ENNISKERRY
ENNISKERRY
– Brian White
Enniskerry 1916–22 The Deane Oliver family Richard Edward Deane Oliver, Royal Engineers, was killed in action at the Somme, 7 September 1916, in his 26th year. Richard was baptised in Powerscourt Church in 1890. His grandfather was Edward Falconer Litton, QC., who at the time lived at Valclusa, Enniskerry. Richard was educated at Aravon in Bray and at Burial inscription of Richard Deane Oliver Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated with 1916, St. Patricks, Enniskerry. Photo: igb-web.com a degree in Engineering. He gave up a job on the Manchester Ship Canal to take a commission in the Royal Engineers. He was killed instantly by a sniper while constructing a new line of trenches. He is remembered on the Roll of Honour in the Christ Church, Bray, at a memorial in Aravon and on the family grave in Powerscourt churchyard. Losing Richard was only the beginning of the family’s troubles. Richard’s father, Charles Deane Oliver, who lived at Rockmills House, near Fermoy, Co. Cork, was Chief Engineer of the Department of Agriculture, and of the Congested Districts and Fisheries Boards. He was responsible for a great many of the harbours in the south and west of Ireland, and for opening up Arklow harbour in 1915. In 1919, the year he retired, Rockmills House was attacked by masked men, who shot him in both thighs. Then, in the spring of 1921, the IRA burnt Rockmills and the family, having lost everything except their lives, was forced to flee to England to live with relatives. They did return, however, to live productive lives in the new republic. Charles Deane Oliver was born on 3 June 1861. He was the son of Richard Charles Deane Oliver and Katherine Hawtayne (d. 1911). He married Maria Charlotte Litton, daughter of Hon. Edward Falconer Litton, in 1888. He died on 6 February 1945 at age 83. He was educated at St. Columba’s College and at Trinity College. 123
