Straffan

The contemporary village is concentrated around two crossroads on which are situated a Roman Catholic church and Church of Ireland respectively. Development evolved through the building of estate houses (1880), land commission cottages (1922–39), the Murray local council cottages (1949), and eight estates around the village, Lodge Park (1970), Coarse Moor (1976), The Glebe (1985), Bawnogues (1996), The Beeches (2006), Straffan Gate (2006),Barton Grange (2007) and Straffan Manor (2014). This is set to increase in pace in the coming years when large housing estates are developed on two allotments to the north of the village. Four developments also took place on the grounds of the K Club in the 2000–04 period, Ryder Cup Village, the Courtyard, Churchfields and Ladycastle. A planning application has been lodged with Kildare County Council (2007) to develop a separate town to the south west at Turnings.

Straffan is situated at a particularly low lying point in the Liffey valley and is surrounded by flood meadows along the Liffey and River Morell. Agriculture is important to the local economy. Since the 18th century Straffan farmers have been prominent improving agriculturalists and prominent in the prize lists at events run by the Royal Dublin Society. The research station for the Agriculture department of University College Dublin is situated at nearby Lyons Hill. As with the rest of County Kildare, racehorse breeding and training is a prominent local activity. In the 1920s Straffan Station stud was the leading horse breeding stud in the country when owned by Edward "Cub" Kennedy.

The village is named for St. Srafán, whose feast day in the Martyrology of Tallaght was 23 May. Straffan was also one of 300 Irish locations accorded its own place-legend in Dinnshenchas Érenn (Metrical (ed. Edward Gwynn 1924) iv, pp328–331). It consisted of a poem called "Lumman Tige Srafain", about a warrior named Lumann who possessed a wonderful shield and who, according to the poem, died of his wounds at Tech Srafáin. Two forms of the name cited in the tale, Tech Srafáin and Tige Srafáin, are Middle Irish nominative and genitive case forms. The spelling Strafáin is unusual. "Straphan" or "Straffan" is a shortened Anglicised form of the original Irish Teach Srafáin (the initial Str- is the usual development of Irish Sr in English).

The second Irish name of the village is Cluainíní; this refers to the townland of Clownings, to the east of the village. This was formerly the site of Straffan railway station and the post office, and so it has been erroneously used as an Irish name for Straffan itself.

Dinnshenchas Érenn, probably composed by Cináed Ua Hartacáin (d. 975), also selected the nearby Cnoch Liamhna for mention as one of the "assemblies and noted places in Ireland", an indication of the strength of the local ruling family, the Uí Dúnchada branch of the Uí Dúnlainge who supplied ten kings of Leinster from their base on nearby Lyons Hill between 750 and 1050.

Sruthán (stream) was mistakenly cited by Thomas O'Connor in the Ordnance Survey Letters in 1837, and adopted as the Irish form of Straffan. Seosamh Laoide used it in his list of Irish names of post-offices published in Post-Sheanchas (1905). An Sruthán gained currency among those involved in the Irish revival and was promoted as name in the local schools. Recent research by Domhnall mac Giolla Easpaig declares it "completely at odds with the written evidence cited above and with local pronunciation and appears to be no more than an ad hoc explanation of the name by O'Connor's informant." Sruthán is anglicised struffaun in some parts of the country. One would not expect to find it rendered thus in the Straffan area."

The village Post Office, opened c. 1845, was closed in April 1924. A separate office had been opened at Straffan Station in May 1872, this adjacent to the former Station, 1.5 mi (2.5 km) from the village. On the adoption of Irish language names by the Irish Post Office in 1922 the name of Cluainíní was adopted for the Station office, this being the Irish version of Clownings, the townland in which the Post Office and former station were situated. That office was closed c. 1977 at which date the office in the village was reopened and the Irish name of Teach Srafáin was adopted, this name appearing in the 1982 Post Office Guide.

