Rochestown Castle
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An Old Anglo-Norman Glenmore Family: The Forrestalls
Today, our second installment of part of Chapter 4, Vol. 4 of Carrigan’s History & Antiquities of the Diocese of Ossory (1906) (p. 89-91) is presented below and features the four main branches of the Glenmore Forrestall families. The spelling of the surname varied as much a the spellings of Glenmore townlands and areas. Any editorial commentary has been placed in square brackets [ ].
The Forrestalls
“The Forrestalls, an Anglo-Norman stock were landed proprietors in Glenmore parish from an early date. They were divided into four main branches or families, one of which was seated at Forrestallstown; another at Kilbride; a third at Carrickcloney, and the fourth at Mullinahone. John Forstall M’Walter of Forristalstown, gent” had a pardon 5th June 1566. Walter and Gibbon Forstall, of the same place, gents, were pardoned, the former in 1571 and the latter in 1572. By Inquisition of 5 April 1658, it was found that Gibbon Forstall, late of Forstallstowne, was seised of Forstallstown, Ballymolgorme and Ballycroney; he died so seised thirty years before; and that his son and heir Walter Forstall, was at the time of full age and married.”
Forrestall’s Town
“By another inquisition of 12 October 1640, it was found that Walter Forstall, late of Forstall’s towne, was seised of the castle, town and lands of Forstall’s town, otherwise Ballynkenny, Ballymvegarran (Ballygurrin), Ballyheamocke, (now called Jamestown, still called in Irish Boilia-hee-omúch—the town of Séumoc or little James), Newfoer and Ballycroney, otherwise Rusheldstown; that he died 1st March 1639-40, and that his son James was then full of age and married. Under the Cromwellian regime, James Forstall, with Thomas Den, forfeited Forrestallstown, Milltown and Ballygurrim, and was transplanted to Connaght. The castle of Forrestallstown was “thrown down about the year 1800.”
“In Irish Forrestall is pronounced Furristhawl and Forrestallstown is called Bollinurristhawla.”
Kilbride, Glenmore
“Kilbride—Redmund more Forstall, of Kilbride, was pardoned Dec. 28th, 1571. Walter Forstall, of Kilbride, gent., pardoned in 1602 and 1603, was Constable of the Barony of Ida, in 1608. Edmund Forstall, of Kilbrydy, gent., was one of the jurymen at an Inquisitioin held Aug. 18th, 1623. Richard Forstall, of Kilbride, gent., and Katherine, wife of Redmond Forstall, of Kilbride, gent., are mentioned by one John Kearney as taking part in the alleged plundering of the Protestants, at the beginning of the Outbreak of 1641. Redmund Forstall, of Kilbride, gent. Appears as a juror in 1636; he forfeited Kilbride in 1653, and, with Walter Forstall, of Kilbride, was transplanted to Connaught the same year.”
Carrickloney, Glenmore
“Carrickloney—Edmund Forstall m’Thomas m’ Redmund of Karrcknelonyne, horseman, was pardoned iin 1548-9, and Walter Forstal fitz Edmund, of the same place, horseman, probably his son, was pardoned in 1566. Richard Forstall, of the same place, was Constable of the Barony of Ida, in 1608, and received a pardon in 1612. In 1639 Thomas Forstall gent., had a grant, under the Commission of Grace, of the townlands of Carrigneglonyne, Kilmakevoe and Knockbrack and ½ of Ballynerahie. Peter Forstall forfeited Carricknegloning, Kilmackvoge, Knockbrack and Rathsallagh, in 1653, but his name does not appear on the list of the transplanted.”
“The castle of Carrickloney was taken down in the memory of the people still living.” [See our post of 8 July 2021. One room of Carrigcloney Castle still stands complete with a vaulted ceiling.]
“In Irish Carrickloney is called Corrig-na-glooin-eeny, the rock of the little lawns, meadows, or insulated bog islands.” (Referenced O’Donovan).
Mullinahone, Glenmore
“Mullinahone—Walter Forstall of Monhowen, gent., had a pardon, in 1571-2, Richard Forstall, of Monynehoen, Gent, appears as a juror, Sept. 22nd, 1636. In 1653, Edmund Forstall forfeited Munmonewhone, Jamestown, Parkstown, and Ballybraghy. He is, very probably, the ‘Edmund Forstall, of Monyhoare,’ who was banished beyond the Shannan in the same year, and who was assigned lands in the Barony of Island, in the Co. Clare, amounting to 392 stat. acres, which after his death, were confirmed to his son, ‘Peter Forstall, gent., son of Edmund Forstall, deceased,’ by a royal grant of June 26th, 1677.”
