Lucan — Lucan AND Pettycanon

Around the year 1185 the Ormond Deeds recorded that; 'Alard, son of William was the first feoffee of the manor of Leuekan [Lucan] and of all the other lands named in the charters in Ireland by the donation of King John, then Lord of Ireland : for King Richard his brother, and him then. Alard had a daughter who was his heir who was called Cecily de Langetot, and this daughter was married to Sir Baldwin de Coudrei, which Baldwin begat Fouke de Coudrei on this Cecily, and the said Fouke begat Sir Pires de Coudrei who now demands the land' (Curtis 1932, 4, No. 7). In the year 1203-04 'Werrick Pecchie [Peche] renders his account of 40 marks and a palfrey [war horse], for having the K.'s confirmation of his land of Liuican [Lucan] in Ireland' (Cal. doc. Ire., Vol. 1, 30, No. 192). In January of the same year the calendars recorded the 'Confirmation to Wyrrys Peche of Alard Fitz William's gift in fee of his land of Liuekan' (ibid. No. 197). The Urban Survey of Dublin (Bradley and King 1988, 251-3) recorded the following details about the medieval manorial borough of Lucan; 'Situated at the junction of the river Griffeen with the Liffey, Lucan is one of the few medieval boroughs in the county which does not have a history before the coming of the Normans and which was not founded by the archbishops of Dublin. It was initially granted to Alard FitzWilliam but by 1204 he had given it to Warrisius de Pech in whose family the manor and borough was to remain for much of the thirteenth century (Ball 1902-20, iv, 36).The first borough does not occur until the early fourteenth century but it is likely that the borough itself was established shortly after the Norman takeover. The Ormond deeds preserve document of 1316 in which David Styward granted to Robert de Notyngham: "one burgage in Lucan lying between the burgages formerly belonging to William Styward and Robert de Notton stretching in length from the high street (regia strata) of the town to the water of Avenlyffe" (Curtis 1932-43, 1, no. 518). This document is important because, despite some hints to the contrary (D'Alton 1838, 331), it indicates that the modern Main Street is on the site of its Predecessor. The settlement never seems to have been great economic importance and was essentially a manorial borough. During the later middle ages it was held by the FitzGerald earls of Kildare. Shortly after their fall from favour, in the aftermath of the Silken Thomas rebellion, it was bought by Sir William Sarsfield and it remained in the hands of his family until the middle of the seventeenth century. Dispossessed by Cromwell, however, the Sarsfields were not reinstated until the reign of Janes II, just in time, indeed, for Patrick Sarsfield to be created earl of Lucan. The village rose to prominence again in 1758 when a spa was discovered here and Lucan was much frequented as a health resort during the late eighteenth century. By the early nineteenth century, however, even this had declined and it was not until this century that Lucan began to expand as a dormitory town of Dublin. STREETS & STREET PATTERN The street plan of the borough was essentially linear and consisted simply of one Principal street, Main Street. The fourteenth century document quoted above makes it clear that the burgage plots stretched from the street back to the river and the 0.5. naps show a complementary pattern on the south side of the street. The parish church seems to have been located at the western end of the borough and to have been somewhat isolated from it. MARKET PLACE This would appear to have been linear and to have existed in the wide part of Main Street BRIDGE (DU017-016----) This is first mentioned, as far as we have been able to ascertain, in the seventeenth century (Ball 1902-20, iv, 43). The absence of flanking burgage plots along Bridge Street indicates that it is an insertion and was not part of the original pattern. MILL (DU017-019009-) A watermill is frequently mentioned in association with the manor of Lucan, for instance in the grant of the manor to Maurice, fourth earl of Kildare, in 1386 (D'Alton 1838 329). The manorial mill seems to have been located at Lutterelstown, however, rather than at Lucan (Curtis 1932-43, i, no 747). CASTLE As the centre of a manor Lucan would have had a castle which was probably located in the vicinity of the present Lucan House unless it is to be equated with the earthwork south of the town. The residential tower attached to the church has been mistaken by virtually all previous writers for the castle. Little is known of its history until the seventeenth century when, while it was in the possession of Sir Theophilus Jones, was described as one of the fairest houses in Co. Dublin, and it contained twelve hearths (Ball 1902-20, iv, 43)'. See attached Down Survey map of Newcastle Barony showing 'Lucan house' adjacent to the medieval road flanked on either side by a row of dwellings representing the medieval village of Lucan alongside the medieval parish church, courtesy of the Library of Trinity College. See attached Taylor's Map of Dublin showing the village of Lucan, the Old Mill, the Bridge (DU017-019007-) crossing the River Liffey. Taylor, J. 1816 Taylor's map of the environs of Dublin: extending 10 to 14 miles from the castle, by actual survey, on a scale of 2 inches to one mile. Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 8 may 2023