Roebuck (), also originally known as "Rabuck", is a

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

and the name of a former estate in the

baronies Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and Rathdown in Ireland. The townland incorporates roughly all the land in the triangle between

Clonskeagh Clonskeagh or Clonskea (; , meaning "meadow of the Crataegus monogyna, Whitethorn"), is a small southern suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The district straddles the River Dodder. Location and access The district is adjacent to ...

, Dundrum and

Mount Merrion Mount Merrion () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is roughly 7 kilometres (5 mi) south of Dublin city centre and is situated on and around the hill of the same name. Location and access Mount Merrion is 3 kilometres (2 mi) southw ...

. Historically significant buildings which exist (or existed) in the area include Mountainville House, Mount Anville, St. Thomas's Church, Moorfield, Mount Dillon, Castleview, Owenstown House, Roebuck Hill, Hermitage House, Friarsland House, Prospect Hall, Roebuck Lodge, Bellefield, Roebuck Park, Belfield House and Harlech House. Roebuck became established as a location shortly after the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...

(from 1169). In the 13th century, the area was owned by

Fromund Le Brun Fromund le Brun (died 1283) was a cleric and judge in thirteenth-century Ireland who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He lost a long battle to become Archbishop of Dublin, due largely to his notorious pluralism (i.e. his holding of multiple bene ...

, the

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

Castle

In 1261, the area around Roebuck was owned by

, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and a castle was built there in the 13th century. In 1466, his descendant Elizabeth le Brun married Robert Barnewall, 1st Baron Trimlestown. In 1509, John Barnewall, 3rd Baron Trimlestown who was later to become

, is recorded as living at the castle. The origins of the modern castle are said to have been in the building of a castle by Robert Barnewall, 5th Baron Trimlestown sometime in the 16th century. The castle was badly damaged in the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 was an uprising in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, initiated on 23 October 1641 by Catholic gentry and military officers. Their demands included an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and ...

. The Civil Survey of 1654-56 noted that the lands of 'Rabuck' extended to 500 acres. It was pictured in a ruinous condition by

Gabriel Beranger Gabriel Beranger (1725–1817) was a Dutch artist, known for his works showing Irish antiquities. Life Beranger was born in Rotterdam on 9 March 1725, as the son of Henry Beranger and Marie le Duc/Anne Marie Leduc. His parents, who had married in ...

around 1768. Writing in 1781, the antiquarian Austin Cooper describes a large L-shaped castle with an inscribed stone in a window of the north west angle which featured the arms of the Trimblestown family.

Later rebuilding

Georgian remodelling

The main 16th century castellated house was substantially remodelled for Thomas Barnewall, 13th Baron Trimlestown between 1788–94 to a design by the architect Samuel Sproule. Some of the plastering of the new house was completed by the stuccodore Vincent Waldré. It was sold by Nicholas Barnewall, 14th Baron Trimlestown, to James Crofton, an official of the Irish Treasury, in around 1800.''Origins of the Belfield Campus and UCD's Period Houses Map and Guide''.
University College Dublin, Dublin, 2012.

Other Georgian House

The surgeon Solomon Richards also acquired land in the area of the estate known later from 1856 as Roebuck Grove or Whiteoaks from Baron Trimlestown in 1812 and the Georgian house was later occupied by his eldest son John Goddard Richards. It appears that

Michael Stapleton Michael Stapleton (born Dublin, in Dublin, Ireland, in 1747, died 8 August 1801, in Dublin) is regarded as having been the most skilled Stucco, stuccodore working in the neoclassical or Robert Adam, "Adam" style that dominated Dublin interior dec ...

may have been involved in some of the interior stucco work. This Georgian house was demolished by UCD in 1980. It was also sometimes called Grove House.

Victorian remodelling

The estate was acquired by the Westby family in 1856 who further developed the current castle building in what was then a fashionable

neo-gothic style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. In the 1870s Edward Perceval Westby is recorded as owning 67 acres in the area. He was

High Sheriff of Clare The High Sheriff of Clare was a High Sheriff title. Records show that the title was in existence from at least the late 16th century, though it is not used today in the modern Republic of Ireland. The title existed within County Clare in the west ...

in 1854. The three-storey Victorian Gothic porch with a battlemented gable was added around 1874 while there was said to have been a greenhouse added by Richard Turner at some stage in the 19th century. Francis Vandeleur Westby died on 19 September 1930 while his wife Louie died later at the house on 27 May 1943. The house was then sold at auction by Alan & Townsend and acquired by the Little Sisters of the Poor who owned the building until the 1980s. In 1985, the Sister sold 10 acres around the castle to UCD for £800,000. Later in 1986, UCD acquired the castle building and 10 acres for £620,000 and it was adapted for teaching. The building was used by the school of law until 2013 when a new dedicated Sutherland School of Law building was constructed closer to the main campus.

References

External links

*
Barnewall family
{{coord missing, County Dublin Townlands of County Dublin University College Dublin Castles in County Dublin