Ballaghmore (historically ''Bellaghmore'', from ) is a small village located on the western side of
County Laois,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, southwest of
Portlaoise. It is situated in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of Kyle in the historic
barony of
Clandonagh
Clandonagh () is a barony in County Laois (formerly called ''Queen's County'' or ''County Leix''), Republic of Ireland. A barony was a historical subdivision of a county; mainly cadastral rather than administrative.
Etymology
Clandonagh barony ...
.
Amenities
The village has a
hurling club (
Kyle GAA
Kyle GAA is a Gaelic Athletic Association hurling club in County Laois, Ireland.
Located near Ballaghmore on the County Laois-County Tipperary border, the club colours are blue and white.
History
Kyle won its only Laois Senior Hurling Cha ...
) and a Roman Catholic church (Saint Molua's). Saint Molua's church was built in 1812, and extensively renovated in 1978.
The main industry in Ballaghmore is farming.
Ballaghmore Castle
The town is mainly known for Ballaghmore Castle. The castle derived its name from the Bealach Mor, the ancient road to
Munster on which the castle is located.
Ballaghmore Castle was built in 1480 by the Irish chieftain
Mac Giolla Phádraig, translated as McGillpatrick / ''Son of the Servant of Patrick'' (nowadays often called simply ''
Fitzpatrick''). Like other castles at the time, Ballaghmore Castle was damaged by Cromwellian forces in
1647
Events
January–March
* January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong by a Qing archer after having been betrayed one of his officers, Liu Jinzhong.
...
during the
Laois-Offaly Plantation
Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The Crown saw the plantations as a means of controlling, angl ...
.
A Mr. Ely restored the castle in 1836 and found a hoard of gold on the land in the process. Ely was killed by an angry farmer and never lived in the castle. The uninhabited building was used as granary and fell into disrepair until it was bought by its present owner in 1990.
Of all the castles of
Upper Ossory
Upper Ossory () was an administrative barony in the south and west of Queen's County (now County Laois) in Ireland. In late Gaelic Ireland it was the túath of the Mac Giolla Phádraig ( Fitzpatrick) family and a surviving remnant of the once l ...
, it is the only one which is still habitable.
Sheela na Gig
A feature of Ballaghmore Castle is the
Sheela na Gig which is carved in a corner stone of the outer front-facing wall.
The Sheela na Gig is depicted as a half-dead woman with a contorted face and fully exposed vagina. The emphasis on the female reproduction organs in combination with her deathlike appearance is associated with the cycle of birth and death.
See also
*
Cullahill Castle - castle with Sheela na Gig, also in Laois
*
List of towns and villages in Ireland
*
Lists of castles in Ireland
References
External links
Ballaghmore Castle official siteFitzpatrick Clan Society
{{County Laois
Towns and villages in County Laois
FitzPatrick dynasty
Castles in County Laois