The Priory, Stillorgan
NAME Stillorgan Abbey/The Priory
AREA
LOCATION Located on the intersection of Priory Drive and Priory Avenue, the
site of the Mount Merrion Pitch & Putt Club.
MAP OSI maps of 1838-1845 and 1898-1913 place it in the townland of Woodland
Location and it is annotated as Stillorgan Priory on both.
GENERAL An Elizabethan style house that is thought to have been built in 1833 close to
the site of Stillorgan Monastery. In 1842/5 it was for sale on 43 acres. It was described as a
mansion with a Gothic elevation. It contained spacious drawing rooms, vestibule and dining
room with communicating folding doors. It had several bedrooms and dressing rooms, coach
houses, stabling, farmyard &c, with a handsome gate entrance and lodge. The painting 'Trial
before the Doge of Venice' by Paolo Veronese was part of the contents which were auctioned
off in 1857. Henry Dungeon purchased the property from James Cox in 1872 for 4500 pounds,
an astronomical price at the time. In 1872 McCurdy & Mitchell, Architects undertook
alterations for Henry Dudgeon. It was for sale in 1920 described as a castellated two storey
residence on 40 acres with lawns, timbered grounds, conservatories, vineries, flower, fruit
and vegetable gardens. The house is thought to have been mainly unoccupied from the 1920s,
fell into dereliction and then was demolished in the late 1940s when the Priory estate was
developed. It had one entrance with a gatelodge which was on the N11 opposite to where
Oatland's College is today. In 1950 a CPO was issued on a portion of the plot (including the
gated entrance and lodge) by Dublin County Council to allow for the widening of the Bray Road.
YEAR BUILT circa 1833
VALUATION In 1912 the valuation was 224 pounds and in the 1911 census it is noted
as having 23 rooms occupied by family.
ARCHITECT Unknown, alterations by McCurdy & Mitchell in 1872.
SOURCES Thom’s directories, contemporaneous newspapers, NAI Census & Wills,
Registry of Deeds and OSI Maps.
OCCUPANTS
1784 John Joshua Allen
1784 Lease of land to Caleb Jenkin
1830 Lease of land from Charles La Grange to Anthony Richard Blake for 52 years
1830 - 1841 Rt Hon Anthony Blake
1841 - 1846 Peirce Mahony
1846 - 1867 Patrick Sweetman
1868 - 1872 James Cox
1872 - 1894 Henry J Dudgeon
1894 - 1895 Mrs Rose Dudgeon
1895 - 1920 Harry Dudgeon, Stockbroker
1920 For sale on 40 acres
1921 Vacant
1926 E W Hall
1946 - 1947 Priory estate built on 40 acres
1950 - 1958 Owed by Harwick Ltd and leased to John Sisk & Sons.
1955 George Spencer
1955 Edith Alma Johnson
1958 Clara Collins
1958 Leased by Mount Merrion (Church of St Thérèse)
1967 Mount Merrion Pitch & Putt opened on the site.
STAFF
1837 Patrick Carroll - Gardener
1849 William Staunton - Gate Keeper
1876 Mr & Mrs Campbell - Gardener and servant
1878 - 1883 Mr Kavanagh - Gardener
1901 Susan Hughes - Domestic Servant
Michael Burke - Farm Servant
Kate Keegan - Maid
Eliza Watts - House maid
Rose McCabe - Kitchen maid
John Young Dallas - Butler
Margaret Curran - Cook
1905 Hannah Smyth - Parlourmaid
1898 - 1920 John Tubbert - living at gatelodge
1911 John Nolan - Garden labourer living on site
1911 Janet Murray - Cook
Charlotte James - Waitress
James Giles - Butlerman
Sarah Braithwaite - Housemaid
Mary Woolahan - Kitchenmaid
1913 - 1917 Margaret Wright - Maid
CURRENT
STATUS Demolished in the 1950's
CONTRIBUTOR © June Bow/Karen Poff
DATE August 2017
NAME Stillorgan Abbey/The Priory
AREA
LOCATION Located on the intersection of Priory Drive and Priory Avenue, the
site of the Mount Merrion Pitch & Putt Club.
