Glenvale, Ballyraggett

Area

197 m²

Buildings

2 buildings touch it, 143 m² on the ground

Zoning

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

Townland

Ballyragget

Planning applications on this parcel

No planning application touches this parcel in the national file, which goes back to 2010.

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 this parcel.

Recorded monuments around it

This parcel is in the zone of notification of 4 recorded monuments.

• KK010-001 Historic town
  Description

  On the E bank of the River Nore, at a shallow fording point. Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 86-7) argues that Ballyragget was known as Tullabarry before it became associated with Richard le Ragged in the early 13th century. The Register of the Abbey of St Thomas records that it was granted ‘the churches, chapels and all the tithes of Silolethe, in which the castle of Tulah Bari is situated’ in c. 1200, the grant being confirmed in 1202 (ibid. 87). Le Ragged’s presence can be gleamed from a controversy which arose in 1220 between the Canons of St Thomas’s Abbey and a priest, regarding the tithes of Richard le Ragged’s lands, which belonged to the church of Tulachbarri (ibid. 87-8). In 1408, ‘Stephen Pembrok gives and grants to Robert Schorthals, lord of Balylorcan, all messuages, lands, rents, lordships and services of Awnadhynwor (?), Balyrathyn [Ballyragget] and Garranynanryley’ (Curtis 1934, vol. 2, 285-6 (397)). In 1542, the Ormond Deeds record a bond, ‘by Stephen Pembroke, son and heir of Nicholas Pembroke, to James Butler, Earl of Ormond, in the sum of 500 L., to make full legal assurance to the Earl for the castle and town of Bellaragged, otherwise of old time called Balyrathin, in county Kilkenny’ dated January of that year (Curtis 1937, vol. 4, 215 (268)). There follow three other deeds in the same year, on the 1st of February, ‘James Purcell of Garran and Robert Oge Shortall of Hygginstown grant to William Seysse of Kylcowle all their castles, lordships, manors and other property in Ballyrathyn alias Bellaraggid..’, on the 6th of February, ‘William Seysse grants to Leonard Blaunchvile the above-said castles, manors, etc., with remainder to John Pembroke and his heirs’, and on the 24th March, ‘Bond of Margaret FitzGerald, widow, countess of Ormond, to James Butler, Earl of Ormond, in the sum of 1000 L., to abide by the award …concerning the possession of Bellaragged….’ (ibid., 216 (268)). In 1580 Richard Butler, the youngest son of Piers Rua, the nineth Earl of Ormond, was raised to the peerage and given the title of Viscount Mountgarret (Nolan 1979, 45). Richard had inherited Ballyragget which became the principal seat of this junior branch of the Ormonds (ibid.). A commission formed to establish the extent of the Earl of Ormond’s estates in 1589-94 refers to, ‘two hundredth burges acres of land or thereabouts of the lands of Balliraghtane’ (Curtis 1970, vol. 6, 121). Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 162) describes how, in 1600, ‘the town was garrisoned by the forces of Sir George Carew, Lord-President of Munster, when the sons of Lord Mountgarret, to whom it then belonged, were in rebellion against the crown, and had engaged with O’More to arrest the Earl of Ormonde’. The garrison consisted of, ‘thirty foot [soldiers] left in a ward in Mountgarret’s house, called Balliragget’ (O’Grady 1896, vol. 1, 26). In 1619, James I constituted this place a manor, and granted to its lord, Richard, third Viscount Mountgarret, the privilege of holding two fairs’ (Lewis 1837, vol. 1, 162). The Down Survey (165-6) barony map of Fassadining shows a small cluster of buildings where Ballyragget is located, representing the settlement, with an area planted with trees adjacent to the E. Cullen (1990, 277) suggests that the town was re-shaped c. 1650, centring around a triangular green. Ballyragget Castle is a 15th tower house (KK010-001001-) located within a substantial bawn (KK010-001002-) on the S side of the town. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 5 February 2019

