placenamesSilveracre
Acra an Airgid
Silveracre House connects this part of Rathfarnham with James Henthorn Todd and the study of Ireland’s manuscripts.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- Acra an Airgid · Irish · main form · validated name
- Silveracre · English · main form
Place & story
The Regency house
Silveracre House, off Sarah Curran Avenue, dates from the 1830s. Its entrance retains a leaded fanlight, granite steps and paired sphinx-like figures on plinths. These details distinguish the older house from the later homes built in its grounds. An early twentieth-century wing preserved fireplaces and shutters when it was incorporated into a separate dwelling called The Lodge. [2]
James Henthorn Todd at Silveracre
James Henthorn Todd, Trinity College Dublin’s librarian from 1852, died at Silveracre on 28 June 1869. His work brought him into close contact with Irish scholars John O’Donovan and Eugene O’Curry as he developed the college’s manuscript collections and catalogues. In his 1969 commemorative study, George Otto Simms also recorded a Hebrew-inscribed stone and carved fragments in Silveracre’s garden, material reminders of the family’s scholarly interests and travels. [3]
A house within new grounds
The redevelopment of Silveracre retained the original house while dividing its later wing from it. Six detached houses were planned around the older buildings, with established trees forming part of the setting. The developer’s brochure presented the scheme as a combination of restored period buildings and new homes. It records a change from a single house and grounds to a small residential development on Sarah Curran Avenue. [2]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Silveracre. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Silveracre development brochure, introduction and site plan · Homeland Investments
- James Henthorn Todd, Trinity Monday Discourse, Hermathena 109 (1969), pages 5–23 · George Otto Simms, Trinity College Dublin
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-06-28. How this page was prepared.