
* Dargan Headstone
Erected by Patrick Dargan in memory of his mother Sile(?) Dargan who departed this life
24th April 1801 aged 76 years. Lord have mercy on their souls Amen. And also his wife Elizabeth
Dargan who dept. this life Dec. the 24th 1813 aged 42 years and of the above Patrick Dargan who
departed this life (stone broken) aged 83 years. Also his children Michael, Damien, Bridget & Patrick
who died young.
© June Bow & Karen Poff – April 2017
William Dargan was born in County Carlow. After finishing school he worked with his father who
was a tenant farmer on Lord Portarlington's land. It is believed he worked in a surveyor's office in
Carlow before getting a job with Thomas Telford on the London to Holyhead road project which
ran from 1819 to 1824. His next project was in a supervisory capacity on the Raheny to Sutton
road. Having won contracts to provide turnpikes including the North Circular Road and at
Malahide in 1831, he then won the contract to build Ireland's first railway from Dublin to Kingstown.
A five and a half mile stretch where trains would run at an average speed of 20 miles per hour. The
engineer on the project was Charles Vignoles another of Telford's students. This project was not
without problems including the line running through the access to the sea from Lord Cloncurry house
and Edward Lees house at Blackrock. These problems were resolved with Dargan designing a
beautifully crafted bridge for Cloncurry at Maretimo and Mr Lees at Blackrock House being paid
compensation. The project started in on 4 Mar 1833 but in June there was a work stoppage as workers
were unhappy with the rate of pay. This was resolved very quickly when Dargan introduced a new way
of paying by productivity and was soon employing nearly 2000 men. Dargan continued to win railway
contracts and it is thought that he is responsible for nearly 600 miles of railway built in Ireland. He
offered unskilled labourers a flat rate of 9 shillings during winter and ten shillings during the famine
years which they appear to have been quite happy with. He was considered to be the best and most
extensive employer of his day, possibly employing upwards of fifty thousand men.
He set up a flax farm at Rathcormac in Cork and a flax mill in Chapelizod, neither were a success.
He won the contract for the Ulster Canal and the Belfast waterworks and was the founder of the
Great Exhibition of 1853 which was to showcase Irish Industry and Art. Although its purpose was
fulfilled and the exhibition was a huge success, Dargan lost twenty thousand of his own personal
money in delivering it. According to some reports he was offered a Baronacy by Queens Victoria
on her visit to Ireland but it's more likely that he was offered a Knighthood which would have
elevated him to Peerage and would have caused him a problem because of his hands on approach
to his projects and begged permission to decline the offer and instead accepted a bust of the Queen
and the Prince Consort.
He was the contractor on the Bray railway extension and instrumental in Bray becoming a seaside
resort - designing the esplanade, terraces of houses, Turkish baths and the installation of street lights.
Plants from Mount Anville were transplanted into the public garden at Bray seafront. He became a
DL and JP in 1859 and in 1863 was Sheriff of Dublin.
In 1863 a statue of William Dargan was placed upon a pedestal on the lawn of the Royal Dublin
Society, in front of the National Gallery of Ireland. This was sculpted by Thomas Farrell who
moved to Redesdale House in his later years.
In May 1865 Dargan suffered a fall from a horse at the top of Booterstown avenue on his way
to Mount Anville from Donnybrook. He suffered a cut to his head and was unconscious when
John Edward Vernon of Mount Merrion Demesne found him and had him conveyed to Mount Anville.
Although this fall is often given as the reason for his death, this seems unlikely as he was present
when the medals were awarded for the exhibitors of the Great Exhibition and made frequent trips
to London in the following months. His financial problems seem to start around this time. In July
of 1865 he sold Mount Anville to Madame Scully of the Sacred Heart nuns for 10,000 pounds.
The contents of the house were sold.
In November 1866 rumours circulated that he had executed a deed in favour of his creditors, that his
liabilities exceeded one million pounds and that the liquidator was expected to pay out 20 shillings
in the pound. This was refuted and that in fact, although he owed 180K that his assets exceded 400K.
In December 1866, his trustees Robert Hoey of Kilmacud House and Thomas Pooley sold his
lands in Wexford and Bray and the Royal Marine Hotel in Kingstown was also disposed of.
William died of liver disease, most likely cancer at number 2 Fitzwilliam Square East on the evening of
7 Feb 1867. His funeral was one of the biggest that Dublin had ever seen with two hundred and fifty
coaches following the cortege which was preceded by hundreds of working men. He was buried at
Prospect cemetery (Glasnevin) in a vault in the O'Connell circle. After his death his friend and neighbour
Robert Hoey of Kilmacud House also took on the onerous tasking of collecting money from some of his
personal debtors to ensure the financial security of his widow. Jane Dargan his wife died 22 Jun 1894
at Annerly Park, London aged 91.
He left a huge portfolio of works including the viaduct in Milltown which would be familiar locally and
the cable stayed bridge for the LUAS in Dundrum was named Dargan bridge in his honour.
Patrick Dargan married Elizabeth (Ivers?)
