placenamesEsker
An Eiscir
An early guild record names the craftsmen at Saint Finian’s, while community research continues around the surviving ruins.
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
- An Eiscir · Irish · main form · validated name
- Esker · English · main form
Place & story
The royal manor beside the church
Francis Elrington Ball’s 1906 history identifies Esker as one of County Dublin’s royal manors. In the early thirteenth century a manor house stood near the church, and one lessee received land for cattle enclosures. William FitzGuido, the first dean of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, was among those who leased the manor. The history connects ecclesiastical office with landholding and the practical management of animals. [2]
Two carpenters and one contract
Ball recounts a 1537 entry in the Dublin Guild of Carpenters, Masons and Heliers concerning Patrick Boshell and William Trasse. Boshell had been promised the roof contract for Esker church, but Trasse obtained and completed it. The dispute resulted in Trasse paying fines to the guild and to Boshell. Apart from preserving the craftsmen’s names, the record establishes that this church roof was made of timber. [2]
Looking beneath the churchyard
The Society for Old Lucan adopted Saint Finian’s church and graveyard through the Heritage Council’s monument programme. An architectural assessment and geophysical survey took place in 2019 with Heritage Council and Creative Ireland support. The survey identified possible structural remains of an earlier church. That cautious description distinguishes a subsurface indication from a building whose plan and date have been established by excavation. [3]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Civil parish
- County
- Dublin
- Barony
- Newcastle
- Barony
- Uppercross
- Coordinates
- 53.34716, -6.42665
- Mapped area
- 10.33 km²
- Logainm ID
- 843 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Esker. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Parish of Esker, A History of the County Dublin, volume4, 1906 · Francis Elrington Ball
- Saint Finian’s Church and Graveyard, Lucan: Adopt a Monument project · Heritage Council
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2024-06-28. How this page was prepared.