Cottage has been a fixture in community for decades

THE small bungalow on what is known locally as Brady’s Field, on the Old Bawn Road in Tallaght, has had a short but interesting history since it was built for Austin Muldoon in the 1960s.

The property, which went on fire in recent weeks and is on a site that is earmarked for a small social housing development for older people, has been a fixture of the Old Bawn Road for decades.

Its unusual location, removed from any of the surrounding housing estates and just off a pitch that is used by a local football club, made it a place of interest for many in the locality over the years.

The property was built for Austin Muldoon, who previously lived in Old Mill House and owned the land where Millbrook Lawns is now located.

According to Mary Delany Darmody, Austin’s niece, her uncle’s land was the subject of a compulsory purchase order so he left Old Mill House and developed the bungalow adjacent to his former land.

Austin had lived in Old Mill House with his wife, Bridie Brady, who died young after contracting pneumonia, and the couple had a son who died in infancy.

Bridie’s sister, Una Brady, had moved into Old Mill House after her sister married Austin, and after her sister died, she continued to maintain the house while Austin worked on his adjoining farm.

After it went on fire last month

After the compulsory purchase order in the late 1960s, Una and Austin moved into the bungalow in 1968.

Mary, who was approximately ten-years-old at the time, can still remember what it was like to see her uncle’s new house.

“I do remember being very excited to see Uncle Austin’s new house,” she told The Echo.

“I just remember thinking, ‘Well, this is the new house’. You just have a look around and take stock.

“But it was probably very sad for him to not be living out his final days in Old Mill House. I’d say it was very, very different for him to live there, when he was used to living in old houses.”

Local historian Albert Perris told The Echo that Austin had named the property St Colman’s, and had listed his address as Old Bawn Cross.

An artist impression of the social housing for older people on Old Bawn Road

While the Old Bawn Road is now a busy main artery through Tallaght, it was a rural and underdeveloped stretch of road at the time when Austin moved into the bungalow.

“It was just a very, very narrow track and it regularly became waterlogged. It was little more than a boreen. It was an important route, but it wasn’t very well developed,” said Albert.

Austin moved into the bungalow in 1968, and died the following year aged 90. His sister-in-law, Una, then lived in the house until the early 1970s, when she moved into a nursing home and later passed away.

The house was then empty for “quite a bit” after this, according to Mary.

In later years, the property came into the ownership of Dublin County Council, and later South Dublin County Council, and some of their staff lived there.

One such staff member, Matt Rudden, lived there for a year from 1981 to 1982 when he was a district supervisor for Dublin County Council.

: Mary Delany with her grandmother May Muldoon, great grand uncle Austin Muldoon, her recently deceased mother Rosemary Delany and her sister Rowena (in front of photo) who previously lived in Old Mill House

“When I moved in, there was another guy from the council who had lived there before me. He was a caretaker there but he moved on,” Matt told The Echo.

“It had been empty for a while. Old Bawn Football Club actually used one of the bedrooms as a dressing room.

“On a Sunday morning you’d hear about 20 lads banging their boots off the wall. I thought that they had been using the bedroom for storage, but they’d actually been togging out in it, so I evicted them!”

Matt was living in the house with his wife and young daughter when ‘The Big Snow’ of 1982 occurred, and he remembers opening the curtains and snowfall being level with his windows.

“I opened the curtains, but I couldn’t see out,” he remembered. “The snow was level with the house, and it was a nightmare trying to get food.”

However, Matt fondly remembers his brief time living in the house, and he also got the hedge placed around the house – which is still in situ – to provide some privacy around the perimeter of the property.

“I was only there in a caretaker role,” he said. “Then I got to the stage where I was independent enough to be able to afford to buy my own house, so I moved out.”

The last resident of the house was South Dublin County Council park ranger Christy Moore, who lived there until his death in recent years.

The fire-damaged house is still standing at the junction of Old Bawn Road, but the site of the house and a portion of the green space around it is to be developed for eight social houses for older people.

“I cruised by the house recently and I was sad to see it,” said Matt. “It’s such a pity to see it gone, but I believe there’s bigger plans afoot.”

For Albert, who is also Tallaght Community Council’s heritage officer, seeing the house in the condition it’s currently in is “unfortunate” but said he understands that change was going to come.

“I’ve an interest in history, and sometimes you want to save everything,” he said, “but you have to prioritise.

“It’s a pretty run-of-the-mill bungalow, but because of its unusual location it’s become a landmark.

“We need social housing for older people – you can’t protect everything. But it’s an interesting little cottage with an interesting little history, and I’m sad that it’s burnt down.”

Similarly, Mary is also sad to see the condition of her uncle’s former home and, for her, it adds a degree of finality to his passing.

“I was sorry to see it go, but it was always going to happen,” she said.

“I know Uncle Austin has been dead for so long, but it felt like a part of him was still there when I’d pass by his house.

“Once it was burnt down, I realised it was the end. I got a bit of a stab in the heart when I saw the flames.”

The plans for the older persons housing development were given the green light in February 2020, and it is understood that the Part 8 approved scheme is currently at pre-tender design stage.