Lyons Hill - Manor and Parish

Manor and Parish

Norman Lyons became an important manor, castle and parish. Anglicised names which occur in the calendar rolls are Lewan (Calendar of State papers) 1217, Leuan in 1223, 1224, 1225, 1228, 1230 and 1260, Lyons in 1272, Lyons (Ecclesiastical Tax 1322), Lyons in 1332 (listed as "burned by the O’Tooles" in the Book of Howth), as Lions (Calendar of Carew MS 1535 and 1537) and eventually as Lyons after 1541.Lyons church, now a mausoleum for the Lawless family, was constructed around 1350. It has intricate carvings and a stone commemorating the marriage of Richard Aylmer to Eleanor Tyrrell in 1548. Lyons parish was united with the parish of Oughterard in 1541 and with Kill in 1691, although it remained the headquarters of the Catholic parish until 1817. The oldest headstone in Lyons churchyard dates to 1693, dedicated to Edmond Moore and his son James. Royal manors were created in Oughterard on an adjoining hill and Newcastle-Lyons, below the hill within the County Dublin boundary created in 1210. Newcastle-Lyons developed as a separate medieval town and was granted two seats in the Irish parliament in 1606. The seats were purchased by the Latouche family before the suppression of the Irish House of Commons in 1800.