LUCAN, an inland town and parish in Newcastle barony, Dublin county, seven miles W. from Dublin, comprising an area of 1,126 acres, of which 33 are in the town. Population of parish, 1,139, of town, 563, inhabiting 91 houses. It is situated close to the line of the Great Southern and Western Railway, of which it is the second station from Dublin, and upon the mail coach road to Galway and Sligo.

After the Conquest this place was settled on Richard De Peche, one of the early English adventurers ; and in 1220 was in the possession of Waryn De Peche, who founded the monastery of St Catherine, in the immediate vicinity. In the reign of Richard II it belonged to the Rokeby family, and in the sixteenth century was the property of the Sarsfield family, and of William, the distinguished general of that name, who forfeited it for his adherence to the cause of James II. It is now the property of the Vesey family. The town is prettily situated in a fertile vale, on the east bank of the River Liffey, which is here crossed by a bridge of one arch, with granite parapet, surmounted by iron palisades, and consists of one wide angular street of small but neat houses and cottages, most of which are let in summer to visitors and invalids. Its public buildings are, the Parish Church, a neat structure with a tower and spire, a large new Roman Catholic Chapel, and a Wesleyan Methodist Meeting House. It has a Dispensary and a Loan Fund, having a capital in 1845, of £2,619, which circulated during the year £9,790, leaving, after the expenses of management and interest, a net profit of £50, applied to charitable purposes. Here is also a Poor Shop, a Lending Library, and National Schools for Children of both sexes. It is a Chief Constablulary Police Station, and Petty Sessions are held every alternate Tuesday. Lucan is noted for its chalybeate spa, and is much resorted to for its efficacy in scorbutic, bilious, and rheumatic complaints; in that called the "boiling spring," its waters on analysis has been found to contain in every two gallons, 70 grains of crystallized carbonate of soda, 20 of carbonate of lime, 1 1/2 of carbonate of magnesia, 2 of silex, 6 1 / 2 of muriate of soda and 14 of sulphur. The spa-house is an appropriate building, consisting of a centre and two wings, in one of which is an assembly room, 62 feet long and 22 feet wide, in which concerts and balls are occasionally given.

The scenery around Lucan is delightfully varied, and in part romantically beautiful, particularly in the grounds of Weston park, in which is the well-known and much frequented Waterfall, called the "Salmon Leap"; which consists of' a succession of rocky ledges on the Liffey, over which the fish dart at line bound. It form, a beautiful cascade, the picturesque effect of Which in greatly increased by the rich and lofty wooded banks of the river, and the adjoining tastefully embellished demesne of Leixlip Castle. The parish abounds in gentle-men's seats, and handsome villa residences; the principle of which are Lucan House, in a demesne of 500 acres, in which there is a monument to one of the Sarafields, and an ancient oratory; St. Edmondsbury, Weston park, Woodville, Hermitage, &c. In the Irish peerage this place gives title of Earl to the noble family of Bingham.

The railway trains from Dublin to Carlow, &c. stop at 22 minutes past 7, and 20 minutes past 9, a.m. at 22 minutes past 3, and 20 minutes past 5, p.m. The up trains to Dublin from Carlow, &c. stop at 19 minutes past 9, and 44 minutes past 11, A.M., at :34 minutes past 7, and 44 minutes past 10, P.m. The fares are, first class carriages, 1s. ; second class, 9d. ; third class, 6d. The mail from Dublin arrives at 55 minutes past 8, p.m., and is despatched at 5 past 4 a.m. The Post Office grant and pay money orders.