Ballybur Upper

67 registered freehold parcels lie mostly in Ballybur Upper, from 33 m² to 430,748 m² (43.07 ha, 106.44 acres). The dashed line is the townland's boundary; 33 neighbouring parcels touch it.

Download the townland: DXF, in Irish Transverse Mercator metres, with its boundary, parcels and buildings; GeoJSON or KML.

No zone of a development plan covers Ballybur Upper in the national zoning. Outside zoned towns and villages, the county development plan's rural policies apply to each application.

Source: Tailte Éireann and the Department of Housing (MyPlan), national zoning, CC BY 4.0.

• 30 Apr 2025Conditional

  Planning Permission for the construction of an agriculture livestock shed with slatted underground slurry storage tank, concrete apron and all associated site works at Ballybur Upper, Cuffesgrange, Co. Kilkenny

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 2560231

• 5 Aug 2022N/a

  for proposed development work at Ballybur Castle, which is a protected tower house structure, REF: KK023-039. The development includes the change of use of the existing castle tower house and adjacent coach house from residential use to provide commercial accommodation and small function venue. The proposals include the local repair and repointing to the external walls of the protected castle tower building, modification and single storey extension to the existing single storey coach house, the provision of 8 no. single storey bedroom cabins on the site, the provision of a new wastewater treatment system and associated percolation area and associated siteworks

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 22514

• 21 Jun 2022Conditional

  for the construction of a dwelling house, domestic garage, site entrance and all associated site works

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 22403

• 13 Jul 2021Conditional

  for (1) the utilisation of groundworks arising from the demolition of the house and the removal of septic tank system permitted to be demolished and removed under planning permission Ref:07/1576; (2) the completion of the remainder of the development permitted under planning permission Ref:07/1576 involving the construction of a 2-storey dwelling, garage and proprietary waste water treatment and entrance; (3) all associated works

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 21601

• 29 May 2020Conditional

  for deforestation of part of my lands comprising of 9.85 hectares for conversion to agricultural land

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 20333

• 10 Mar 2020N/a

  for deforestation of part of lands comprising of 9.85 hectares for conversion to agricultural land

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 20149

• 16 Oct 2019Conditional

  to indefinitely retain a dining/living room extension to the side of the dwelling, to retain a glazed porch to the front of the dwelling, to retain a detached garage to the side of the dwelling, to retain a shed to the rear of the dwelling and to retain an additional vehicle entrance to the side of the site

  Retention · Kilkenny County Council, 19766

• 22 May 2019Conditional

  for the following: (a) Installation of domestic waste treatment and disposal system (b) Associated works

  Permission · Kilkenny County Council, 19340

• 21 Aug 2018Conditional

  to demolish existing dwelling and construct a replacement dwelling, improvement works to existing entrance, upgrade existing wastewater treatment system to current EPA standards, soakpits and all other associated works at

  Permission, 1 home · Kilkenny County Council, 18555

Source: National Planning Applications, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Applicants are not shown.

Designated sites

No designated site (Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area, Natural Heritage Area or proposed one) touches the townland of Ballybur Upper.