Today Straffan contains Catholic and Church of Ireland churches, a newsagent, a butchers', two pubs, the Straffan Inn and Friel's, a gaelic football club, a soccer club and a primary school, Scoil Bhríde (present building constructed in 1963). The heritage of the area is reflected in the fact that fifty sites of archaeological and cultural interest in the locality have been identified and listed for preservation by Kildare County Council, ranging from an ancient hill fort and round tower to the 1913 Lych Gate to the graveyard which has been adopted as the symbol of the village. Local commercial visitor attractions include a Steam Museum at Lodge Park.

Local ecclesiastical sites prospered at different times, The medieval parish of Straffan lies on the border of the Diocese of Dublin (boundaries established 1111), to the south of Taghadoe Parish (Teach Tua), bounded on the west by Mainham, south by Bodenstown and Whitechurch, and east by Killadoon and Castledillon. Ecclesiastical sources refer to Straphan Register of the Hospital of St. John the Baptist 1245, the Calendar of Justiciary Rolls 1306 and the Regal Visitation 1530 which describes Straffan as 'a church of the deanery of Saltu Salmonis. In 1541 Straffan was united with Castledillon, Donacumper and Kildrought.

Straffan Church of Ireland

The last Catholic Parish Priest of Castledillon died in 1707 after which the parish was joined with Straffan. Straffan parish is now joined to Celbridge.

Straffan's ruined parish church (St. Patrick's) in the graveyard at the centre of the village can be dated to the 15th century from its distinctive bell cote, and defensive living quarters over the main building in the manner of Oughter Ard and other local churches. The Church of Ireland (1833) has stained glass windows by Alfred Child and Catherine O'Brien and several monuments to the Barton family. It was modelled on churches in France. The Catholic church (1787, rebuilt 1987) was also the site of the national school until 1963. It is part of Straffan's proud ecumenical tradition that the Catholic community used the Church of Ireland while their own church was undergoing reconstruction.

A well and stone roofed chapel at Ardrass (restored 1898) are associated with St Patrick. The hill was a place of pilgrimage until the 19th century.

Castledillon, situated on the south bank of the River Liffeyopposite Straffan, is an ancient monastic site in its own right founded by Iollathan of the desert (feast day listed as 2 February in the Martyrology of Tallaght) and accorded a genealogy which indicated close kinship with the Uí Dúnlainge kings of Leinster. By 1294 the church of Tristeyldelane was described as "not worth the services of chaplains" in the Calendar of Christ Church deeds. The site is now identified by a pile of stones and one headstone, erected in 1758 to the Spellissy family. The Castledillon Friars Stone, probably erected for a 15th-century abbot of St Wolstan's (four miles to the east), remained on the site until removed to the Visitor centre in Kildare town.

The area was ravaged in the wars of 1641–2. The Lords of the Pale who allied with Rory O'More in 1642 included Nicholas Wogan of Rathcoffey (member of the Council of War), Andrew Aylmer of Donadea, Nicholas Sutton of Barberstown, John Gaydon of lrishtown (whose estate included the present Straffan), Garret Sutton of Richardstown and James Eustace of Clongowes. In 1641 Lyons Castle was taken and sacked on the orders of the new LJs William Parsons and John Borlase and two castles belonging to Edward Tipper of Tipperstown burned

When James Butler, 12th Earl of Ormond marched into Kildare in 1642, he burned Lyons, Newcastle and Oughterard on 1 February 1642.

General George Monck landed in Dublin in February 1642 for the parliamentarians and camped in Straffan (the horses field at Ardrass is named as his camp). Rathcoffey was besieged and taken by Monck in June 1642, 70 of the garrison made prisoners and later executed in Dublin. During the campaign Kildare county was burned "for 17 miles (27 km) in length and 25 in breadth." William Petty's Census of 1659 recorded "Barbiestowne" with 36 people and Straffan with 23 people, surnames among them included Byrne, Kelly, Doyle, Malone and Murphy.

According to depositions taken after the battle of Ovidstown, a party of 1798 Rebels met at Straffan Bridge including Patrick O'Connor 'a lawyer from Straffan', and spent some time in stables of Straffan Lodge (18 June). In 1803 Straffan men marched to Dublin to join Emmet's rebellion, while Barney Daly's pub in Baronrath was used as a rendez-vous.

