Dowling family of Eden Castle School
Education for boys was very important in the early18th century and there were many
fine private schools for boys in the local area, but towards the end of the century
we see the emergence of schools for girls. The Huguenots in Portarlington ran
both day and boarding schools and girls were being educated so that they could
find work. Some who had the means opened private schools, others hired
themselves out as tutors or governesses, or visited homes to give lessons in French.
Madam Le Bac and Miss Beauchant both had schools in Dublin city in the late
18th century and Mademoiselle Pontet, whose training of teachers spawned many
more schools, opened her first girls school at Clarendon Street in June 1794.
Mrs Dowling set up a boarding school for Female Education on Booterstown Lane in
1793. She professed to have been educated at Portarlington and to have acted as an
assistant at a French school there. She also advertised that her husband has been classically
educated and had resided in Paris for a number of years and was acting as superintendent
to the school.
The curriculum included French, English, Geography, use of globes, writing, accounting
and 'all kinds of fashionable work' basically craft work, such as tapestry, needlepoint
and grotto shell work which was all the rage. Looking back this may be seen as a
superficial education for girls providing little of depth and much of variety, it was just as
superficial for boys who memorised great passages of Latin & Greek which wasn't really
going to help them in business life but would certainly help them 'hold their own' in
polite society.
The school moved to Mount Merrion Avenue where it caused some issues for the
Rev Dionysius Dowling who also has a school (for boys) at Elmfield on Mount Merrion
Avenue. He was none too pleased and did his best to distance himself from Mrs Dowling,
at pains to let people know that Mrs Dowling was not his wife, and that her school had
nothing to do with his.
The school moved to Castle Dawson in 1802 and to Eden Castle in 1807; the house which Lord
Redesdale (Sir John Mitford - Lord Chancellor of Ireland) had just vacated. The demesne is on
the lands of Ardrinn, Kilmacud; a fifty acre site surrounded by a 10 foot wall. The school
remained there until 1817 but may have encountered some financial issues in 1811 as Mrs
Dowling pens an open letter stating that rumours of closure are unfounded and that she
is just reducing the number of students to improve 'comfort and elegance' and that whey
and sea bathing would still be available to students. 1817 brought further problems and her
husband Michael ended up as a creditor of the bankrupt Valentine Dowling. Eden Castle was put
up for rent and the hay on the land was confiscated and sold to offset unpaid rent.
We lose sight of the school until 1824 when we see the school listed in a Dublin Street Directory
as Elm Park Seminary in Ranelagh with Mademoiselles Hicks & Dempsey assisting Mrs Dowling.
Elm Park in Cullenswood (Ranelagh) was the home of Town Major Sirr in 1811. By 1837 Mrs
Dowling was deceased and the school was being run by Mrs Dowling's nieces, Miss Hicks and Miss
Eleanor Dempsey with Miss Roseanna Dowling now the owner of the school.
The school closed in 1857 and the contents are put up for sale.
© June Bow & Karen Poff – January 2019
Education for boys was very important in the early18th century and there were many
fine private schools for boys in the local area, but towards the end of the century
we see the emergence of schools for girls. The Huguenots in Portarlington ran
both day and boarding schools and girls were being educated so that they could
find work. Some who had the means opened private schools, others hired
themselves out as tutors or governesses, or visited homes to give lessons in French.
Madam Le Bac and Miss Beauchant both had schools in Dublin city in the late
18th century and Mademoiselle Pontet, whose training of teachers spawned many
more schools, opened her first girls school at Clarendon Street in June 1794.
Mrs Dowling set up a boarding school for Female Education on Booterstown Lane in
1793. She professed to have been educated at Portarlington and to have acted as an
assistant at a French school there. She also advertised that her husband has been classically
educated and had resided in Paris for a number of years and was acting as superintendent
to the school.
The curriculum included French, English, Geography, use of globes, writing, accounting
and 'all kinds of fashionable work' basically craft work, such as tapestry, needlepoint
and grotto shell work which was all the rage. Looking back this may be seen as a
superficial education for girls providing little of depth and much of variety, it was just as
superficial for boys who memorised great passages of Latin & Greek which wasn't really
going to help them in business life but would certainly help them 'hold their own' in
polite society.
The school moved to Mount Merrion Avenue where it caused some issues for the
Rev Dionysius Dowling who also has a school (for boys) at Elmfield on Mount Merrion
Avenue. He was none too pleased and did his best to distance himself from Mrs Dowling,
at pains to let people know that Mrs Dowling was not his wife, and that her school had
nothing to do with his.
The school moved to Castle Dawson in 1802 and to Eden Castle in 1807; the house which Lord
Redesdale (Sir John Mitford - Lord Chancellor of Ireland) had just vacated. The demesne is on
the lands of Ardrinn, Kilmacud; a fifty acre site surrounded by a 10 foot wall. The school
remained there until 1817 but may have encountered some financial issues in 1811 as Mrs
Dowling pens an open letter stating that rumours of closure are unfounded and that she
is just reducing the number of students to improve 'comfort and elegance' and that whey
and sea bathing would still be available to students. 1817 brought further problems and her
husband Michael ended up as a creditor of the bankrupt Valentine Dowling. Eden Castle was put
up for rent and the hay on the land was confiscated and sold to offset unpaid rent.
We lose sight of the school until 1824 when we see the school listed in a Dublin Street Directory
as Elm Park Seminary in Ranelagh with Mademoiselles Hicks & Dempsey assisting Mrs Dowling.
Elm Park in Cullenswood (Ranelagh) was the home of Town Major Sirr in 1811. By 1837 Mrs
Dowling was deceased and the school was being run by Mrs Dowling's nieces, Miss Hicks and Miss
Eleanor Dempsey with Miss Roseanna Dowling now the owner of the school.
The school closed in 1857 and the contents are put up for sale.
© June Bow & Karen Poff – January 2019