Rathfarnham or Rathfarnam () is a Southside suburb of Dublin, Ireland.

Rathfarnham is the start of the Military Road.

On the opposite side of the road is Crannagh Park and Road, Rathfarnham Park and Ballytore Road, all built on part of the old Rathfarnham Estate.

In the garden of a house formerly named Tower Court in Crannagh Road is an ancient circular pigeon house, a relic of Lord Ely's occupation of Rathfarnham Castle.

The earliest reference to a paper mill here is 1719 when William Lake of Rathfarnham presented a petition for financial aid but we hear of one at Milltown as far back as 1694.

Joyce in his Neighbourhood of Dublin states that this house was at one time the dower house of Rathfarnham Castle but in this he is almost certainly mistaken, as Frizell's map of 1779 shows that it was outside the estate.

The area's other shopping centre is the small Rathfarnham Shopping Centre.

Rathfarnham is served by a range of buses.

* Rathfarnham is home to the 13th Dublin, the 14th Dublin, the 31st Dublin ( which was founded in 1917 ) and the 68th Dublin Scout troops and the Rathfarnham Girl Guides

* The area is also home to the Rathfarnham Concert Band ()

One thing that is clear from the statistics is Rathfarnham is aging, with young couples that moved into the area in the 1960s entering retirement.

There is a lack of suitable and affordable homes for young people within Rathfarnham and consequently they are flocking out to neighbouring suburbs such as Templeogue, Tallaght and Firhouse.

Situated on Main Street, The Castle Inn is, as its name implies, near Rathfarnham Castle.

The interior is made of stone and light wood and is one of the newer pubs in Rathfarnham.

The Old Orchard is on Butterfield Avenue near Rathfarnham Shopping Centre.

The Yellow House pub is situated at the corner of Willbrook Road and Grange Road, a short distance from Rathfarnham Castle.

The county is divided into five local electoral areas for the purpose of elections: Clondalkin ( 6 councillors ), Lucan ( 5 councillors ), Rathfarnham ( 4 councillors ), Tallaght Central ( 6 councillors ), and Tallaght South ( 5 councillors ).

Another explanation is that it is derived from a stone cross that marked the boundary of lands held by the Danish Viking Harold family of Rathfarnham in early medieval times, reputedly located at what is now the five-road Kenilworth junction on Harold's Cross Road.

On a Saturday night in November 1963 he was stopped near his home at Ballyboden Road, Rathfarnham, by a party of armed men.

Rathfarnham Castle itself was re-modelled from a defensive stronghold into a stately home.

Curran was its Prior and consequently named his Rathfarnham home " The Priory ".

* the kidnapping of supermarket boss Don Tidey from his home in Rathfarnham in Dublin.

It used to be the home of Rathfarnham HB, an ice cream company in Ireland.

They lived at Rathfarnham, Dublin, where he died unexpectedly in his family home on 19 December 1995, aged 90, and is buried at Cruagh cemetery, South Dublin Two Rock hills.

Suburban Dublin has several modern retail centres, including Dundrum Town Centre, Blanchardstown Centre, The Square in Tallaght, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Clondalkin, Omni Shopping Centre in Santry, Nutgrove Shopping Centre in Rathfarnham, and Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords.

The parish of Rathfarnham, a pre-Reformation parish, is the parent of several parishes in south Dublin.

A millpond and extensive mill buildings formerly occupied the low-lying fields on the west side of the main Rathfarnham road, just beside the bridge.

The imposing buildings of Loreto Abbey in Lower Rathfarnham form a landmark visible for many miles south of the city.

Both fine buildings of Loreto Abbey and Rathfarnham Castle also provide amenity value.

Rathfarnham has a wide range of shops and businesses, including two bank branches, notably in the Nutgrove Shopping Centre, which also hosts one of Dublin's Motor Tax offices.

* Rathfarnham has a number of soccer teams including Nutgrove Celtic, Rathfarnham Punters, Rathfarnham Rovers, Leicester Celtic, Broadford Rovers, and Whitechurch United.

* Rathfarnham has a number of boxing clubs including Whitechurch Boxing Club

Due to the fact that there aren't many suitable sites in the area for apartment building, two analysts including the Rathfarnham Community Website, predict that Census 2010 will publish further decreases.

* city suburbs including at least Rathfarnham, Palmerstown, Templeogue, Knocklyon and Greenhills

The Church of Ireland parish of Whitechurch includes most of Rathfarnham including Tibradden, Larch Hill and Kilmashogue.

Rathfarnham Castle was erected in part to protect the area from such attacks.

Reputedly, Oliver Cromwell stayed in Rathfarnham Castle on his way south to the Siege of Wexford.

Two key examples were Rathfarnham Castle and Ashfield.

* Rathfarnham Castle

Blackburne bought Rathfarnham Castle in 1852, where his family continued to reside for three generations.

Drogheda, Wexford, Limerick, Dublin, Cork, Galway, Clonmel, Derry, Rathfarnham Castle, Trim Castle, Cahir Castle, Narrow Water, Bunratty Castle, Derry, Portadown, Ross Castle,

Rathfarnham Castle

Rathfarnham Castle () is a 16th century castle in Rathfarnham, South Dublin, Ireland.

Crossing the Dodder by a ford, and proceeding along its southern bank towards Rathfarnham, a splendid gateway at left, accounted among the best productions of that species of architecture in Ireland, invites the tourist to explore the once beautiful grounds of Rathfarnham Castle, but they are now all eloquently waste, the undulating hills covered with rank herbage, the rivulet stagnant and sedgy, the walks scarce traceable, the ice-houses open to the prying sun, the fish-pond clogged with weeds, while the mouldering architecture of the castle, and the crumbling, unsightly offices in its immediate vicinity ,… The castle, so long the residence of the Loftus family, and still the property of the Marquis of Ely, subject, however, to a small chief rent to Mr. Conolly, is an extensive fabric ,..... The great hall is entered from a terrace, by a portico of eight Doric columns, which support a dome, painted in fresco with the signs of the Zodiac and other devices.

This machine could detect earth tremors and earthquakes from anywhere in the world and for a time, Rathfarnham Castle became a source of earthquake information for the national media.