Local landowner Valentine Lawless, later the second Baron Cloncurry, was sworn into United Irishmen by James O'Coigly. He was elected colonel of United Irishmen in Kildare, was the last proprietor of 'The Press' (United Irish newspaper) and became the United Irish organiser in London until his arrest and detention in the Tower of London. He was also related to Robert Emmet and according to Emmet's biographer Ruan O'Donnell provided a link between 1798 and 1803, waiting in Paris for word of success of the rebellion and was to be member of Emmet's government. O'Donnell describes as "disingenuous" Lawless's 1857 account of how he had pleaded with Emmet not to return to Dublin. The Sammon family form Straffan and the Pitts family from Bishopscourt were listed among the rebels.

On 22 January 1812 100 persons assembled at night with carts for the purpose of retrieving hay which had been seized in lieu of rent. Leading to a confrontation during which Patrick King was shot dead. As a result of the incident, a request was made to have the military at Celbridge strengthened. Eventually in 1871 a neo-gothic RIC barracks was built in the village with distinctive gun turrets designed to repel invading Fenians. The barracks was vacated and passed into private hands in March 1905.

Henry family

Joseph Henry of Straffan (Pompeo Batoni, ca. 1750–1755)

Hugh Henry who was MP for Limavady 1713 and Antrim 1727–43 built a house which resembled Oakley Park in Celbridge. Another Hugh Henry (a nephew) built Lodge Park in 1775. His son Joseph Henry matriculated from Trinity College at 13, inherited the house in 1749, and became MP for Longford 1761–68, Joseph Henry is featured in many of the caricatures painted by William Hogarth and on display in the National Gallery of Ireland. His son John Joseph Henry gave the site for Straffan Catholic church in 1787. At the request of Valentine Lawless, Henry subscribed £500 for defence of Armagh rebel priest James O'Coigly. In 1801 he married Lady Emily Fitzgerald a daughter of the Duke of Leinster. According to a commentator of the time "owing to his extravagance from one of the richest commoners in Ireland he became so embarrassed that he was obliged to sell Straffan and live abroad. Among other foolish things he built an underground passage from Straffan House to the stables." A Benjamin Hallam design for proposed extension to house from 1808 survives, but the house accidentally burned and the Henry family settled in France.

On the death of Bertram Barton in a hunting accident in 1927 the scale of the losses on the estate, £4,000 per year, became apparent. The staff of 50 outdoor and 16 indoor employees was unsustainable. Derrick Barton laid off most of the staff and demolished part of the house before selling the house and estate for £15,000 to motorcycle manufacturer John Ellis in 1949. Derrick Barton moved to Straffan Glebe House (53°18′51″N 6°36′45″W.[8]) for a time. The last five private owners of Straffan House followed in quick succession: car importer Stephen O'Flaherty (1960), film producer Kevin McClory (1973), Iranian air force founder and minister in the Shah's government Nadar Djhanbani (1977, shortly before the downfall of the Shah's government and his execution), developer Patrick Gallagher (1979) and property magnate Alan Ferguson (1981) who invested £6m in Straffan House but never lived there.

Entrepreneur Michael Smurfit, was searching for a suitable estate to develop as a country club, and in 1988 Straffan House was sold for £7m to the Jefferson Smurfit company for use as a golf course and hotel. A further £35m was spent developing the house as a hotel under a scheme negotiated with the government to produce 200 jobs in return for tax breaks for investors. In 1991, Straffan House was opened as a 31-bedroom hotel.

Straffan put in its first bid to host the Ryder Cup in 1988, before the course had even been built, for the 1993 event. In 1990, the north course, designed by Arnold Palmer, was completed. Straffan staged the PGA cup in 1991 and Irish professional Championship in 1992. As a result of a £1 million sponsorship offer form Smurfit Kappa, the European Open moved its annual home to Straffan in 1995. In 1999, Straffan's bid for the Ryder Cup was eventually accepted by the European PGA. The tournament was staged in September 2006. The south course was completed in 2003 and used for the European Open of 2004.

