THE HISTORY OF GREYSTONES

The first settlement in the Greystones area was the medieval Rathdown village, which was a laid-out village protected by Rathdown Castle, less than a kilometre north of Greystones Harbour. The barony based on this settlement, the enormous Barony of Rathdown, stretched from Delgany to Merrion Gates in Dublin.

‘Noted fishing place’

The first mention of Greystones appears in a map of Wicklow in 1760. There, it appears as ‘Gray Stones’ (sometimes ‘The Gray Stones’). By 1795 Greystones is described as a ‘noted fishing place’. In 1800 Robert Fraser describes Greystones as having a natural rock stretching into the sea, creating a natural harbour.  It was recorded at this time as having three half-decked vessels with eighteen men and thirty-one open sail boats, with eighteen men working the harbour.

When Dr Urwick, a minister of the York Street Congregational Chapel, spent the Sabbath in Greystones, he would conduct a service in one of the cottages, and also preached in the open air at the flagstaff. He described Greystones in 1830 as consisting of “two dozen cottages and a coastguard station”. In 1837 Greystones was described as a small fishing hamlet, with a coastguard station, then located at Blacklion. A harbour was being considered at this time.

In 1837 a school is recorded in Greystones that was supported by subscription. In the 1840s a school was built in Blacklion at the top of what would later be named Church Lane.

The Railway

Greystones changed dramatically with the coming of the railway. Renowned engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was in charge of building the scenic line from Bray to Greystones. The line was opened in 1855 with the running of a train from Harcourt Street station to Greystones, full of dignitaries. The station opened in 1856.

This was the impetus for the development of the town, with the building of houses on Church Road, Trafalgar Road and Bayswater Terrace (at the harbour) from the 1860s. These roads were laid out by the La Touche family of Bellevue, on land they had acquired prior to 1791, which stretched from  Rathdown Upper  to where the railway station is located today.

Growth

In 1861 Greystones had a population of 238, which had grown to 355 by 1871. By 1881 Greystones had its own Post Office, and two schools. By 1891 the population of Greystones had grown to 516 and had now at least one hotel. In 1910 Greystones had population of 900, of whom two-thirds were Protestant. The Church of Ireland had been enlarged four times since it was built in 1857 in order to accommodate the growing summer congregations.

Greystones had many visitors in the summer period and by 1920 there were at least five hotels. This included the Grand Hotel (later known as the La Touche Hotel) built in 1894.

The first big housing development came in the 1890’s with the building of the Burnaby Estate, located near Greystones Railway Station. It was instigated by Alfred Wynne, the land agent of the Hawkins Whitshed estate, and named after the first husband of Elizabeth Hawkins Whitshed, the noted adventurer and soldier Frederick Burnaby. It was first mentioned in 1880, was completed by 1905, and is one of the first housing estates to be built in Ireland.

Today Greystones has grown from a small seaside village to being declared a town in 1984, to a current population of 18,000. Over-development has unfortunately meant that surrounding villages Killincarrig and Blacklion have been consumed, with Delgany now in danger of the same fate.

Killincarrig

Killincarrig was built prior to Greystones and had a working flour Mill, one of Ireland oldest Cherry Orchards and an Elizabethan manor House known today as Killincarrig Castle of which the ruins still stand. It is reported that Oliver Cromwell stayed several nights at Killincarrig Castle. In 1641 Killincarrig Village had a temporary barracks to protect the property of local residents. A brewery was recorded  in Killincarrig in 1815.

The village’s local landowner was the Hawkins Whitshed family, who owned the nearby Killincarrick House. This family home was demolished at the end of the 19th century, after the construction of a new house for the Hawkins Whitshed family, closer to Greystones village.

Blacklion

Blacklion gets its name from a coastal road connecting Bray to Wicklow, built by Irish chieftains prior to the Norman invasion, called Bealach Laighean ( the Way of Leinster, Leinster Way).This road was afterwards  used by the Normans as a military road.

Blacklion contains what is probably the area’s oldest inhabited house, which is pre- 1760.  It was previously recorded as Blacklion Inn, today it is a veterinary clinic, known as Blacklion House.

Blacklion was where the first coastguard station was located in this area, with sweeping views of the coastline.  It was at Blacklion that the first RC church in the area was built. It opened for worship in 1867.

Greystones Harbour, 1800s
Another Pictorial History of Greystones, 1870-1990, A collection of old photographs compiled by Derek Paine, Martello Press, 1994, page 54.
Fishermans' cottages along sea-front, showing storm damage
Irish Times archive, photo c. 1930.
Early Greystones, very little development along sea front. Lifeboat house in foreground.
Pictorial History of Greystones, 1855-1955, A collection of old photographs, compiled by Derek Paine, Martello Press, 1993, page 112.
Rush hour on Church Road
Old postcard.
Bygone days - fishing boats at the old harbour.
Pictorial History of Greystones, 1855-1955, A collection of old photographs, compiled by Derek Paine, Martello Press 1993, page 102.
Early Greystones - this site on Trafalgar Road was destined to become the Grand Hotel, later known as the La Touche Hotel.
Pictorial History of Greystones, 1855-1955, A collection of old photographs, compiled by Derek Paine, Martello Press 1993, page 17.
Old Map of the town, only a handful of buildings
Courtesy of C. Love.
Growing population in evidence - summer at the old harbour
Old postcard.
Growing population - cars vying for parking spaces on Mill Road, majestic Small Sugarloaf perfectly aligned
Old postcard.
The Burnaby Estate - one of the first housing estates in the country.
Pictorial History of Greystones, 1855-1955, A collection of old photographs, compiled by Derek Paine, Martello Press, 1993, page 51.
Charlotte Sophie, Countess Bentinck, her life and times, 1715-1800, Volume II, Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond, Hutchinson & Co., London, 1912, page 236.
This dividing-wall, still visible at the seafront, marks the boundary between Greystone's two main estates - Hawkins-Whitshed (Burnaby) to south, and La Touche to the north.
Image by C. Love
Old harbour - with growing town behind.
Another Pictorial History of Greystones, 1870-1990, A collection of old photographs, compiled by Derek Paine, Martello Press, 1994, page 24.
Killincarrig - once a separate village, now swallowed up by a sprawling Greystones
The neighbourhood of Dublin, Its topography, antiquities and historical associations, Weston St. John Joyce, W. H. Gill & Son, Dublin, 1921, page 95.
'Black Lion Inn', now Blacklion house, Veterinary Practice
Image by C. Love
St. Killian's Church, Blacklion.
Image by C. Love
Old RIC Barracks
Image by C. Love

Comments about this page

  • Hi All,
    We live in a cottage at the top of Windgates.. would anyone have any photos or history about this area?
    Many thanks.

    By Cormac (09/10/2022)
  • How did Pigs Hollow get its name?

    By Siobhan (26/04/2022)
  • Fantastic information! Thanks!

    By Adam Calihman (14/12/2021)
  • Hi Pauline,
    Thank you for your enquiry. The bathing place was previously known as ‘Lady’s Cove’ and has been used as a venue for open-air cinema. It’s difficult to pin-point exactly when the names ‘Lady’s Cove’ and ‘The Cove’ first came to be used.

    By john Harrington (12/06/2021)
  • How long has the bathing place (behind the La Touche hotel) been known as
    “The Cove”?

    By Pauline (10/06/2021)

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