Located within the historical baronies of Rathdown and Uppercross, Rathfarnham village originally developed around a fortification overlooking a ford on the River Dodder.

[citation needed] The name Rathfarnham (Fearnán's Ringfort) suggests an earlier habitation, but no remains of prehistoric fortifications, burial places, early churches or old records have been found.

Terenure and Kimmage (Cheming), both described as being in Rathfranham [sic] parish Dublin, are mentioned in an 1175 grant by Henry II to Walter the goldsmith ('Aurifaber') held at Canterbury Cathedral Archives.

[5] In 1199, these lands were granted to Milo le Bret, and he adapted an existing ridge to build a motte and bailey fort at what is now the start of the Braemor Road.

[citation needed] Economic activity in Rathfarnham was stepped up in the 17th century, and the village was granted a patent in 1618 to hold horse and cattle fairs.

The area around the arch is a haven for wildlife, with the nearby River Dodder home to brown trout, otter and many birds including kingfisher, dipper and grey heron.

In the early part of the 19th century, it became the home of Sir William Cusac Smith, Baron of the Exchequer and from 1841 of the Tottenham family who continued in residence until 1913.

A millpond and extensive mill buildings formerly occupied the low-lying fields on the west side of the main Rathfarnham road, just beside the bridge.

was constructed from 1800 to 1809 to assist Crown forces in tracking down United Irishmen insurgents who were hiding in the Wicklow Mountains following the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

According to many writers, the road to Rathfarnham follows the same route as the Slíghe Chualann, the ancient highway, which in the time of Saint Patrick was used by travellers between Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford.

[citation needed] In the castle grounds were several fish ponds which were supplied by a mill race taken from the stream which rises up at Kilmashogue and flows down through Grange Golf Club and Saint Enda's Park.

The earliest reference to a paper mill here is 1719 when William Lake of Rathfarnham presented a petition for financial aid but we hear of one at Milltown as far back as 1694.

[citation needed] On the opposite corner is the well-known Yellow House, a licensed premises built near the site of an inn of the same name which is marked on Taylor's map of 1816.

The old quiet tree-shaded avenue has been completely swept away, along with the narrow lanes, a cramped passage bounded on both sides by towering walls and full of right-angled bends, which wended its crooked course between Loreto Convent cemetery and the garden of Nutgrove House.

][citation needed] Loreto Abbey in Lower Rathfarnham forms a landmark visible for a number of miles south of the city.

The insurgents of the south county assembled at the Ponds on 24 May 1798 under the leadership of David Keely, James Byrne, Edward Keogh and Ledwich.

On the other side is Silveracre, once the home of Dr Henthorn Todd, Professor of Hebrew in Trinity College, who was connected by marriage to the Hudson family of the adjoining Hermitage estate.

The house, which is entirely faced with cut granite and has an imposing stone portico, was occupied in the eighteenth century by Edward Hudson, an eminent dentist.

He built a small watchtower inside the boundary wall near the entrance gate and further along, a hermit's cave, a dolmen, a ruined abbey and beside a deep well, a tiny chamber with a stone bench and a narrow fireplace.

South of the house, he built a grotto surmounted by a tall stone pillar, a Brehon's Chair and a fanciful construction consisting of two great boulders, one balanced on top of the other, which has since been demolished.

Within the grounds also, at the corner nearest to Whitechurch is an obelisk, stated to have been erected by a former owner, Major Doyne, over the grave of a horse that carried him through the Battle of Waterloo.

Meanwhile, Pádraig Pearse wrote in An Macaomh that "a monument in the wood, beyond the little lake, is said to mark the spot where a horse of Sarah Curran's was killed and is buried.

From 1872 to 1885 it was occupied by George Campbell, merchant of 58 Sackville St., and after lying vacant for a few years it was tenanted by Major Philip Doyne of the 4th Dragoon Guards.

Pearse felt that the confined surroundings of this house gave no scope for the outdoor life that should play so large a part in the education of youth, so in 1910 he leased Hermitage from Mr Woodburn and moved his college here.

In "The Story of a Success" Pearse tells of the realisation of one of his life's ambitions and it was from here that he set off for the city on his bicycle for the last time on Easter Sunday 1916.

A Mrs Bernadette Foley of nearby Barton Drive drew attention to the need to carry out this work before the site was buried forever under a concrete jungle.

The builders, Messrs Gallaghers Ltd. were commended for their interest in this aspect of the site and their painstaking excavation work under the supervision of Mr Leslie Black was expertly carried out.

It is believed that the first pub bearing the name was a thatched cottage standing on the site of the present Catholic church and that the licence went back as far as the early eighteenth century.

According to local folklore, the poet Francis Ledwidge worked there for two days as an apprentice before homesickness for his home town of Slane, County Meath, caused him to leave.

However, it was found that the proposal would not be feasible, as road widening would be required, necessitating the compulsory purchase of a significant number of homes and gardens on the route.