A warm welcome to the website of the Parish of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Ballyboden!

Ballyboden is situated at the foot of the Dublin Mountains. It is within the suburb of Rathfarnham, between Whitechurch, Ballyroan and the village of Rathfarnham. According to the 2016 census, Ballyboden Parish has a population of 9,611. Like the surrounding parishes most parishioners live in suburban housing, but Ballyboden Parish contains a significant part of South Dublin’s green belt stretching up to Kilmashogue, Glendoo, Kilakee, Cruagh and the Hellfire Club. As a result, unusually for a Dublin parish, we also have a number of farms in the area...

The Ballyboden area was originally part of the Parish of Rathfarnham which goes back to Pre-Reformation times. Terenure was the first parish to separate from Rathfarnham in 1894. The rapid increase in population in the Rathfarnham area from the 1960s on resulted in a series of new parishes separating in quick succession – Churchtown (1965), Ballyroan (1968), Tallaght (1972) and Ballyboden (1972).

The Augustinian Order, which have had long associations with the area, were asked in 1973 to take charge of the newly – formed Parish. The oratory of their student house was used as a Parish Church for weekly Mass. The extra space needed for Sunday Masses was provided by opening the folding partitions between lecture halls. The parish then built its own Church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel. This was opened and blessed by Archbishop Ryan on 4th October 1981.

There are two historical artefacts in the Church that give us links with Christian communities in the far distant past. The Holy Water font beside the main entrance is from the original Augustinian Abbey in Tullow, Co Carlow. The Abbey was founded around 1300. The font was kept safely by the Gahan Family and was given to us by Thomas Kirwan, Abbey Street, Tullow.

The Bell in the Belfry of the Church was originally in the Church of Santa Maria in Posterula, Rome. It bears the date 1612 AD as well as the name of the reigning Pope Paul the Fifth.

You can learn more about the Augustinian Order in Ballyboden, in Ireland and internationally in links on this website. There is also a section on the website with details on the Parish Groups formed in the period since the parish was established and on the primary schools in the parish and other educational facilities.