John Walker, who died on their honeymoon in Naples in January 1830. Frances Penfold died in August 1928. Her second husband, Courtney K. Clarke of Larch Hill, died aged 70, on 28 November 1873. Very little is known about the ownership from the 1870s until early in the 20th century. During the years 1914 to 1918 it is known that Larch Hill became a military sanatorium, and may have been used by soldiers affected by mustard gas, used during the First World War, to convalesce. According to the "history" section of the Larch Hill website, the "period 1918 to 1937 is also sketchy, however Sean Innes, the former warden, whose family occupied the now demolished Gate Lodge during this period, remembered that an American gentleman lived in Larch Hill with his mother" during the 1920s. In the period just preceding the purchase of the estate by CBSI in 1937, a Dublin businessman and bookmaker, John Coffey, owned the estate, but he found himself in financial difficulties, and the bank took possession of the estate. His father, William, was Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alderman and High-Sheriff. Scouting In 1937 Professor J.B. Whelehan, the then Chief Scout, together with the National Executive Board of CBSI (later Scouting Ireland (CSI)), decided to purchase a campsite. Many venues were suggested, but eventually two options remained. One was Santry Demesne, part of which is now the Morton Stadium for athletics, near Dublin Airport, and the other was Larch Hill. The decision fell to the casting vote of Prof. Whelehan, whose "whose foresight saw that the Santry location would become part of the city much quicker than South-side counterpart". The funding for the purchase of Larch Hill came from the 3,000 pounds profit the association made from non-Scout fares on the 1934 pilgrimage to Rome, and a 500-pound donation from the Knights of Saint Columbanus. Larch Hill officially opened as a campsite on 4 June 1938. An outdoor mass was celebrated in the garden area by Fr. Leo Mc Cann C.C., and was attended by over 400 Scouts from the Dublin Diocese (which received support around this time from John Charles McQuaid) who were participating in the inaugural camp over the Whit weekend. The Meitheal also ran a series of Cub and Scout camps summer camps in the form of mini-jamborees including "Camp Millennium" in 1988 to mark Dublin's 1,000 year anniversary and "Hill 96" that