placenames.ie
Townland

Knocklyon

Cnoc Lín

Knocklyon House’s surviving architecture and a worker’s recollections trace its transition to the Rutland Centre.

Recorded locationKnocklyon53.28317° N · 6.32383° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

The name

cnochill

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

  • Cnoc Lín · Irish · main form · validated name
  • Knocklyon · English · main form

Place & story

The house and its entrance

Knocklyon House is a separate building from Knocklyon Castle. The architectural inventory dates the house to around 1845 and singles out its limestone entrance porch and balustraded steps. Stained glass lights the porch’s side walls, while pediments and small balustraded balconies embellish the principal windows. [2]

People & connections

A worker remembers the estate

Michael Duggan began work at the house in March 1980, when Captain Spencer Freeman owned it. In his recollection published in the centre’s 2023 annual report, fields still surrounded the property. Estate manager Tom Foster lived in a lodge with his family and also drove Freeman to his office. [3]

The move from Clondalkin

The Rutland Centre was founded in 1978 by Fr Raphael Short and therapist Mary Bolton. Its own institutional history dates the move from Monastery Road, Clondalkin, to Knocklyon to December 1983. Duggan continued maintaining the grounds through the change, linking the former private household with the building’s new use. [4] [3]

Geographic information

Place type
Townland
County
Dublin
Civil parish
Tallaght
Coordinates
53.28317, -6.32383
Mapped area
1.75 km²
Logainm ID
17450 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Knocklyon. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Knocklyon House, NIAH 11216035 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  3. Knocklyon House: Michael Duggan, Annual Report 2023, page 23 · Michael Duggan; Rutland Centre
  4. Looking back at 40 years of the Rutland Centre, 13 September 2018 · Rutland Centre
  5. Boundary geometry retains its source attribution and licence in the downloadable geographic record. Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-06-28. How this page was prepared.