KILTERNAN

KILTERNAN, a parish, in the half-barony of RATHDOWN, county of DUBLIN, and province of LEINSTER, 6 ¾ miles (S. by E.) from Dublin, on the road to Enniskerry; containing 913 inhabitants. This parish, which joins the county of Wicklow at the remarkable pass called the Scalp, comprises 3190 ¾ statute acres, as applotted under the tithe act: the land is rocky and mountainous, abounding with heath, and there is a considerable quantity of waste, but the system of agriculture is improving; there is some good bog. It abounds with remarkably fine granite, which is quarried for building, flagging, and other uses; great numbers are employed in cutting the stone on the spot, which is afterwards sent to Dublin.

The principal seats are Springfield, the residence of T. Thompson, Esq., a handsome modern mansion, commanding a fine view of the two Sugar Loaf mountains and the adjacent country; Glancullen, of C. Fitz-Simon, Esq., M. P. for the county, finely situated in a handsome demesne, surrounded with interesting scenery; Kingstown Lodge, of J. Brennan, Esq., a handsome villa with an Ionic portico, in tastefully disposed grounds; Kilternan House, formerly belonging to the monks of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, and now the property of R. Anderson, Esq., commanding a fine view of the hill of Howth and Killiney bay; Kilternan Cottage, of R. D. Dwyer, Esq.; Kingstown House, of the Rev. — McNamara; Jamestown, of J. Rorke, Esq.; and Fountain Hill, of B. Shaw, Esq.

Part of the Three Rocks mountain is in this parish, which abounds with boldly diversified and strikingly majestic scenery. The mountains at Glancullen abound with grouse. On the road to Enniskerry, and within two miles of that beautiful village, is the Scalp, a deep natural chasm in the mountain, forming a narrow defile with lofty and shelving ramparts on each side, from which large detached masses of granite of many tons weight have fallen; on each side large masses of detached rock are heaped together in the wildest confusion, apparently arrested in their descent, and threatening every moment to crush the traveller by their fall. On entering the ravine from Dublin, the Great Sugar Loaf mountain appears to close up the egress, but on advancing the view expands and becomes exceedingly beautiful, embracing the two mountains of that name, Bray Head, and the fine country in the neighbourhood. There are a cotton and a paper mill, each employing about 40 persons. A twopenny post has been established at the small village of Golden Ball, which is partly within the parish.

The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Dublin, united to that of Kilgobbin, and in the patronage of the Archbishop and the Archdeacon, the former having one and the latter two presentations; the rectory is impropriate in Sir Compton Domville, Bart., C. Fitz-Simon, Esq., and Mrs. Anderson.

The tithes amount to £186. 3. 8., of which £66. 1. 7. is payable to Sir C. Domville, £63. 11. 8. to Mr. Fitz-Simon, £9. 18. 11. to Mrs. Anderson, and £46. 11. 6. to the vicar; the gross tithes of the benefice are £196. 11. 6. The glebe-house was built by a gift of £450 and a loan of £50 from the late Board of First Fruits, in 1816; the glebe comprises 14 acres of profitable land. The church, a handsome edifice in the later English style, was erected in 1826, at an expense of £1900, of which £900 was a gift from the late Board of First Fruits, £500 from the late Lord Powerscourt, and £500 raised by assessment; the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have recently granted £181 for its repair.

In the R. C. divisions the parish forms part of the union of Sandyford and Glancullen, at which latter place is a neat chapel with a burial-ground. At Glancullen a monastery was founded in 1835, on a piece of ground given by Mr. Fitz-Simon. About 200 children are taught in two public schools, of which one at Glancullen is supported by the National Board, and one at the Scalp by subscription. There are some remains of the ancient parish church, a picturesque ruin of the earliest ages; there are several raths, and in the demesne of Kilternan House is a cromlech. The Rev. Father O'Leary composed several of his works while on a visit with the Fitz-Simon family, at Glancullen, in this parish.