Mageough Home

The Mageough Home for Aged Females, commonly known as the Mageough /məˈɡɒf/, is a 19th-century retirement home in Rathmines, southern Dublin, Ireland.^[1]

Mageough Home for Aged Females
Location in Dublin
Etymology	Named for its founder, Elizabeth Mageough
General information
Status	Active
Architectural style	Victorian, Gothic Revival
Address	6 Cowper Road, Rathmines
Town or city	Dublin
Country	Ireland
Coordinates	53°19′00″N 6°15′22″W
Completed	1878
Opened	1878
Design and construction
Architect(s)	James Rawson Carroll
Other information
Public transit access	Cowper
Website
mageough.ie

History

Grave in Mount Jerome of several women who lived in the Mageough. Note the predominance of British surnames, reflecting the Protestant population.

The Mageough Home was built by the bequest of Miss Elizabeth Mageough, who died in 1869 and left much of her money to fund "a suitable place for elderly ladies of the Protestant faith to live". The home was built to the designs of James Rawson Carroll on land purchased from William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple. The site was known locally as "The Bloody Fields";^[2] 2,000 Catholic and Royalist troops had been killed by Roundheads and buried there during the Irish Confederate Wars.^[3] The first residents moved in November 1878.^[4] They were required to be "of good character and sobriety."^[5] In 1883, Rev. Benjamin Gibson was chaplain, Richard J. Leeper was registrar and a Mrs Le Breton Simmons was lady superintendent.^[6]

It is still run today as a residential complex for older people with 36 small homes.^[7]

Structure

Image showing the chapel and some residential buildings

The complex is built of red brick and slate in a Gothic Revival style.^[3][8] Thirty-nine houses, an infirmary and a Church of Ireland chapel surround a central green.^[9]

The houses, chapel, infirmary, gate lodge, stone boundary walls, gate piers and gates are all protected structures.^[10]