ROEBUCK ROAD [IS MUCH LONGER THAN I THOUGHT AND THE BUS SERVICE IS POOR]
One section of Roebuck road is served by the 17 bus which is supposed to run every twenty minutes but based on my experience over the last twelve months, I am in the area twice every week, the scheduled bus is frequently cancelled or does not arrive at the bus stop or is between ten and fifteen minutes late. Another section of the road is serviced by the 11 bus as well as the 17 but the 11 runs every thirty minutes and is frequently full.
Roebuck, also originally known as "Rabuck", is a townland and the name of a former estate in the baronys of Dublin, Uppercross, and Rathdown in Ireland.
The townland incorporates roughly all the land in the triangle between Clonskeagh, Dundrum and Mount Merrion. Historically significant buildings which exist (or existed) in the area include Mountainville House, Mount Anville, St. Thomas's Church, Owenstown House, Roebuck Hill, Hermitage House, Friarsland House, Prospect Hall, Froebuck Park, Belfield House and Harlech House. Today I decided to walk to the tram stop at Windy Arbour rather than wait for the 17 to show.
Roebuck became established as a location shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland (from 1169). In 1261, it was owned by Fromund Le Brun, the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and a castle was built there in the 13th century, which was badly damaged in the Irish Rebellion of 1641. It was pictured in a ruinous condition by Gabriel Beranger around 1768. It was sold by Nicholas Barnewall, 14th Baron Trimlestown, to James Crofton, an official of the Irish Treasury, in around 1800.
In 1466, Elizabeth le Brun, the last of Fromund's family, married Robert Barnewall, 1st Baron Trimlestown. The Irish Civil Survey of 1654-56 recorded that the estate consisted of around 500 acres. It remained in the hands of the Trimlestown family until the early nineteenth century when parts were sold off.
The surgeon Solomon Richards acquired land in the area of the estate known as Roebuck Grove from Baron Trimlestown in 1812.
The estate was acquired by the Westby family in 1856 and from 1943 until 1985 it was owned by the Little Sisters of the Poor. It later became part of the University College Dublin campus.
