Celbridge Abbey is located in
Celbridge
Celbridge (; ) is a town and townland on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is west of Dublin. Both a local centre and a commuter town within the Greater Dublin Area, it is located at the intersection of the ...
,
County Kildare
County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
in
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
.
History
The house was built by
Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who at the time was the
Lord Mayor of Dublin
The Lord Mayor of Dublin () is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The incumbent, since December 2024, is Fine Gael councillor Emma ...
, in 1697. It is, however, more famous as the childhood (1688–1707) and later adult (1714–23) home of his daughter,
Esther Vanhomrigh, (1688–1723), who was
Dean Swift's 'Vanessa'. Swift was known to travel frequently to Celbridge Abbey to see her. The poem in which Swift fictionalised her as
Vanessa, "
Cadenus and Vanessa", was written seven years before he visited her in Celbridge in 1720.
The house was acquired by
Thomas Marlay, the
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1723.
Thomas Marlay's son, Bishop
Richard Marlay, had the house rebuilt in the 1780s.
[ Meanwhile Thomas Marlay's daughter Mary was married to James Grattan, a member of the ]Irish House of Commons
The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...
. James' son, Henry Grattan (1746–1821), a renowned 18th Irish patriot politician, lived with his uncle Colonel Thomas Marlay at Celbridge Abbey between 1777 and 1780. He afterwards wrote: "Along the banks of that river, amid the groves and bowers of Swift and Vanessa, I grew convinced that I was right."
An occupant in the late 19th century was Colonel Gerald Dease, a Catholic nobleman who entertained the Empress of Austria and later Prince Henry of Prussia during their visits to Ireland.
Since 1952, the house has been owned and managed by the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God
The Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, officially the Hospitaller Order of the Brothers of Saint John of God (abbreviated as OH), are a Catholic religious order founded in 1572. In Italian language, Italian they are also known commonly ...
, providing a range of Respite, Residential, Day Services and Early Services for people with an intellectual disability.
Rock Bridge
The rock bridge in Celbridge Abbey grounds is the oldest stone bridge across the River Liffey
The River Liffey (Irish language, Irish: ''An Life'', historically ''An Ruirthe(a)ch'') is a river in eastern Ireland that ultimately flows through the centre of Dublin to its mouth within Dublin Bay. Its major Tributary, tributaries include t ...
.
See also
* List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Kildare)
Notes
External links
St. John of God Community Services - Liffey Services
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Houses completed in 1697
Celbridge
Houses in County Kildare
Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God Order
1697 establishments in the British Empire
1690s establishments in Ireland