recent times (another spring, named for Brian Boroimhe, of uncertain age, still exists, on Castle Avenue near the coast). A manor house and a small associated village were located on the slight ridge overlooking the sea where the Clontarf Castle Hotel is now situated. The manor house was rebuilt many times, with the current hotel dating largely to the early 19th century. The tower house on the site is a 19th-century replica of the original Templar structure. The adjoining ruined church is the old Church of Ireland parish church, which dates to the mid-17th century and includes what may be the earliest use of red brick in Ireland. Clontarf Castle was burnt in 1641 by the Governor of Dublin, Sir Charles Coote, apparently in revenge for the disloyalty of the then owner, George King. The castle, estate and district were given in 1649 by Oliver Cromwell to John Blackwell, who assigned his interest to John Vernon, Quartermaster-General of Cromwell's army in Ireland, although this is described in Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of 1837 as “conferred by the Crown on Admiral Vernon”. The Vernon family subsequently occupied the Castle for nearly three hundred and fifty years. In 1659, the population of Clontarf was 79. Fishing, oyster-catching and farming remained the main occupations over the following centuries, with a major fish-curing industry at the Sheds, near the foot of Vernon Avenue (the Public House at the site still bears the name), around 1 km from the original village. In the 18th century, this developed into a secondary settlement of fishermen and small farmers, living in basic cabins and with drying sheds for their catch. The settlement is prominently marked on navigation maps for Dublin Bay dating to the 18th century. However, as with many such 'informal' settlements in Ireland, Clontarf Sheds became the site for a 19th-century Roman Catholic church – the Church of Ireland St. John's Church, and the Roman Catholic St. Anthony's closer to the original settlement – and then outgrew the original village. The 1837 Lewis report remarked that "The land in this Parish is reported to be in the very highest state of cultivation..." 19th century In the early 19th century, Clontarf had become a holiday resort for the citizens of Dublin, who came out from the city to enjoy bathing in the sea or in the hot and cold seawater baths erected by Mr. Brierly. A horse omnibus