Harristown, Naas South
Harristown (Irish: Baile Anraí)[1] is a townland in County Kildare on the River Liffey 2.5 miles (4.0 km) downstream from Kilcullen,[2] just north of Brannockstown[3] in the civil parish of Carnalway in the barony of Naas South.[1] It is the site of a former borough and manor, and Harristown Borough was a borough constituency sending two MPs to the Irish House of Commons before the Acts of Union 1800.[2][4] Harristown Common is a townland and former commonage north of Harristown proper and separated from it by the townlands of Dunnstown and Johnstown or Dunshane.
Harristown was a part of the demesne of Castlemartin House and Estate owned by the (Fitz)Eustace family, namesakes of nearby Ballymore Eustace.[3] Harristown Castle on the border of the Pale was fortified in the 15th century by Rowland FitzEustace, 1st Baron Portlester.[5] In the 17th century Harristown House was built near the castle by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, SirMaurice Eustace. In 1684 (regnal year 33),[6] Sir Maurice Eustace obtained a royal charter from Charles II incorporating Harristown as a borough.[2][4] The borough was a rotten borough with "not one house and but one tree inhabiting".[6] Its boundaries encompassed 100 acres[2][4] whereas the townland as a whole had 618 acres (250 ha). The 1684 charter also established a manor of Harristown, with a court leet, court baron and court of record for 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of land in the townlands of Harristown, Dunstown, Carnalway, Milltown and others.[2][4] After Maurice Eustace's death with no son, his estate was divided between three daughters, corresponding to Harristown, Mullacash and Carnalway, which last fell to the eldest daughter, Anne.[7]
Anne's son Eustace Chetwood[8] sold the estate to James FitzGerald, 1st Duke of Leinster, and his son William resold it in 1783 to John La Touche, who rebuilt Harristown House.[2][3][9] Authorised by an Act of the Parliament of Ireland, La Touche enclosed the grounds of the house, building the "New Bridge" over the Liffey to carry the redirected Naas–Dunlavin road[9] (now the R412). Once the borough was disenfranchised by the Act of Union, the corporate officers, who had no functions other than for parliament, were discontinued.[4] The Corporation Book covering 1781 to 1800 is in the National Library of Ireland.[10] In 1906 the Corporation Book from 1714 was in the library of Maurice FitzGerald, 6th Duke of Leinster at Carton House.[9]
In 1837, Samuel Lewis described Harristown as "an inconsiderable village", though there was an Irish Constabulary barracks there.[11] From 1886 to 1947 the Great Southern and Western Railway had a branch line from Naas to Tullow, which had a station at Harristown.[12] The ruins of Harristown Castle were demolished in 1884 to build a national school.[13] Harristown House was partially destroyed by fire in 1891[9] and rebuilt smaller by James Franklin Fuller.[14]
Townland | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1926–2006 | 2011 | 2016 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Harristown | 109 | 91 | 87 | 71 | 81 | 81 | 111 | 85 | No data | 78 | 86 |
Harristown Common | 55 | 71 | 70 | 89 | 110 | 86 | 47 | 42 | 11 | 17 |
References
- ^ a b "Harristown". Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Harristown". The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor-law, Franchise, Municipal and Ecclesiastical Arrangements, and Compiled with a Special Reference to the Lines of Railroad and Canal Communication, as Existing in 1844–45. Vol. Vol.II: D-M. A. Fullarton and Company. 1846. p. 295.
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suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Harristown House, Brannockstown, County Kildare, Ireland". History & Heritage. Kildare Community Network. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Baldwin, Henry (1835). "Harristown". In Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the municipal corporations in Ireland (ed.). First report; Appendix, Part I. Command papers. Vol. [23] 27 1. London: HMSO. p. 178.
{{cite book}}
: External link in
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|chapterurl=
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suggested) (help) - ^ Lyons, Mary Ann (2000). Church and Society in County Kildare, 1480-1547. Four Courts Press. p. 152. ISBN 9781851824595.
- ^ a b "Constituencies: Harristown". History of the Irish Parliament. Ulster Historical Foundation. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ Bunbury, Turtle. "La Touche of Harristown, Co. Kildare". www.turtlebunbury.com. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ (Later Eustace Chetwood Eustace.) Sadleir, Thomas Ulick (1912). "County Kildare Members of Parliament, 1559-1800: The Borough of Harristown". Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society. VII: 410. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ a b c d Young, Margaret F. (1912). "The LaTouche Family of Harristown, County Kildare". Journal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society. VII: 33–40. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ "Corporation Book of the Borough and Town of Harristown, Co. Kildare,". Catalogue. NLI. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ "Harristown (Kildare)". A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. libraryireland. 1837. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
- ^ "Growth of Transportation Networks in Carlow: Railways 3: Sallins-Baltinglass-Tullow". www.askaboutireland.ie. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ Murphy, Denis (1899–1902). "The Three Maurice Eustaces of the latter end of the seventeenth-century', JCKAS, iii, 7 (), pp ". textsJournal of the County Kildare Archaeological Society. III: 484–485. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
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: CS1 maint: date format (link) - ^ "Harristown House". Heritage. Kildare County Council. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
- ^ 1871 census Leinster p.230; 1901 census Kildare p.32; 1911 census Kildare p.30; "Census 2016 population for 50,117 Townlands" at Census 2016 Small Area Population Statistics