Information about Ballynakill Old Castle

Information from O'Donovan's Field Name Books

Standard Name:
Ballynakill Old Castle
Irish Form of Name:
Baile na Cille
Translation:
town of the church
Civil Parish:
Ballinakill in Leitrim Barony
View all place names in this civil parish.
Other Forms of the Name with authority source (if provided) in italics:
Ballynakill Old Castle
Ballynakill Old Castle Corpl. Gilmour
Ballynakill Old Castle Hyacinth Clarke, Esq.
Castle of Ballynekilly Inq. Temp. Jac. I
Ballynakill Old Castle Rev. Mr. Clarke, P.P.
Description:
An ancient castle in ruin, some of the walls yet remain which stands about 30 feet. It is said that the parish derived its name from it.
Situation:
In the South West end of the townland of Ballynakill about 1 mile E. N.E. of Marble Hill House.
Information from the Ordnance Survey Letters:
The Ordnance Survey Letters are letters between John O'Donovan and his supervisor, Thomas Larcom, regarding the work of compiling the Field Books. These letters provide further discussion on many of the places listed in the Field Books.
References to this place can be found in the following letters.
  • Volume 2 page 517
  • Volume 2 page 519 to page 520

Townland Information

What is a townland?:
A townland is one of the smallest land divisions in Ireland. They range in size from a few acres to thousands of acres. Many are Gaelic in origin, but some came into existence after the Norman invasion of 1169
Townland:
Ballynakill Old Castle is in Ballynakill townland.

Information From Maps

Original OS maps at the Ordnance Survey of Ireland website.
(Click on place name to view original map in new window.)
This link is not a link to the townland that you are currently researching; however, if you follow this link, you will see a search box near the top of the page which you can use to search for your townland.
Having followed this link, you will see several expandable links - each link has a plus sign on its left - on the top left of the page. Expand 'Base Information and Mapping'. Now it is possible to select the maps that you wish to view by clicking on the checkbox that is on the left of each map; this list includes the original Ordnance Survey maps.
You can select more than one map and you can use a slider to make one map more transparent than another. This allows you to view what features were present or absent at different points in time.
(This map will display in a new window.)
Ballynakill Old Castle
Information from the National Monuments Service.
(This information will display in a new window.):
You can use this link to view a map of archaelogical features.
This link brings you to a website wherein you will have to search for your townland.
Archaeological map from the National Monuments Service
If you notice any inaccuracies with any of the above, please e-mail us.
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