“Mullinahone castle shared the fate of the other Forrestall castles, having been razed to the ground many years ago. Its site is pointed out in Mr. Richard Phelan’s ‘castle field,’ a few fields west of Glenmore chapel.” [Per Danny’s son, Pat Dowling, the stone head in Danny’s collection was found in the castle field of Mullinahone.]
“In Irish, Mullinahone is called Mullanahooan. This, too, is the local Irish for Mullinahone, in the Co. Tipperary. In both cases we have an instance of the corruption, or substitution, of the liquid ‘l’ for the liquid ‘n’—a very usual occurrence in the spoken Irish. The correct Irish sound of Mullinahone is Munnanahooan, the shrubbery of the lamb.”
Rochestown, Glenmore
“The Forrestalls of Rochestown, lately extinct, are traced by O’Donovan, in a pedigree to be quoted before the end of this Chapter, to a Captain Edmund Duff Forrestall, who fought at Limerick, in 1690, and who most probably belonged to the Mullinahone or Carrickloney branch of the family. The Forrestall name is still well represented in this parish.” [The photo to the right is the Forrestal Coat of arms on the family vault in Kilivory Church Yard, Glenmore. For further information concerning this coat of arms see the Kilivory section at the end of our headstone page.]
O’Donovan’s Letter (1839)
On pages 98-100 Carrigan inserted the entire letter O’Donovan wrote on 30 September 1839 concerning the parish of Kilcollumb [today Kilcollumb is divided between Slieverue and Glenmore]. The following extract from the letter concerns the Forstall Family of Rochestown.
“That part of Rochestown on which Lady Esmond’s house stands is now called Ringville, but in the title deeds ‘the Ring of Rochestown,’ It was purchased by Mr. Devereux, the uncle of Lady Esmond, from the father of Pierce Edmond Forstal Esqr.”
“The family of Forstal have been a long time located in the county of Kilkenny, but I have no historical account of them. The tradition among themselves is that they came to Ireland with the Earl Strongbow, and were located in the counties of Clare and Kilkenny. Pierce Edmond Forstal of Rochestown, Esqr., has a piece of copper with the arms of the family and the following inscription engraved on it :
Insignia veteris familiae Fosterorum alias Forstallorum comitatus Kilkenniensis in Regno Hibemiae, authentice et ex officio exiradita Dublinii, ultimo die Novembris 1674, anno Regni Caroli Secundi Regis vigesimo secundo, per Richardum St. George Ulster Regem Armorum.
[Translation: The coat of arms of the ancient family of Foster, alias Forstall, of the county of Kilkenny, in the Kingdom of Ireland, authentically and ex officio struck at Dublin, on the last day of November, 1674, in the twenty-second year of the reign of Charles the Second, by Richard St. George Ulster King of Arms.]
” Three pheons in sable, a helmett on the wreath, greyhound’s head, coop argent, collar and chain.”
XXXXXXX
To view some local medieval inscriptions see, Fearghus Ó Fearghail, Old Kilkenny Review (1996) “Some Ossory Medieval Inscriptions Revisited,” p. 94-105. The featured photo above is the ancient Celtic Cross of Dunnamaggan, Co. Kilkenny (Carrigan, v. 4., p. 36). For further information see the Kilkenny Graveyards blog (post 3 July 2016).
Please send any corrections, further information or photos to glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh
Glenmore Castles
On the 23rd of October 1964, Danny Dowling, interviewed and recorded several stories told by “Nicky the Miller” Forristal (1888-1979) of the Mill, Graguenakill, Glenmore. One of the stories of particular interest concerned the Carrigcloney Castle of Glenmore. The following short story is how it was recorded by Danny.
Buried Treasure at Carrigcloney Castle
“Tom Meany a farm labourer who lived in a cabin in Carrigcloney is reported to have got a large hoard of money from the above castle. It appears that a chap from the Co. Carlow who was working in Barry’s of Carrigcloney, dreamt on a number of occasions that there was a hoard of money in a certain spot at the castle. He used to ramble to Meany’s every evening night, and he told him the story of what he had dreamt.”
The two men decided to dig around the castle one night. They went to the spot in the dream and dug, and when they came to flag stone Meany pretended to see a ghost and partly fainted. Both fled and the story goes that as soon as the chap had gone home to bed Meany and his wife went back and got the money. Meany later left the district and took a brick marsh in Gracedieu where he commenced to manufacture bricks. Old Paddy the Weaver (Walsh) of Glenmore Village worked for him in the brickworks there. Meany later bought a public house in Waterford City.”