• KK010-001001 Castle - tower house
  Description

  On the E bank of the River Nore, on the S side of the town of Ballyragget (KK010-001----). The tower house is N of centre within a roughly square bawn (KK010-001002-). Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 92) refers to a popular tradition which, ‘ascribes its erection to Mairgread ni Gearoid [Margaret Fitzgerald], who married Pierce Ruadh, Earl of Ormond, about 1485, and died in 1542; and a bench of stone, in the watch-tower, on the castle’s top, is known as “Mairgread ni Gearoid’s chiar”’. While not crediting her with the building of the tower house, Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 162), notes that this castle ‘had been a favourite residence of the celebrated Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, Countess of Ormonde, who is said to have frequently issued from the castle at the head of her armed retainers, to ravage the property of such of the neighbouring families as she deemed to be her enemies’. In 1580 Richard Butler, the youngest son of Piers Rua, the nineth Earl of Ormond, was raised to the peerage and given the title of Viscount Mountgarret (Nolan 1979, 45). Richard had inherited Ballyragget which became the principal seat of this junior branch of the Ormonds (ibid.). In the late 16th century the tower house appears to have undergone some alterations, with the insertion of a fireplace by Grissel, wife of Edmund, the second Viscount Mountgarret at fourth-floor level (Harbison 1991, 66). Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 162) describes how, in 1600, ‘the town was garrisoned by the forces of Sir George Carew, Lord-President of Munster, when the sons of Lord Mountgarret, to whom it then belonged, were in rebellion against the crown, and had engaged with O’More to arrest the Earl of Ormonde’. The garrison consisted of, ‘thirty foot [soldiers] left in a ward in Mountgarret’s house, called Balliragget’ (O’Grady 1896, vol. 1, 26). The castle and bawn are depicted on the Down Survey (1665-6) parish map of ‘Donogmore’ and the accompanying terrier records, ‘At Bellaraggitt a Castle and Bawne’ with Lord Mountgarrett, Irish Papist, listed as proprietor. Following the Rebellion of 1641, Mountgarret’s lands were confiscated and Ballyragget fell into the hands of a Cromwellian called Axtell, who apparently, while resident in the castle, entertained himself by hanging Catholics and Protestant Royalists from a lime tree on Ballyragget’s fair green (Lyng 1946-7, 18). At the Restoration Axtell was himself hanged and Ballyragget was returned to the Mountgarrets (ibid., 19). The Butlers continued to live in the tower house until 1788 when a new residence, Ballyragget Lodge, was built within the demesne, c. 200m to the SW of the castle. In 1798 the castle served as a British military post (Killanin and Duignan, 1967, 104). In 1813 the Butler estates of Ballyragget became the property of their cousins, McMurrough Kavanaghs of Borris (Lyng 1946-7, 22). According to Lyng (ibid., 23), ‘Last year [c. 1945] the castle and grounds and Ballyragget Lodge were disposed of to Mr. Carey who has brought new life to the baun [bawn] with his “Castle Hatchery.”’, this may provide a date for when the nesting boxes were quarried into the masonry of the castle. In the 1950s/60s the castle was used as a lumber store (Lyng 1956-7, 40). A five-storey tower house (ext. dims. 13.2m x 9.4m) built of limestone rubble, roughly coursed, with a base-batter. The fenestration consists mainly of round-headed single light windows and flat or round-headed two-light windows, though most of the latter have been broken out and re-built. Some of the flat-headed two-light windows have external hood-mouldings. The tower house has a relatively modern slated roof. There first, second and third floor had relatively modern wooden floors, but these are now partially collapsed and no longer safe to walk on. There are garderobe chambers in the NW angle of each of the four upper floors, all fed into two garderobe chutes, which exit side by side at the N end of the W wall. There was a building abutting the E face of the tower house, as evidenced by two lines of corbels which project out from the external E face, one above ground-floor level and the other above first-floor level, with a flat-headed doorway at first-floor level giving access from the E chamber into this building. The upper line of corbels continues around the E end of the S face. Entered via a pointed doorway in the E wall, the external rebate of the doorway has a yet-hole at the apex and on the N side. The entrance leads to a lobby, probably protected by a loop opposite but this has been broken out. S of this lobby there is a guard-room and to the N there is another lobby which gave access to the ground-floor chamber via a pointed doorway. Another doorway N of this lobby leads to the spiral stair which rises in the NE angle up to roof level. The ground floor was lit by three loops, in the N, S and W walls respectively, only the blocked-up round-headed loop in the N wall survives. There are three wall-cupboards, to in the S wall and one towards the E end of the N wall. The spiral stair leads to a first-floor chamber accessed through a pointed doorway. This chamber, resting on a wooden floor, is lit by a window in the N and S wall, and S end of the W wall, all broken out and re-built. There is a large segmental-headed fireplace in the S wall, with large well-cut limestone voussoirs, which was later slightly infilled with red brick to create a small opening. A garderobe chamber is entered via a flat-headed doorway on the N side of the W window embrasure, it is lit by a narrow loop in the W wall. The second-floor chamfer, resting on a wooden floor, is entered through a pointed doorway and lit by a two-light window at the W end of the S wall, a broken out and re-built window in the W wall and a blocked-up two-light window in the N wall. There is a depressed three-centred fireplace of polished limestone in the S wall, the central partially infilled with stone to create a smaller fireplace. A small mural chamber is accessed from the S side of the W window embrasure, lit by an angle loop. There is another mural chamber in the NW angle, accessed from the W side of the N window embrasure. It is lit by an angle-loop and by an unusually long and narrow cross-loop in the N wall, more typical of a 13th-century loop. A third chamber, in the E wall, not floored, is accessed from the main chamber. It is lit by a window in the E wall Entered from the spiral stair at third-floor level, there is a chamber along the E wall with a pointed vaulted roof, the floor of which does not survive. It is lit by a round-headed single-light window in the E wall and another in the S wall, broken out. The main third-floor chamber, with a wooden floor, is accessed from the spiral stair via a lobby lit by a window in the N wall. Entered through a flat-headed doorway, this chamber was lit by a window, within an embrasure, in the S end of the W wall, broken out and re-built. An opening at the W end of the N wall gives access to an L-shaped garderobe, lit by a window in its N and W walls. The main chamber is covered by a pointed vault with good survival of wicker-centring. A later brick-lined fireplace and flue have been inserted in the N wall. A pointed doorway gives access from the spiral stair into the main third-floor chamber. This was lit by a flat-headed two-light window, mullion missing, at the E end of the N wall, another in the centre of the W wall and a blocked-up window at the W end of the N wall and another in the centre of the N wall. The latter is blocked by an inserted chimney flue. There is a pseudo-four-centred polished stone fireplace centrally placed in the S wall. It is inscribed with the date 1591 and the initials G M [Grissel Mountgarret], within two heraldic shields, 15 over G in one and 91 over M in the other. There is a garderobe chamber in the NW angle, accessed from a doorway W of centre in the N wall. It is lit by a single-light window at the N end of the W wall. There is another small mural chamb

