See our outings page for the 2025 outings programme –

NOTE: – The first of our two Short Outings is to Merrion Square on Saturday morning 17th May at 11:00 am. A guided walk around this area of the city with Michael O’Flaherty 

THE NEXT HISTORY CLUB   MEETING WILL BE ON TUESDAY MAY 20th 2025- IN THE FOXROCK PARISH PASTORAL CENTRE AT 20:00

SHORT TALK: –IVEAGH TRUST DUBLIN BATHS AND BATHHOUSES  

Speaker –  Padraig Laffan

This talk will explore the Iveagh Trust and the Dublin Baths. Founded by Edward Cecil Guinness in 1890, The Iveagh Trust is the oldest housing charity in Ireland. In 1909 the Dublin Baths opened and in addition to having a swimming pool, they were also equipped with private hot and cold wash baths, eighteen for men and nine for women, which were “arranged on opposite sides of the buildings” that enforced the segregation of the sexes. Furthermore, in providing for modesty, forty-seven changing rooms were installed. At the south end of the bath complex were shower baths, footbaths and lavatories. This end also housed the washhouse which was equipped with “washing, wringing and mangaling machines, together with a drying closet of a new design for the sole use of the baths”. For the staff, there was an instructor’s box, a towel store, a workshop and staff lavatories. Padraig has some great stories to tell of this institution

FULL TALK: – JAMES TISSOT’S MUSE – KATHLEEN NEWTON

Speaker – Patricia O’Reilly

Patricia O’Reilly has written a novel, A Type of Beauty, on Kathleen Irene Ashburnham Newton (née Kelly; 1854–1882) who was an Irish-British model, best known for her many sittings with the French artist James Tissot. Her artistic relationship with Tissot quickly turned into a romantic one, and the two lived together, representing themselves as a married couple, for the rest of her life, which was cut short by tuberculosis. She modelled for Tissot constantly throughout their time together, and Tissot’s biographers remembered her as his muse. This talk will be a visual feast of the many paintings by James Tissot of Kathleen.

 

THE DLRCC SPRING OF HERITAGE PROGRAMME WILL HAVE A HISTORY CLUB TALK ON MONDAY MAY 26th 2025- IN THE LIBRARY AT DEANSGRANGE AT 18:30

TALK: – AN INTRODUCTORY TALK OF THE HISTORY OF FOXROCK

Speaker – MYLES REID

Foxrock, or in Irish, Carrig an tShionnaigh, is in the civil parish of Kill in the barony of Rathdown. It has been recorded in the place names records by Liam Price as ‘Clonkeen now generally called Foxrock and this is quite a modern name’. The placenames record notes that it is also called Cnoch Shionnaigh, or anglicised as Knockshinna. The old Gaelic area, which Foxrock is part of, was called Clonkeen. This was part of the wide, flat valley, with the ground rising gently towards the ridges of Rochestown Avenue on the east and Brennanstown, Brighton and Torquay Roads above the N11 on the west. The ‘Clon’ portion of the name Clonkeen tells us that the area was a fertile clearing, a meadow, surrounded by boggy ground, while the ‘caoin’ element points to a pleasant, gentle, and congenial ambience in the valley. The area that we call Foxrock is either the smaller townland area, the wider parish area or the even larger Dublin 18 postal area.

ANOTHER HISTORY CLUB TALK ON MONDAY JUNE 23rd 2025- IN THE LIBRARY AT DEANSGRANGE AT 18:30

TALK: – OUR TOWNLANDS

Speaker – Padraig Laffan

Townlands correspond to ancient subdivisions of the land extending back to Gaelic times. They were only officially recognised  in the 1800s. In the past many people would not have travelled much beyond their townlands. In our area are many townlands which Padraig will bring us on a journey around these.

Admission for Non- Members is EUR 5.00

NEW PUBLICATION – MAY 2025

Holy Year Oratory, Cornelscourt 1975-2025 – Fifty Years of Service

by Tommy Lyons (R.I.P.), Tony Keane.

In 1976, before the Holy Year of 1975, Archbishop Dermot Ryan set up a Commission of Laity to look at the church’s organisation in the Diocese. One suggestion was setting up a caravan in a shopping centre to have a priest attend for counselling and confessions. The elder Ben Dunne was enthusiastic about this project and firstly two mobile homes were set up in the car park of Dunnes Stores Cornelscourt called Holy Year Oratory and mass and services commenced in 1975. With various building, road widening for the N11, etc. The Dunne family had the present purpose built Oratory constructed in 1992. Now 50 years since the first Oratory started, the services are still going strong.

Annual Membership Fee

The annual membership covers from September 2024 to July 2025 and is €20. This entitles you to 8 talks, free to our two short summer outings and preference for places on our full day summer outings.  Please renew this as soon as possible to help us manage the club’s running expenses.

See the “Annual Membership Subscription” page for details on how to pay.

  Our email is: info@foxrocklocalhistory.ie  

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TALKS – OUTINGS PLANNED FROM  MAY 2025 to MAY 2026

( The talks are on the third Tuesdays of the month in the Foxrock Parish Pastoral Centre Hall  )

 

2025-26 Season	TALK	SPEAKER
Sat May 17th	Short Outing	Merrion Square area walk @ 11:00 am
Sat 24th May	Short Outing	The Little Oratory Dun Laoghaire @ 11:00 am
Monday May 26th	NOTE – VENUE DEANSGRANGE LIBRARY  AT 18:30  DLRCC SPRING – SUMMER OF HERITAGE PROGRAMME	An Introductory History of the history of Foxrock SPEAKER – Myles Reid
Thurs 19th June	All Day Outing	A train trip and walking tour of Cobh
Monday June 23rd	NOTE – VENUE DEANSGRANGE LIBRARY  AT 18:30  DLRCC SPRING – SUMMER OF HERITAGE PROGRAMME	Our Townlands SPEAKER – Padraig Laffan
Tuesday Sept 16th	To be announced	SPEAKER – Rob Goodbody
Tuesday Oct 21st	Cottage Industries in the Rural Economy	SPEAKER –Prof. Liam Downey
Tuesday  Nov 18th	A.G.M. Followed by:-    Digging up the Raj in the Attic.	SPEAKER –Shabnam Vasisht
Tuesday  DEC t.b.a	A Xmas item
Tuesday Jan 20th 2026	The Shooting of Alan Bell who went looking for Michael Collins’ Funds	SPEAKER –  Jim Scannell
Tuesday Feb 17th	A History of Lifeboats in Dublin Bay	SPEAKER – Cormac Lowth
Tuesday Mar 17th	HALL CLOSED – BANK HOLIDAY – No talk for March
Tuesday APR 21st	A People’s History of Dun Laoghaire – Rathdown	SPEAKER – Deirdre Nuttall
Tuesday May 19th	To be announced
May	Short Outing
May	Short Outing
June	Full Day  Outing
Tuesday

 

All our meetings are held in the Foxrock Pastoral Centre, which is at the junction of the N11 and Kill Lane. We meet on the third Tuesday of every month between September and May. The meetings start at 20:00 with an introduction, this is then followed by the main talk. After the talk there is an opportunity for questions and answers. Then after, the vote of thanks, tea and biscuits are served and you can get a chance to meet the speakers and ask questions you may have.

 

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