Mother And Child Non-Reunion

Rosemary Raughter Bellevue Hill THURS23NOV23

ith plucky developers D:Res Properties having tried, tried and tried again to make way for four new properties, the 150-year-old Gorteen House on Bellevue Hill is due to be demolished any day now.

Slap dab in the middle of a new Delgany estate initially called Gorteen Way but now dubbed Bellevue, this old house was home to the Corballis family for almost 100 years.

In its prime…

Before it was a family home though, it was a home for destitute children, founded in early 1891 by Delgany’s Church Of Ireland rector Canon Robinson, with a little help from local women, including doctor’s widow, Mrs Eustace, of Knockrath, Church Lane.

Canon Robinson

A relatively small children’s home (with occupant numbers ranging between 20 and 35) both Protestant and Catholic children were housed there – but Richview (as it was then known) was very much a Protestant operation.

It was in November of that first year that two women – accompanied by local Catholic cleric Fr Hurley – snatched 7-year-old Fanny Christian from the home and hit Bellevue Road in their horse-drawn cart. They were apprehended at Killincarrig by Canon Robinson and an officer of the law, but, after a scuffle, the three managed to break free and make their way to the Greystones police station.

This is where Jane Christian, one of the two women, was arrested and charged with kidnapping the 7-year-old child. Who just happened to be her daughter. Two days later, the girl’s mother appeared at Newtownmountkennedy Petty Sessions, represented by barrister John Redmond, who would later go on to lead the Irish Parliamentary Party.

And that’s when the mother and child reunion gets really interesting…

Which is why we met up with local historian Rosemary Raughter, just down the road from that old children’s home, to find out more…

You can find out more about Gorteen-Richview House with a Shay Clear ramble chat here, and go explore more Rosemary Raughter historical gems here.