A Ramble about Tallaght

Old Bawn Villa in the late 1960s For well over one hundred years from the 1840s to the 1960s a very fine house, one of the finest in the district, once stood by what is now a little used tennis court in the Dodder Valley Park, just a hundred metres from the Old Bawn Road.  Like many houses that stood for over a hundred years, it was a home that saw much drama, romance, poetry and tragedy.  For the greater part of its history it was known as “The Villa” or “Old Bawn Villa”, and it is from this house, that the local neighbourhood of “Bawnville” takes its name.  In its earliest years it was known as “Mountain View” and was home to the prominent Neill Family, wealthy and successful Mill Owners, who ran and eventually moved to the neighbouring Haerlem Mill House, a stones throw across the field, in what is now Millbrook Lawns  (The Wood, to be precise). Imprint of Bawn Ville (Bawnvilla).  Note the current Tennis Courts, in Dodder Park Ba...