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About
Rathfarnham Rathfarnham Castle After the Desmond Rebellion, the land was confiscated and subsequently became available for purchase. A Yorkshire gentleman, by the name of Adam Loftus bought the land. Arriving in Ireland as a chaplain to the Earl of Essex, he went on to become the Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral and later Archbishop of Dublin. Loftus built Rathfarnham Castle towards the end of the sixteenth century, although very little is known about its actual construction. When Loftus died in 1605, the Castle was passed on to his descendants, before eventually being sold to pay off debts. The Castle then lay dormant for most of the nineteenth century, before being bought by the Jesuits in 1913 as a centre for university students. Thriving under their ownership for more than seventy years, the cost of upkeep proved too much for the Jesuits, forcing them to sell to a developer. A preservation order was obtained in 1986. Today, guided tours of the castle are available between May and October. With eighteenth century interiors by Sir William Chambers and James 'Athenian' Stuart, the castle was declared a National Monument and currently invites visitors to experience tantalizing glimpses of layers of the Castle's earlier existence uncovered during research. (Conservation works are ongoing at the site).
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Throughout
the last four centuries, Rathfarnham Castle has overseen some dramatic
changes in the area, beginning in 1199 with the granting of Rathfarnham
lands to Milo le Brett. Le Brett's ancestors leased the land to various
families, one of whom was a Danish family named Harolds. It was this
very family who gave their name to Harolds Cross and Harolds Grange.
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