The lands on which the house were built formed part of the holdings of the
Priory of All Hallows until the dissolution of the monasteries. The area around the house later came into the ownership of the Coghill family. Marmaduke Coghill built Drumcondra House near to his the family's older residence at Belvidere House, Drumcondra sometime around the year 1710. He lived there with his sister Mary until his death in 1738; the house was renowned for its gardens. Close by
Drumcondra Church (formerly Clonturk parish) was built by Mary Coghill and contains a statue to her brother Marmaduke by the Flemish sculptor
Peter Scheemakers. On her death in 1755, the house was left to their niece Hester Coghill, daughter of Marmaduke's brother James. Drumcondra House became the residence of
Charles Moore, 1st Earl of Charleville, following his marriage to Hester in 1737. Following Moore's death in 1764, she remarried a second husband Major John Mayne, who assumed the name of Coghill, and was created a baronet,
Sir John Coghill, 1st Baronet of Richings. The house was then leased from Hester, Countess of Charleville to Alexander Kirkpatrick, a Scottish linen merchant, a former
Sheriff of Dublin City in 1783 and governor of the
Bank of Ireland. On his death in August 1791 the lease reverted to the Coghill family once again. The Countess had died in 1789 with most of her estates going to her nephew. Drumcondra House was however left to Sir John Thomas Coghill, 2nd Baronet (1766–1817). In the early 1800s,
John Claudius Beresford lived for a period at the house following his financial difficulties which resulted in a move from his property at 9
Buckingham Street.
Sir Guy Campbell and Lady Campbell, daughter of
Lord Edward FitzGerald, were the last residents in the house under the ownership of the Coghill family. In 1842 Drumcondra House was rented by a Catholic priest named
Father John Hand who went on to found a seminary
All Hallows College there, which was run by the
Vincentian order which is now a college of
Dublin City University. £100 was donated towards the site by Lord Mayor of Dublin,
Daniel O'Connell. He was buried in the temple in the grounds after his death. == Building ==