- Ballyadams Castle
- Source: http://members.fortunecity.com/chtii/irish/laois/
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BALLYADAMS
According to
A
Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
by Samuel Lewis
BALLYADAMS, a parish, partly in the barony of
STRABALLY, but chiefly in that of BALLYADAMS,
QUEEN'S county, and province of LEINSTER, 31/2
miles (S. W.) from Athy; containing, with the
parish of Baltintubber, 2165 inhabitants. This
parish, which gives name to the barony within
which it is chiefly included, and is also called
Kilmakedy, is situated on the road from Carlow
to Maryborough; and comprises 6811 statute
acres, as applotted under the tithe act, of
which about 30 are woodland, 260 bog, and the
remainder good arable land. The state of
agriculture is improving; limestone is quarried
for building and burning; there are some
quarries of good flag-stone, and coal is found
in the parish. Ballyadams Castle is the seat of
Capt. Butler; Gracefield, of Mrs. Kavanagh; and
Popefield, of Capt. Pope. To the north of the
old castle is Southville, formerly a residence
of the late Richard Grace, of Boley, Esq. The
living is a rectory and vicarage, in the diocese
of Leighlin, with the rectory and vicarage of
Ballintubber united from time immemorial; the
patronage is disputed, and in the mean time the
Bishop presents. The tithes of the united
parishes amount to £553. 16. 11. The church of
the union is at Ballintubber; the old parish
church is a ruin situated on an eminence, and
containing a monument with the recumbent
effigies of Sir Robert Bowen, of Ballyadams
Castle, and his lady, and one to the memory of
the late Major-Gen. Sir Edward Butler. There is
neither glebe or glebe-house. In the R. C.
divisions the parish is the head of a union or
district which comprises also the parishes of
Ballintubber, Tullowmoy, Kilclonbrook,
Rathaspeck, and Tecolme, and contains three
chapels, one of which is in this parish. There
is a school of about 80 boys and 50 girls. A
school at Ballintubber was founded towards the
close of the last century by Bowen Southwell,
Esq., who endowed it with £20 per annum; and
there are three pay schools. On a hill opposite
to that on which are the remains of the church,
are the ruins of the old castle of Ballyadams,
which was besieged in 1641; they consist of
embattled walls with projecting towers, and a
lofty keep, and present a very interesting
appearance. Near the castle are two very ancient
wells sunk a few feet in the solid limestone
rock, the water of which is supposed to have had
medicinal properties imparted to it by St.
Patrick. Cobler's Castle, bordering on the
barony of Stradbally, was built on the summit of
a lofty hill, to give employment to the
neighbouring poor in a season of scarcity.
Source: Irish
Midlands Ancestry
- Ballyadams Castle
Ballyadams Castle, Laois
The following diary entry was
made by Austin Cooper in 1782: "At Ballyadams is
a large Castle, the front consists of two large
round towers, between which is an entrance and
over it a wall is carried in a line with the
exterior limits of these towers, so as to form a
machicolation over the door. Adjoining these
towers on each side are two large modern wings,
one of which is kept in repair as a lodge by Mr
Butler, the present proprietor, the other never
was finished. The inside of the castle exhibits
a scene sufficient to excite compassion from
every lover of ancient grandeur - the boarded
floors all torn up, the plastered wall and
ceilings threatening the observer with
destruction and to complete this grand scene of
desolation, the great state room still remains
hung with elegant tapestrys now left to rot
away."
Source:
Fortunecity.com
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- Image
source: National Inventory
of Architectural Heritage
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Ballyadams House
Detached five-bay single-storey house with
dormer attic, c.1865, possibly incorporating
fabric of earlier building with advanced
entrance bay and gable.
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