MAP OSI maps of 1838-1845 and 1898-1913 place it in the townland of Woodland
Location and it is annotated as Stillorgan Priory on both.
GENERAL An Elizabethan style house that is thought to have been built in 1833 close to
the site of Stillorgan Monastery. In 1842/5 it was for sale on 43 acres. It was described as a
mansion with a Gothic elevation. It contained spacious drawing rooms, vestibule and dining
room with communicating folding doors. It had several bedrooms and dressing rooms, coach
houses, stabling, farmyard &c, with a handsome gate entrance and lodge. The painting 'Trial
before the Doge of Venice' by Paolo Veronese was part of the contents which were auctioned
off in 1857. Henry Dungeon purchased the property from James Cox in 1872 for 4500 pounds,
an astronomical price at the time. In 1872 McCurdy & Mitchell, Architects undertook
alterations for Henry Dudgeon. It was for sale in 1920 described as a castellated two storey
residence on 40 acres with lawns, timbered grounds, conservatories, vineries, flower, fruit
and vegetable gardens. The house is thought to have been mainly unoccupied from the 1920s,
fell into dereliction and then was demolished in the late 1940s when the Priory estate was
developed. It had one entrance with a gatelodge which was on the N11 opposite to where
Oatland's College is today. In 1950 a CPO was issued on a portion of the plot (including the
gated entrance and lodge) by Dublin County Council to allow for the widening of the Bray Road.
YEAR BUILT circa 1833
VALUATION In 1912 the valuation was 224 pounds and in the 1911 census it is noted
as having 23 rooms occupied by family.
ARCHITECT Unknown, alterations by McCurdy & Mitchell in 1872.
SOURCES Thom’s directories, contemporaneous newspapers, NAI Census & Wills,
Registry of Deeds and OSI Maps.
OCCUPANTS
1784 John Joshua Allen
1784 Lease of land to Caleb Jenkin
1830 Lease of land from Charles La Grange to Anthony Richard Blake for 52 years
1830 - 1841 Rt Hon Anthony Blake
1841 - 1846 Peirce Mahony
1846 - 1867 Patrick Sweetman
1868 - 1872 James Cox
1872 - 1894 Henry J Dudgeon
1894 - 1895 Mrs Rose Dudgeon
1895 - 1920 Harry Dudgeon, Stockbroker
1920 For sale on 40 acres
1921 Vacant
1926 E W Hall
1946 - 1947 Priory estate built on 40 acres
1950 - 1958 Owed by Harwick Ltd and leased to John Sisk & Sons.
1955 George Spencer
1955 Edith Alma Johnson
1958 Clara Collins
1958 Leased by Mount Merrion (Church of St Thérèse)
1967 Mount Merrion Pitch & Putt opened on the site.
STAFF
1837 Patrick Carroll - Gardener
1849 William Staunton - Gate Keeper
1876 Mr & Mrs Campbell - Gardener and servant
1878 - 1883 Mr Kavanagh - Gardener
1901 Susan Hughes - Domestic Servant
Michael Burke - Farm Servant
Kate Keegan - Maid
Eliza Watts - House maid
Rose McCabe - Kitchen maid
John Young Dallas - Butler
Margaret Curran - Cook
1905 Hannah Smyth - Parlourmaid
1898 - 1920 John Tubbert - living at gatelodge
1911 John Nolan - Garden labourer living on site
1911 Janet Murray - Cook
Charlotte James - Waitress
James Giles - Butlerman
Sarah Braithwaite - Housemaid
Mary Woolahan - Kitchenmaid
1913 - 1917 Margaret Wright - Maid
CURRENT
STATUS Demolished in the 1950's
CONTRIBUTOR © June Bow/Karen Poff
DATE August 2017