My wife's ancestors - Fitzwilliam - Contents
The Lodge, Mount Merrion House
The Lodge and stables were built by the 5th Viscount in 1711. This is about as old as a private house in Dublin will get. The starting point for "ordinary" buildings in Ireland is 1691. Due to the troubled state of the country, there are very few unfortified buildings in the whole of Ireland before that date.
The front door originally faced S onto the avenue. It has since been turned into another window.
Mount Merrion House (the 3 blocks) was acquired in 1935 by the Catholic church
from the Pembroke descendants.
The Lodge was converted
into a Catholic chapel,
dedicated to St Thérèse of Lisieux
on 17 May 1936.
Crosses added on the roof.
The front door (facing S) was sealed up in favour of entrances at the ends.
The Catholic parish of Mount Merrion and Kilmacud
split off from
Dundrum parish
29 April 1948.
The chapel (the Lodge)
was superseded by the grand new church beside it 1956,
blessed and opened by
Archbishop McQuaid
on 19 February 1956.
The parish of Mount Merrion
split off from Mount Merrion and Kilmacud
in 1964.
The main block
of Mount Merrion House (behind the Lodge)
was demolished around 1976,
and a new Community Centre built on the site 1979.
The Lodge became a run-down youth centre,
attached to the modern Community Centre.
By the 1990s, the Lodge was just a storeroom,
in terrible condition.
The building had been brutally covered over with a modern rough plaster.
There was a plan to demolish it 1998,
but after objections by An Taisce and others,
it was saved.
It was restored
and opened as a new Community Centre 2003,
joined to the existing Community Centre.
It is still owned by the Catholic parish.
Opened by
President Mary McAleese
16th May 2003.
The inside is modern, but the outside has been nicely restored, with the 1711 stone over the door. The main room has been named "The Fitzwilliam Room". There is also a "Titania Room". The ancient vaulted wine cellars still survive underneath.
The Lodge (the old building of Mount Merrion House), in bad condition, 1999.
Note crosses on the roof.
The Lodge, 1999.
The Lodge, after restoration, 2004.
Note crosses on the roof have now been removed. Note 1711 stone is now mounted in wall.
See full size.
The Lodge, 2010.
See full size.
From here.
The 1711 stone
After the main block and the RHS block of the stables were demolished in the 1970s, an old stone with the date "1711" was taken and built into the new wall in front of the Community Centre.[Ball, vol.2, 1903] says it was the stables that bore this date:
"In its style of architecture the original house resembled the existing stables, which bear the date 1711"so this stone was probably taken from the RHS block of the stables when it was demolished - rather than taken from the main block, which we think was newer.
In winter 2002-03 this stone was removed from the wall and mounted above the old (S) front door of the Lodge (now a window) as part of the restoration.
The stone with the date "1711" at Mount Merrion. Photos 1999.
The 1711 stone now mounted in the wall of the Lodge, photo 2010.
See full size.
From here.
- Archdiocese of Dublin,
Link-Up,
Issue 32,
August 2003
- Parish Centre a new chapter for historic building by Bill Maxwell
Return to
Mount Merrion House.
