Stillorgan Obelisk

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Stillorgan Obelisk
Tower of the Stillorgan Obelisk
Stillorgan Obelisk is located in Dublin
Stillorgan Obelisk
Stillorgan Obelisk
LocationCarysfort Woods, Carysfort Avenue, Stillorgan
Coordinates53°17′11.842″N 6°10′52.71″W / 53.28662278°N 6.1813083°W / 53.28662278; -6.1813083
DesignerEdward Lovett Pearce
TypeObelisk
MaterialGranite,[1] lichen[2]
HeightOver 100 feet (30 m)[3][4]
Completion datec. 1727
Dedicated toLady Allen
Websitewww.dlrcoco.ie/attraction/stillorgan-obelisk

The Stillorgan Obelisk is an obelisk in Stillorgan, on the Southside of Dublin, Ireland.

History

The Obelisk in the Park at Stillorgan by Francis Jukes 1795

The Stillorgan Obelisk was designed by Edward Lovett Pearce and built in Lord Allen (John Allen, 1st Viscount Allen)'s deer park by local labourers at the instigation of Lord Allen in c. 1727, although the exact date is unknown.[1][5][2] The obelisk was built as a monument to Lord Allen's wife, Lady Allen,[2][4][6] though it may have also been built to provide local employment.[1] In 1831, George Newenham Wright, the Professor of Antiquities to the Royal Hibernian Academy said that the obelisk was built in the 1740s as a form of famine relief during the Irish Famine of 1740 and 1741. Wright also described the obelisk as a "beautiful delicate pyramidal column" that tapers "gracefully to its summit".[2]One of Pearce's drawings has "Lady Allen's burying-place, to be a monument to patience" written on it, although Lady Allen is not buried there.[1][2]

A cist, tentatively dated to the Early Bronze Age, containing a flint flake and the remains of a young adult female was discovered beside the obelisk in 1954.[7][8] Combined with previous discoveries, this raised the possibility of a cemetery in the area.[8]

In September 2007, journalist Tim O'Brien writing for The Irish Times reported that the obelisk was undergoing restoration as part of a scheme by Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council.[9]

Design

The Stillorgan Obelisk was inspired by the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy, though the Stillorgan obelisk is rustic, while the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi is figurative.[1][2][10][11]

The Irish Independent says that it is "thought to be" the first obelisk in Ireland,[4] while Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council says that it is probably the first,[6] and Dublin City Library and Archive says that it is the "first of it's kind".[10]

The Stillorgan Obelisk consists of an obelisk on a groin vault base containing a grotto. It is an over hundred foot, with the obelisk being made of cut granite, while the base is made of uncut rock that is covered with lichen.[5]

References

  1. Clerkin, Paul. "1727 - Obelisk, Newton-Park, Stillorgan, Dublin". Archiseek. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  2. Howley, James (1993). The follies and garden buildings of Ireland. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. p. 10. ISBN 0-300-05577-3.
  3. Newby, Eric (2 October 1988). "In Praise of Follies: Britain and Ireland". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 June 2026 – via ProQuest. Mrs. Conolly's obelix is really something - one of the two most splendid obelisks in all Ireland (the other, more than a hundred feet high, stands over a mausoleum in Stillorgan, on the outskirts of Dublin)
  4. McGuinness, Katy (11 March 2016). "Feel of the home counties in Blackrock for EUR 1.325m: This luxurious home enjoys complete privacy, writes Katy McGuinness". Irish Independent. Retrieved 2 June 2026 – via ProQuest. The Stillorgan Obelisk that stands near the entrance to the Carysfort Downs estate is believed to have been built in 1727 by Lord Allen as a monument to his wife, Lady Allen. Lord Allen must have been a romantic with deep pockets, because he commissioned the eminent architect Sir Edward Lovett Pearce, also responsible for the Bank of Ireland on College Green, to design the obelisk which is over 100 ft high. It is thought to have been the first obelisk to be built in Ireland, and that Lovett Pearce was inspired by an obelisk by Bernini, located in Rome.
  5. Erlington, F (1902). A History of the County Dublin. Dublin: Alex. Thom & Co. p. 125. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  6. "The Stillorgan Obelisk Attraction Description". Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown: Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown County Council. Retrieved 2 June 2026.
  7. "NMS mapping data - DU023-069". Retrieved 2 June 2026 – via heritagedata.maps.arcgis.com. DU023-069---- : Cist : STILLORGAN PARK [..] A cist discovered in 1954 during the clearing of stones from a rockery beside the obelisk on the grounds of St Augustine's in Stillorgan. A short cist containing an inhumation burial of a young adult female accompanied by a flint flake
  8. M., Cahill; M., Sikora (2011). Breaking ground, finding graves : reports on the excavations of burials by the National Museum of Ireland, 1927-2006. Dublin, Ireland: Wordwell, in association with the National Museum of Ireland. pp. 180–184. ISBN 9781905569618. Retrieved 25 June 2026.
  9. O'Brien, Tim (22 September 2007). "Monument given €141,000 facelift". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2 June 2026 – via ProQuest. Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council yesterday marked the completion of conservation work on the obelisk on Killiney Hill in Co Dublin [..] Restoration works are at various stages on the bandstand and shelter on the East Pier, the tea rooms and gate lodge at the People's Park, the bandstand in Sorrento Park and the Stillorgan obelisk on Carysfort Avenue
  10. "Built in 1727 by Lord Allen as a monument for his wife, the Stillorgan Obelisk stands over 100 feet tall and is thought to be Ireland's first of its kind". Dublin City Library and Archive. 13 April 2026. Retrieved 23 June 2026 – via Facebook.
  11. "Dictionary of Irish Architects". www.dia.ie. Retrieved 25 June 2026.