Name changes of Killiney and Ballybrack houses over the years

=== Introduction ===
Tracing the names of the owners and occupiers of the larger houses of Killiney and Ballybrack is greatly helped by the listings provided in Thom’s and other Directories. Thom’s Irish Almanac and Official Directory was first published in 1844 and grew over time to include among others, a street directory for Dublin, a wide variety of information, events, listings and statistics on the United Kingdom and Ireland. Along with other similar directories, including The Post Office Directory and Pettigrew & Oulton’s Dublin Directory, we are provided with a rich and detailed annual listing for the districts of Killiney and Ballybrack.
A typical listing, as per the example shown here from 1852, sets out the names of the owner/occupiers of the principal houses and public buildings in alphabetical order. These listings were typically updated annually allowing for the tracing of the comings and goings of the residents in the area.
This information is very useful in determining when a house was first built and the gradual increase in the housing stock can be determined with some level of accuracy. However as we analysed the listings over time certain anomalies began to appear as some houses inexplicably vanished from one year to the next without explanation. The reason for this was not necessarily that the house had been demolished, although this was sometimes the case, but it was simply down to a new owner putting their own stamp on the property by changing its name.
This became a challenge at times as linking new names to those no longer being used required a wider knowledge of the subject in order to ascertain the correct result. Fortunately the mapping of both districts is very comprehensive and was updated on a fairly regular basis, roughly every 20 years or so. This allowed for a comparison of house names based on location which was highly accurate. The end result is that we now have a detailed list of about 80 houses which have changed name since first being built. Many on the list no longer exist but gave their names to new housing developments which began to replace the larger estates over the years. This information has allowed us to trace the owners/occupiers of a house, even where a name has changed, and has proved very useful in establishing the year in which the house was first built, which otherwise would be lost.
An interesting example of a house which has changed names many times is a residence which was once called The Whins This proved to be an elusive property to identify in it’s current iteration. When first built in 1912 for J.M. Mitchell, it’s architect owner, it’s exact location was not identified in the street directories or other available records. From c.1913 to 1940 it was called The Whins but the name disappeared from the listings around this time. The Ordnance Survey map of c.1935-38 records the name as Maryknoll although we have found no other instance of this name being used. In the mid forties it was renamed Far Hills by its then owners, The Misses Malone. We were fortunate to come across a deeds map of a nearby house which located Far Hills at the very end of Glenalua Road. A close examination of a set of architectural drawings for The Whins, dated 1912 and obtained from The Irish Architectural Archive, confirmed it to be the same house and the link was established. Given its siting on a rocky outcrop overgrown with furze the choice of name made complete sense and the mystery was solved. It was later, c.1980, to be called Knockbrack until it was more recently renamed as The Rocks.
== The listings ==
* Abberley, Shanganagh Road, Farm lodge, no longer exists
* Abbey Lea, Marino Avenue West, Marino, exists
* Aghern, Eversley, Lotherien (Wingfield), Military Road, Marine, Marino Terrace, #
* Albany Court , Shanganagh Road, Albany, #
* Anglesey Park, Killiney Road, Mountain view and Anglesea House , no longer exists
Category:Featured Article
Category:The Houses