Although the story does not indicate when the treasure was discovered at the Carrigcloney Castle, a marriage record was located for Thomas Meany (c. 1801-1873) and Bridget Hynes of Carrigcloney. The couple were married on 10 February 1834 at Glenmore. A death record was also located indicating that Thomas Meany, brickmaker, of the Glen, Waterford died on the 4th of July 1873 at the age of 72. His wife Bridget Meany was present at his death.
Tom Meany was dead prior to Nicky the Miller’s birth. This story is similar to the pot of gold that was allegedly hidden in Cappa, Glenmore with a Carlow man dreaming about its location. See our 2020 post Glenmore Gold. Interestingly Barrys are still in Carrigcloney and Hoynes originally from Carrigcloney are still found in Glenmore. We were not able to find any information that linked Tom Meany to ownership of the brick yard or a pub in Waterford.
The Castle/Tower Houses of Glenmore
Generally, speaking the remnants of the building referred to as Carrigcloney Castle is more in keeping with a medieval tower house rather than a castle. A tower house was usually the fortified home of a wealthy landowner and these occupants considered their fortified residence a castle. A tower house was made of stone and usually was four or more stories in height. Originally tower houses were built by the Normans, but some Gaelic families also began to build them.
Tower Houses were built from about 1400 to 1650. One historian reckoned that there were around 2,900 castles across Ireland, and the majority of these were tower houses. “Tower houses came into existence by the early fifteenth century, when a 1429 statute allowed the counties of the Pale to grant £10 to landowners towards their construction” (Colm Donnelly (1996) “Frowning Ruins: The Tower Houses of Medieval Ireland,” 4 (1) History Ireland is available online. )
In attempting to locate information regarding the Carrigcloney Castle references to several other castles or tower houses around Glenmore were found. Most of the known castles or tower houses that were located in Glenmore were near the River Barrow. This was primarily due to the fact that the rivers were the earliest highways and inhabitants tended to settle along the rivers. Further up the River Barrow from Glenmore there is an early 19th century drawing of Castle Annaghs and it provides an example of a tower house that was still inhabited.
[1] The Carrigclooney (sic) Castle was destroyed around 1800. It and a hamlet bearing the same name are near the River Barrow, in the townland of Carrigclooney, in the old civil parish of Kilmakevoge. ( Historic Castles of Kilkenny available online.) Contrary to the information provided on the webpage, Carrigcloney Castle was not totally destroyed. One room of the castle/tower house remains standing today with an impressive vaulted ceiling.
Other Glenmore Castles/Tower Houses
The Historic Castle website list for Glenmore also includes:
[2] Aylwardstown House was built about 1609 in Aylwardstown townland. According to some of Danny’s notes it is believed that the house may be on the site of a previous tower house or have parts of a tower house incorporated into it.
[3] Rochestown Castle once stood in Rochestown townland, in the Civil Parish of Kilcolumb overlooking the River Barrow. It is described as being near the south road of the village.
[4] Forrestalstown Castle which belonged to the Forrestal family once stood in the old civil parish of Ballygurrim. The Forristal family lost their lands under Cromwell and were transplanted to Connaught. This castle was demolished also around 1800.
[5] Mullennahone “sic” Castle once stood in the townland of Mullinahone, in the old civil parish of Kilmakevoge. This castle was “levelled” around 1800. A field called the “Castle field” is described as being a few fields west of the chapel in Glenmore. This is the only known castle/tower house far removed from the River Barrow.
Impact of the 1798 Rebellion?
Nowhere was an explanation provided as to why so many of these castles/tower houses were demolished or destroyed in about 1800. We suspect that the 1798 Rebellion centred predominately in Wexford, on the east side of the River Barrow, may have caused or impacted on the decisions to demolish the Glenmore castles/tower houses. Sometimes taxes caused castles to become derelict. For example, it is said that Blarney Castle and Ross Castles had their roofs removed because of taxes. Carrigcloney Castle currently has a slate roof, but it is not known when it was installed.
To view historical monuments in the area see the National Monuments Service, the Historic Environment Viewer. The Viewer is a free digital service to facilitate access to the National Monument Sites and Monument Record databases available by clicking here. For further reading see, Tadhg O’Keefe, “Halls, ‘Hall-Houses’ and Tower-Houses in Medieval Ireland: Disentangling the Needlessly Entangled” (2013/2014) 27 The Castle Studies Group Journal p. 252 available online via academia.edu.
Special thanks to Neddy and Eileen Aylward for providing access and information on Carrigcloney Castle. The featured photo above is of Carrigcloney Castle taken in June 2021.
The photo on the left depicts a small stone face that is thought to have been found in Glenmore.
If anyone knows of any other castles or tower houses that were located in Glenmore parish, or has further information or corrections, please email glenmore.history@gmail.com.
Dr. Kathleen Moore Walsh