The house was built by
Bartholomew Van Homrigh, who at the time was the
Lord Mayor of Dublin, in 1697. It is, however, more famous as the childhood (1688–1707) and later adult (1714–23) home of his daughter,
Esther Vanhomrigh, (1688–1723), who was
Dean Swift's 'Vanessa'. Swift was known to travel frequently to Celbridge Abbey to see her. The poem in which Swift fictionalised her as
Vanessa, "
Cadenus and Vanessa", was written seven years before he visited her in Celbridge in 1720. The house was acquired by
Thomas Marlay, the
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland in 1723. Thomas Marlay's son, Bishop
Richard Marlay, had the house rebuilt in the 1780s. An occupant in the late 19th century was Colonel Gerald Dease, a Catholic nobleman who entertained the
Empress of Austria and later
Prince Henry of Prussia during their visits to Ireland. Since 1952, the house has been owned and managed by the
Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, providing a range of Respite, Residential, Day Services and Early Services for people with an intellectual disability. ==Rock Bridge==