Old School House - Anyone know of this? Bray(Berryfield)

NobodyImportant

I took a wrong turn about 2 years ago and ended up outside a beautiful old house up near Greenstar/Roadstone. The house is visible from the N11 at the Enniskerry junction.

Google has it listed as "the old schoolhouse".

There appears to be nothing online about it. Does anyone know the history of this house?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=53.191148,-6.138439&spn=0.00423,0.011319&t=h&z=17

Enniskerryhist

Looks like it's St Valery. Did you get any photos?! Not sure of any school connection.

NobodyImportant wrote: »

I took a wrong turn about 2 years ago and ended up outside a beautiful old house up near Greenstar/Roadstone. The house is visible from the N11 at the Enniskerry junction.

Google has it listed as "the old schoolhouse".

There appears to be nothing online about it. Does anyone know the history of this house?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ll=53.191148,-6.138439&spn=0.00423,0.011319&t=h&z=17

Alun

The OSi map viewer maps.osi.ie is always a good one to try when trying to locate old houses etc. You can zoom in an area using either a modern street map or the (albeit rather old) aerial imagery, and then switch to one of the old historic maps once you've located what you're looking for. You can also then fade the modern street map in and out of view on top of your chosen historical map (the Historic 25" one is the best IME).

Here's the location you pinpointed on Google Maps, and it is indeed called St. Valery's.

http://maps.osi.ie/publicviewer/#V1,724257,717364,7,9

NobodyImportant

Thanks all, still very little online about the house itself, but you were right on the name.

Enniskerryhist

Yes hardly anything online, eg Buildings of Ireland. Nothing in Mark Bence-Jones' book either. One of the early residents was Joseph Cooper Walker, who spent his later years there (d. 1810). That might help in searching. One awkward thing in text searching is that it could be Valery or Valeri.

The house was one of a series of grand houses along what is now the N11 - Wingfield and Kilcroney houses are "next door". There is a painting by J Carr of St Valery demense with Sugar Loaf in the distance, which looks quite impressive.

This drawing appeared in Heffernan's Illustrated Plan of Bray, 1870.
https://twitter.com/enniskerry_hist/status/339657036646187008

All the best,
Michael

Casinoking

As usual with Google, they aren't exactly accurate on detail. "The Old Schoolhouse" is actually a different house altogether, it's to the right of the house you're talking about, right beside the N11.

recedite

Thats interesting, the OSI historical map shows the road going on past the house and over a bridge, and then on up the hill towards the present day Summerhill House Hotel. It seems to have been a more populated area in those days.
I presume Valery's Cross there at the nearby modern roundabouts has some connection with the house, or at least the name of it?

Selfheal

Hi there,

I've just today finished the very entertaining book by Peter Somerville-Large, called an Irish Childhood. His family moved to St. Valery after WW2 and there is a photo of the house in the book. There's a lot of detail on the history of the house too. Worth a read!

NobodyImportant

Thanks,

Pity its not available as an e-book. Seems to be on Amazon as a paperback for $9.28

Wicklowandy

Does anyone know much about the old house (the owners wife? once told me Cromwellian soldiers used it as a hunting lodge) at the bottom of Killarney Glen.

Crazy looking place, semi derelict, can't find any mention of it anywhere

mystika121

NobodyImportant wrote: »

Thanks,

Pity its not available as an e-book. Seems to be on Amazon as a paperback for $9.28

It's available from the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown libraries.

http://www.dlrcoco.ie/library/index.html

Just search for the author and then reserve it for collection.