Recorded monuments

• KK023-039 Castle - tower house
  Description

  On a slight rise of ground with good views in all directions. Ballybur tower house is located in the townland previously known as Ballymackan. The construction of the tower house is attributed to Thomas Comerford, who died in 1588, and was the head of the Comerford family of Ballybur (Hogan 1880-83, 40-41). His son, Richard Comerford (1564-1637), was probably responsible for remodelling the castle, with the insertion of new windows and fireplaces in the upper storeys. Richard Comerford was married to Mary Purcell, daughter of Purcell, Baron of Loughmore in Co. Tipperary and his tomb (KK023-036004-) is located in Grange graveyard (KK023-036002-) c. 900m to the NW (Commins 1906, 265-6). The castle is mentioned in a Crown Lease of the 3rd Dec., 1583, made out to Francis Lovell, of Lysmactiege, Esq., ‘of the site of the castle with three other castles in Ballymackane (i.e. Ballymack [Ballybur]), Co. Kilkenny, lands in Ballymackan, Lesloline, Tullaghmain, Magistoun, Redmore, Kilbreckan, Newehouse, Kilbleyn, Roweston, Blackeslande, Carnegill, Goslington, Shellam Rath, Arlestone, Corbally, Dungarvin, Busshoppesloughe, Thomaston, and in the burgage of the baron of Burnchurch, the possessions of Tho. Quemerford [Comerford], late of Ballymackan, in the Co. Kilkenny, attainted. To hold for 21 years. Rent 20 pounds during the life of Margaret Cowley, who has part of the premises in dower; afterwards 30 pounds. Maintaining one English horseman’ [Cal. of fiants Elizabeth I]. Another Crown lease was made, on the 19th July, 1586, to Henry Comerford, brother of Thomas Comerford, who had been attainted, ‘of the castle of Ballymackane [Ballybur], the lands of Ballymackane, Lyslonne, Tullaghmayne, &c. (as above). To hold in fee farm for ever’ [ibid.]. In 1656 John Comerford of Ballybur had his lands confiscated and he was transplanted to the Barony of Bunratty of Co. Clare (Simington 1970, 3). The tower house is described in 1839 as consisting of 'three stories, the upper one vaulted with stone, the other floors, composed of timber, all remaining yet, that the roof is off. It measures twenty four feet by nineteen [c. 7.3m x c. 5.8m] in the clear, the door, which is a pointed one, being in the east side. It contains eleven windows and fourteen loopholes, all built with cut stone' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 269-70). In 1905, Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 373) described Ballybur as a 'four-storeyed keep, of great strength, and in good preservation, except that it is roofless'. Described in 1909 as a castle measuring 38 feet by 30 feet (12.4m x 9.1m), of three stories and a basement, and walls 7 feet (2.3m) thick; is vaulted on first and top floors, the latter roofless with an entresol between the basement and first floor. The top flat, as usual the principal apartment, 35 feet (11.4m) by 18 feet (5.48m), is well lighted by two large double windows, 5 feet (1.5m) by 3 feet (0.9m), with trefoil heads and deeply splayed internally, that on the east set into a recess or alcove 14 feet (5.48m) long, and these have marks of iron bars for the casements; it has a large solid fire-place of plain masonry' (Fleming 1909, 179-81). The present remains consist of a well-preserved and restored (between 1979 and 2006) four storey tower house (approx. ext. dims. 8.3m N-S x 10.9m E-W) built of roughly coursed rubble with alternating cut and dressed quoinstones with a slight base-batter (Salter 2018, 114-17). The tower is entered through a pointed doorway located of centre to N in the E wall. This doorway has an external rebate for a yett and a yett-hole visible in S and N jambs and a third hole present in the apex of the doorway. The external face of this doorway is protected overhead by a machicolation at wall-walk level. The main doorway leads into a lobby area (int. dims. 1.9m x 1.34m) which is one of two lobby areas and is protected by a guardroom located in NE angle and by a slit ope directly opposite the entrance in W wall which provides occupants of ground floor with a way of defending this first lobby area. This wall and slit ope have been since rebuilt. The guardroom (int. dims. 0.9m x 1.9m) originally had access to a musket loop or yett loop visible in the E jamb of the main doorway. From this first lobby area there is a pointed doorway in the S wall which leads into a second lobby area (int. dims. 1.28m x 1.25m) from which the spiral stairs (Wth 0.9m) in SE angle and ground-floor chamber are accessed. This second lobby area has access to a yett-hole in S jamb of main doorway. From this lobby area there is a doorway in the S wall which leads to a spiral stairs in SE angle from which all upper floor chambers are accessed. The main ground-floor chamber (int. dims. 4.73m N-S x 5.07m E-W; wall T 1.75m) is accessed from a pointed doorway in the W wall of the lobby area. The ground floor is lit by three simple slit opes set into wide embrasures (Wth 1.75m) located in the S, W and N walls. There is a tall niche in the NE angle and a small low niche in the SE angle. The wooden floor joists are set into the thickness of the wall over the ground floor and are carried on a wall plate which are supported by corbels. From the spiral stairs all upper floors are accessed along with several mural chambers at mezzanine levels between the first, second and third floors. There is a large stone fireplace in the S wall of the second floor and this chamber is lit by two-light windows set into the centre of the W wall. This chamber appears to have been the public hall of the castle. The fireplace has an external chimney stack which is carried on corbels visible on the S wall of the tower. There was a stone-vaulted loft or entresol over this first-floor chamber which was accessed from a doorway in a mural chamber in the E wall of the tower. This mural chamber was accessed off the spiral stairs. The third floor over the vault appears to have been the private hall and is open to the roof timbers of the castle. This hall has a large fireplace in the S wall and access to a secret mural chamber which may have acted as the treasury chamber of the castle. From the spiral stairs in the SE angle the wall-walk and the machicolation over the doorway is accessed, there is a circular angle machicolation or bartizan on the NW angle of the wall-walk. The mural chambers in the E wall of the castle give access to several garderobes in the NE angle of the castle, the outlet for which is visible in the N wall of the tower house at ground-floor level. Several mural chambers are lit by angle loops at first-floor levels. Five two-light mullioned windows with overhead hood-mouldings appear to be late 16th/ early 17th century in date and are clear insertions replacing earlier narrower windows of ogee-head type. The sillstones of these earlier windows are still visible below the present windows. These two-light windows were inserted into the castle to provide more light for the two halls of the castle. Four of these windows were inserted into the N, S, E and W walls of the private hall at third-floor level while only one two-light window was inserted into the W wall of the tower at first-floor level. There is no surviving evidence for a bawn wall. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 11 August 2021

