Ardclough

History

The earliest evidence of human habitation at Ardclough was the discovery of a flint dated to 4800–3600BC, at Castlewarden below Oughter Ard Hill, rare for a dry-land location from the time. Lyons Hill was the inauguration site and base for 10 Uí Dúnchada kings of Leinster. The Battle of Glen Mama, where Brian Boru defeated Máel Mórda king of Leinster and Sitric Silkbeard King of Dublin in 999, is believed to have taken place on the Dublin side of Oughterard Hill. The area was accorded its own place-legend in the Dindsenchas, Liamuin. Lyons subsequently became home to the Aylmer, Tyrrell and Lawless families. There are five medieval churches and three castles in the area. Most important is Oughter Ard, a seventh-century monastery associated with saints Briga (feast day 21 January) and Derchairthinn (feast day 8 March) and site of a round tower. Recent research has estimated that the ruined church there dates to 1350, not 1609 as previously believed. It was the site of a Royal Manor. Whitechurch, (Ecclesia Alba, named for the Carmelite order) was granted in 1320, and enfifed in 1508. A single headstone is the only reminder of the church of Castledillon, (1000), once a parish of its own. The graveyard beside another disappeared church at Clonaghlis, (pre 1206) is still in use and is associated with female saints Fedhlim and Mughain. Castlewarden (c1200) church has disappeared. Reeves Castle, on the Celbridge road, was built in the 14th century. A mass house built below Oughter Ard hill in 1714 became the site of the first modern Catholic church in 1810 and a school in 1839. Lyons parish was united with Oughterard in 1541 and with Kill in 1693. The centre of the parish moved to Kill in 1823. The former Lyons parish church (built 1810, refurbished 1896) was…