Marino Park
NAME Marino/Marino Park
AREA LOCATION Off Mount Merrion Avenue, entrance through The Elms.
MAP LOCATION OSI maps of 1838-1845 and 1898-1913 place it in the townland of Blackrock
and it is annotated as Marino House and Marino Park respectively.
GENERAL This was the home of the Rev R H Dixon, Rector of Booterstown, before
becoming the home of Frederick Maple, proprietor of the Maples Hotel in Kildare Street and it had
two gatelodges. The original house is thought to have been partially destroyed in a fire in the
1870's as water could not get there on time to save it all. A new front comprising a drawing and
dining room together with three bedrooms was built to the front. The house was originally on
13 acres in 1916 but approximately 10 acres were sold in the 1930's and the Iranian Embassy was
built. According to the Blackall sisters there was a stream and a little bridge in the grounds with a
date of 1760 incised.
The house became a source of controversy when the Blackall sisters, old frail and penniless, who
had lived their entire lives in this six-bedroomed, 19th-century Georgian house off Mount Merrion
Avenue were evicted and went to live in 'a basement flat on Blackrock's seafront' (the home of a
cousin) in 1998. Planning permission was refused to demolish the house, so it and outbuildings
were renovated and townhouses built in its grounds.
YEAR BUILT circa 1830
VALUATION In 1873 the valuation was 91 pounds and in the 1901 census it is noted as
having 11 rooms occupied by family.
ARCHITECT Unknown
SOURCES William Blackall, Thom’s directories, contemporaneous newspapers, OSI Maps
and NAI Census & Wills.
OCCUPANTS
1834 - 1857 Rev Robert Herbert Nixon
1857 - 1867 Dorothy Rose Nixon
1868 - 1870 Richard Warneford Boyle
1871 - 1873 William Lyons
1874 - 1877 Dowager Viscountess Mount Morres - Sarah De Montmorency
1878 Vacant
1879 - 1901 Frederick Maple
1901 - 1909 Miss Maple
1909 To Let
1910 - 1916 Francis Charles Kennedy
1916 - 1998 The Blackall family
1939 Davis Estates (Ireland) commence building
1991 - 1995 Sale of House to Chessington Ltd for £400K approved by the courts
2007 For sale quoting €3 Million
2021 For sale quoting €1,850,000
STAFF
1849 Alexander Meade - Gatekeeper
1869 Mr Clarke - Gardener
1901 Jane Corragan - General Domestic Servant
1911 Teresa Kelly -Cook
Tara? Black - Maid
1916 - 1924 Michael (Mick) Kearney - Chauffeur
CURRENT
STATUS Extant
CONTRIBUTOR
DATE © June Bow & Karen Poff July 2018, last updated March 2021
AREA LOCATION Off Mount Merrion Avenue, entrance through The Elms.
MAP LOCATION OSI maps of 1838-1845 and 1898-1913 place it in the townland of Blackrock
and it is annotated as Marino House and Marino Park respectively.
GENERAL This was the home of the Rev R H Dixon, Rector of Booterstown, before
becoming the home of Frederick Maple, proprietor of the Maples Hotel in Kildare Street and it had
two gatelodges. The original house is thought to have been partially destroyed in a fire in the
1870's as water could not get there on time to save it all. A new front comprising a drawing and
dining room together with three bedrooms was built to the front. The house was originally on
13 acres in 1916 but approximately 10 acres were sold in the 1930's and the Iranian Embassy was
built. According to the Blackall sisters there was a stream and a little bridge in the grounds with a
date of 1760 incised.
The house became a source of controversy when the Blackall sisters, old frail and penniless, who
had lived their entire lives in this six-bedroomed, 19th-century Georgian house off Mount Merrion
Avenue were evicted and went to live in 'a basement flat on Blackrock's seafront' (the home of a
cousin) in 1998. Planning permission was refused to demolish the house, so it and outbuildings
were renovated and townhouses built in its grounds.
YEAR BUILT circa 1830
VALUATION In 1873 the valuation was 91 pounds and in the 1901 census it is noted as
having 11 rooms occupied by family.
ARCHITECT Unknown
SOURCES William Blackall, Thom’s directories, contemporaneous newspapers, OSI Maps
and NAI Census & Wills.
OCCUPANTS
1834 - 1857 Rev Robert Herbert Nixon
1857 - 1867 Dorothy Rose Nixon
1868 - 1870 Richard Warneford Boyle
1871 - 1873 William Lyons
1874 - 1877 Dowager Viscountess Mount Morres - Sarah De Montmorency
1878 Vacant
1879 - 1901 Frederick Maple
1901 - 1909 Miss Maple
1909 To Let
1910 - 1916 Francis Charles Kennedy
1916 - 1998 The Blackall family
1939 Davis Estates (Ireland) commence building
1991 - 1995 Sale of House to Chessington Ltd for £400K approved by the courts
2007 For sale quoting €3 Million
2021 For sale quoting €1,850,000
STAFF
1849 Alexander Meade - Gatekeeper
1869 Mr Clarke - Gardener
1901 Jane Corragan - General Domestic Servant
1911 Teresa Kelly -Cook
Tara? Black - Maid
1916 - 1924 Michael (Mick) Kearney - Chauffeur
CURRENT
STATUS Extant
CONTRIBUTOR
DATE © June Bow & Karen Poff July 2018, last updated March 2021