• KK023-051 Burnt spread
  Description

  Located c. 60m N of a NW-SE flowing stream. Identified as a, 'spread of charcoal and burnt clay, probably part of a fulacht fiadh' during the construction of the Cork-Dublin gas pipeline (Sleeman 1983, 365-6). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 17 August 2021

• KK023-052 Enclosure
  Description

  Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map, with a stream running NW-SE along the SW edge. According to O'Kelly (1969, 174) this stream is called the Blackstick. On the 1947 revision of the OS 6-inch map the enclosure is indicated as an oval area (max. dims. c. 68m N-S; c. 46m E-W) enclosed by a fosse with water from the stream flowing into the fosse in the SE sector. The monument has subsequently been levelled, though its outline is visible as a cropmark on satellite imagery (Google Earth, imagery date 21 April 2011; Digitalglobe, viewed 17 August 2021). See attached: KK023-052----_01 satellite image (Google Earth, imagery date 21 April 2011) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 17 August 2021

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands in the townland of Ballybur Upper.

Designated sites: National Parks and Wildlife Service. Recorded monuments: Sites and Monuments Record, National Monuments Service. Buildings: National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, CC BY 4.0. Works at or in relation to a recorded monument need two months' written notice to the National Monuments Service (National Monuments (Amendment) Act 1994, section 12).

Radon

About 1 in 5 homes in this area is likely to have high radon levels. Testing a home

Landslides

Susceptibility low, low (inferred), on the 1:50,000 map.

Terrain model

No LiDAR survey of the Office of Public Works covers the centre of the townland of Ballybur Upper.

Flooding

The flood maps of the Office of Public Works: floodinfo.ie.

Radon Risk Map of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency; Landslide Susceptibility Classification, Geological Survey Ireland; both CC BY 4.0. LiDAR: contains Irish Public Sector Data (Geological Survey Ireland & the Office of Public Works) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.

No address of the register names Ballybur Upper with five sales or more. The sales of the area are on the page of Co. Kilkenny.

Name

Ballybur Upper · Baile an Bhurraigh Uachtarach

Area

1,594,133 m² (159.41 ha, 393.92 acres)

Civil parish

Ballybur, and its townlands

Barony

Shillelogher

Electoral division

Grange, the unit of the census

Census 2022

Grange electoral division: 903 people in 285 households; 92% of households own their home; 23% of homes were built since 2001; 6% of dwellings stood vacant on census night, and 1% were holiday homes.

Neighbouring townlands

Ballybur Lower, Baunlusk, Burnchurch, Church Hill, Grangecuffe, Oldtown, Paddock, Sunhill

Placenames

Ballybur Upper on logainm.ie, the Placenames Database of Ireland

Townlands, civil parishes, baronies and electoral divisions, National Statutory Boundaries, Tailte Éireann, CC BY 4.0. Census 2022, Small Area Population Statistics by electoral division, Central Statistics Office, CC BY 4.0. A townland is the smallest land division of Ireland, and the unit of a rural address; old registers such as the 1901 and 1911 censuses file it under its civil parish and barony.