This road through the Wicklow Mountains (still in use mainly for tourist traffic) was built at the beginning of the 19th century to open up the Wicklow Mountains to the British Army to assist them in putting down the insurgents who were hiding there following the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Rathfarnham itself was the scene of some skirmishes in the early days of the Rising which extended to the final battle in Raheen (now Raheen City) in County Wexford.