1 William Dargan a Roman Catholic is thought to have been the son of Patrick and Elizabeth Dargan*
and born in County Carlow circa 1799, if these are his parents then they are buried at Killeshin
graveyard, Co Laois. He married Jane Arkinstall, an Anglican at Adbaston, Staffordshire on
13 Oct 1828 and he gives himself as being of the parish of St Thomas, which is not a reference to
his religion but an area of Dublin similar to that of Dublin 1 of today. The couple had no children
but were very close to the children of his sister who married James Boland of Mountmellick.
His niece Maria Allen was married from Mount Anville to George Philips at Taney in 1856 which led
some to believe he was Church of Ireland. His niece Kate Crosby married John Roche in New York in
1858 and he left 1000 pounds in his will to niece Louisa Haslam.
2 James Dargan born c1814, and of Temple Street married Jane Walsh on 7 Sep 1839 at St Philip's
C of E, Liverpool. He was an engineer and worked with his brother William on the Waterford and
Limerick Railway line. He died at Thomas Street, Limerick on 6 Jun 1854 aged 40 and was interred
at Tipperary. Jane Dargan born circa 1818 died on 27 Nov 1885 at 59 Rathmines Road.
1 James Dargan born circa 1841 married Teresa Johnson daughter of Richard and Mary
Johnson from Mill Mount Avoca on 9 Jan 1866. James was a civil engineer and Teresa
was the granddaughter of Matthew Johnson who had discovered the mines of Tigroney
and Cronebane near Avoca, and the grand niece of Father Daniel Murray of Sheepwalk,
Avoca who became Archbishop of Dublin. James died 11 Feb 1873 aged 32 at Cork while
working on a railway project at Bandon. Teresa moved back to Millmount and lived with
her sister Margaret Johnson. She died there on 19 Jan 1929 age 86. She was buried at
Glasnevin.
1 Mary Dargan born 17 Jan 1767 at Millmount Avoca.
2 William Joseph Dargan born 10 Jan 1869 at 45 St Stephens Green, was a MD and
visiting Physician to St Vincent's Hospital. He married Argentinian born Teresa
Ronayne at the University Chapel, St Stephen's Green on 18 Feb 1903. They lived at
Stephens Green and by 1911 they had five children of whom three survived. William
died on 3 Oct 1944 at Milltown Park, Sandford and Teresa died 5 Feb 1950 at 85 Eglington
Road, Donnybrook.
1 Teresa Dargan born 25 Dec 1903 at St Stephens's Green. Ena was a teacher, writer
and broadcaster.
2 William Richard Cecil Dargan born 22 Nov 1904 at St Stephen's Green joined the
Jesuit order.
3 Kathleen Dargan born 4 Jan 1906 at St Stephens's Green died 25 Apr 1910 at
Avoca.
4 Edward Dargan born 9 May 1907 at St Stephen's Green.
5 Dermot Dargan born 19 Nov 1909 at 45 Stephens Green.
6 James Edward Francis Dargan born 8 Jul 1912 became a solicitor.
7 Thomas Dargan born 24 Jan 1915.
8 Daniel Dargan born circa 1916 joined the Jesuit order.
9 Herbert Dargan joined the Jesuit order and was rector at Stanislaus College for
Formation studies at Tullabeg.
4 Annie Dargan, youngest daughter born circa 1873 married Captain H J Harrington,
Wicklow Artillery (SDRA) son of John Harrington, JP, Canny Court, Brannockstown, Co
Kildare on 16 Jul 1886 at Avoca parish church.
1 Maura T Harrington put Millmount, Avoca up for sale in 1961.
2 Henry Harrington
2 Jane Dargan died unmarried after 1873.
3 William Dargan
4 John Dargan
3 Mary Dargan married James Boland of Mountmellick.
1 Thomas Boland born circa 1828 died age 21 in 1849 at Shammrock Lodge, Navan
2 James Boland married Margaret Walsh, daughter of Redmond Wash, Architect
in Limerick on 18 Jan 1853.
3 Fanny Boland married John Lalor 24 Jan 1865 at Mountmellick Parish Church.
4 Francis Boland born circa 1835 died 29 Mar 1860 at Navan.
5 Mary Anne Boland became a nun (Sister Mary Augustine).
6 John Boland became a priest.
7 Jane Boland, third daughter married John Rafter of Tullamore in Mountmellick on
24 Jan 1854.
4 Selina Dargan
5 Elizabeth Dargan married Eugene Crosby on 9 Feb 1825 in Carlow.
6 Thomas Dargan
1 John Dargan qualified as a civil engineer and immigrated to Canada in 1872.
* Dargan Headstone
Erected by Patrick Dargan in memory of his mother Sile(?) Dargan who departed this life
24th April 1801 aged 76 years. Lord have mercy on their souls Amen. And also his wife Elizabeth
Dargan who dept. this life Dec. the 24th 1813 aged 42 years and of the above Patrick Dargan who
departed this life (stone broken) aged 83 years. Also his children Michael, Damien, Bridget & Patrick
who died young.
© June Bow & Karen Poff – April 2017