placenamesStraffan
Teach Srafáin
A castle adapted for domestic life and a church with a nineteenth-century organ preserve different parts of the wider district’s history.
The name
These Irish name elements are associated with this record in the Logainm glossary.
An element’s translation is a clue, rather than a complete explanation of the name. Its form and meaning depend on local history and the full Irish name.
Recorded forms
- Teach Srafáin · Irish · main form
- Straffan · English · main form
Place & story
A castle becomes a country house
Barberstown's published history describes the addition of an eighteenth-century house to the older castle. Austin Cooper's sketches of the 1780s record the building when it was thatched. Its later history brought another change of purpose: the property opened as a country-house hotel in 1971. Eric Clapton bought it in 1979, adding a musical association to its long residential history. [2]
Stories of walls and passages
The castle's own history records a legend of an owner buried within its walls to keep the property in the family. It also reports tales of hidden passages connecting Barberstown with Straffan. These are attested local stories, rather than evidence that either the burial or the tunnels has been established archaeologically. [2]
The Barton church and its alterations
Hugh Barton built Straffan's Church of Ireland church for his family and estate workers. The Dictionary of Irish Architects records its consecration on 18 June 1838 and proposed alterations by McCurdy and Mitchell in 1875. It also attributes three stained-glass windows dated 1913 to Alfred Ernest Child, depicting Christ blessing children, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. [3]
The Conacher organ
The Irish Pipe Organ Register identifies the church's instrument as a two-manual organ by Peter Conacher and Company, dating to 1897. Its research records a dedication on 11 February that year and funding from parishioners with Barton family donations. The instrument uses tracker action, a mechanical connection between the keys and the valves admitting air to its pipes. [4]
Geographic information
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Straffan. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Barberstown Castle History · Dr Ciaran Reilly, published by Barberstown Castle
- Straffan Church of Ireland, work10433 · Irish Architectural Archive, Dictionary of Irish Architects
- Straffan Parish Church: organ specification and history · Irish Pipe Organ Register; Peter McBride research
- Barberstown Castle at Straffan, County Kildare, as photographed in April 2009 illustration: based on a Barberstown Castle, Straffan. Co Kildare by Harold Strong. AI-assisted watercolour and ink adaptation; cream paper margins added, incidental clutter omitted and fine details simplified. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2014-05-28. How this page was prepared.