In 2002, Madison Dearborm took over Smurfit Kappa and divested itself of the K Club. Michael Smurfit purchased the hotel and estate and acquired a further 80 acres (320,000 m²) on the opposite side of the river for €115m in 2004, with the support of property developer Gerry Gannon. To fund this expansion 81 housing units were developed on the course and sold for €2.5m each. Michael Smurfit purchased Gannon's 49% stake in the K Club for €40 million in 2012 via the National Asset Management Agency after Gannon's assets had been brought to the attention of the National Asset Management Agency following Gannon's involvement in the Anglo Irish Bank hidden loans controversy.

There is a history of horse breeding and training in the area. The Tetrarch, bred by Edward "Cub" Kennedy and foaled in 1911, never competed as a three-year-old but is still remembered in folklore as one of the best two-year-olds of all time. The 1993 St. Leger Stakes winner Bob's Return was bred at the Baronrath stud at Straffan.

Local sportsman Christopher Barton won an Olympic silver medal in 1948 as part of an all-Cambridge eight which represented Britain in the Olympic Games. His father Derrick Barton was a member of the British Modern Pentathlon team which finished seventh in the team event at the 1924 Olympics. Another Straffan resident, David Ritchie, laid out Ireland's first golf course in the Curragh in 1852. There were estate cricket teams in both Straffan and Bishopscourt in 1880.

Straffan AFC, a local association football (soccer) club, was founded in 1978 and previously played in Whitechurch in Straffan. In 1979, the club reached the Counties Cup semi-final but were beaten. They decided to move to the Dublin section of the Leinster Junior League in 1981 and the club went on to win its first league title in 1981–1982.

Straffan GAA club was described in 1934 as the "cradle of the GAA in Kildare Straffan". JL Carews played Sallins In their first match on the same day, 15 February 1885, that Maurice Davin's first rules of Gaelic football were being agreed by GAA Central Council in Cork. The club were successful in the 1966 Intermediate championship, and promoted to the Kildare senior championship from 1967 until 1979. In that period, Thomas Walsh played senior football for Kildare having won an All-Ireland Under 21 medal in 1965. In 2009, Straffan won the Junior football championship. Straffan now has two teams competing in the Kildare Senior division 2 and division 4 Football Leagues and at intermediate level in the championship.

The annual Liffey Descent canoe race, (first staged 1960) starts annually in Straffan and follows the river Liffey 17 miles (27 km) downstream to Islandbridge.

• List of towns and villages in Ireland

• Ardclough Churches 1985 Souvenir Brochure.
• Allen, Hilary: Cradle Days and Winning Ways: History of Straffan GAA (Straffan GAA 1986).
• Barton, Derick: Memories of Ninety Years: An Autobiography (Privately published 1985)
• Corry, Eoghan and Tancred, Jim: Annals of Ardclough (Ardclough GAA 2004).
• Fitzgerald, Walter: Castledillon (Kildare Journal Archaeological Society Vol VI 1909 pp207–213).
• Fitzpatrick, W J: Life, Times and contemporaries of Lord Cloncurry (1855).
• Gilleece, Dermot: The Ryder Cup 2006: Ireland's Legacy (Red Rock Press 14 Oct 2005) ISBN 978-0-9548653-2-0
• Kelly, Martin J: Owners and tenants of Barberstown Castle (Kildare Journal Archaeological Society 1975).
• Journals of the Kildare Archaeological Society: Volume II : 259, 283. Volume IV : 114. Volume VI : 207–213. Volume XII : 265.
• Lawless, Valentine, Lord Cloncurry: Recollections (Dublin 1849). Online version available: https://web.archive.org/web/20050112170553/http://www.quinnipiac.edu/other/abl/etext/irish/recollections/cloncurry.html
• Reid, Philip: The Cup: How the 2006 Ryder Cup Was Won (Maverick House 20 Jan 2007 ISBN 978-1-905379-24-8).

• Straffan AFC
• Straffan Steam Museum Website (archived)
• Straffan Local Area Plan (archived)