• KK010-001002 Bawn
  Description

  On the E bank of the River Nore, on the S side of the town of Ballyragget (KK010-001----). Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 92) refers to a popular tradition which credits Mairgread ni Gearoid [Margaret Fitzgerald], who married Pierce Ruadh, Earl of Ormond about 1485, as responsible for the construction of the castle. Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 162), notes that this castle ‘had been a favourite residence of the celebrated Lady Margaret Fitzgerald, Countess of Ormonde, who is said to have frequently issued from the castle at the head of her armed retainers, to ravage the property of such of the neighbouring families as she deemed to be her enemies’. In 1580 Richard Butler, the youngest son of Piers Rua, the nineth Earl of Ormond, was raised to the peerage and given the title of Viscount Mountgarret (Nolan 1979, 45). Richard had inherited Ballyragget which became the principal seat of this junior branch of the Ormonds (ibid.). Lewis (1837, vol. 1, 162) describes how, in 1600, ‘the town was garrisoned by the forces of Sir George Carew, Lord-President of Munster, when the sons of Lord Mountgarret, to whom it then belonged, were in rebellion against the crown, and had engaged with O’More to arrest the Earl of Ormonde’. The garrison consisted of, ‘thirty foot [soldiers] left in a ward in Mountgarret’s house, called Balliragget’ (O’Grady 1896, vol. 1, 26). The castle and bawn are depicted on the Down Survey (1665-6) parish map of ‘Donogmore’ and the accompanying terrier records, ‘At Bellaraggitt a Castle and Bawne’ with Lord Mountgarrett, Irish Papist, listed as proprietor. A roughly square crenelated bawn (dims. c. 100m ENE-WSW; c. 91m NNW-SSE) with two-storey round turrets at each angle. There is a tower house (KK010-001001-) N of centre in the interior. Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 93) describes the bawn as a, ‘court-yard wall, turreted at the angles, and surround by a deep fosse, is in excellent preservation’. According to Lyng (1946-7, 12), ‘a moat formerly surrounded the bawn. Remains of the moat may still be seen outside the north wall’. The bawn is entered through a round-headed archway N of centre in the E wall. It is protected by gun-loops on either side and overhead by a double machicolation resting on corbels. The S portion acts as a murder-hole and there are three gun-loops in the wall of the machicolation, one in the centre and one on either side. S of this there is a row of houses, with their back yards running up to the bawn wall. A large shed has been built along the E end of the N wall. The W wall of the bawn kinks in S of centre, the angle of the kick-in being projected by gun-loops. Within this kink there is a second entrance, a round-headed archway protected on either side by gun-loops. Internally the bawn has a wall-walk which accesses gun-loops. Some lengths of wall-walk have subsequently been made redundant by filling the top of the wall-walk with mortared rubble with a curved profile. On the 25-inch OS map there are buildings running internally along much of the W half of the N wall and running N-S from the E end of this range of buildings, which are now removed. There is another range running internally E-W from the centre of the W wall, this still survives. The N portion of the bawn has been used as a yard, with a concrete ground surface. Internally there is a shed mid-way along the N portion of the W wall and two sheds in the NE quadrant, one along the N wall and the other, not joined, but at right angles c. 4m to the W. An inserted curving wall runs from the W end of the S wall of the tower house to S of the entrance in the W wall of the bawn. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 12 February 2019

• KK010-001003 Enclosure
  Description

  According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 89), 'In the garden of Ballyragget Lodge, adjoining the eastern wall of the castle yard [KK010-001002-], there was formerly a large circular area, enclosed by an earthen rampart, and generally called "a rath;" it was levelled about 1850, and the site converted into what is known as "the bower."'. There is no visible trace of this enclosure at ground level. A row of houses, possibly built over the enclosure, run N-S from the entrance road into the bawn. The rear plots of these houses run up to the external face of the E wall of the bawn. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 12 February 2019

Architectural heritage

No building of the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage stands on this parcel.

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).

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