Thanks to Malahide Historical Society

Under the terms of a lease agreement of 1844 between Lord Talbot of Malahide Castle and one James Fagan, who developed St. James Terrace, the Talbots agreed to make a footway along the seaward side of the pleasure gardens (now occupied by the tennis club and sea scouts) with a retaining wall along the beach and to level the ground to the boundary. The ‘Bandwalk ‘remains a popular and much frequented route today and the supporting wall between it and the beach is still in good condition if a little overgrown with weeds. The path continued in the other direction towards the coast and was referred to in old leases as ‘the waste’ road for reasons that are not clear. As well as the set of stone steps in front of the scout den at the bottom of St. James’s Terrace, used by Victorian and Edwardian trippers for boat trips around the estuary or to picnic on The Island, there is another set of steps surviving from that time. Little used nowadays, the broad zig-zag steps down to the beach opposite the fountain at the Grand Hotel were known as ‘Granny Holton’s Steps’ and were a popular means of accessing the foreshore for children and adults alike in years gone by. It is not known how the steps took her name but Granny Holton is believed to have been of the Holton family which ran the post office over a long period and also a grocery and provisions shop on Main Street. The Farrell Holton shop (later Findlater’s) was about where Brophy Estates and the former Xtravision premises is today.