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Ballitore () is a village in
County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...
,
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 ...
, sometimes spelt as Ballytore. It is noted for its historical
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
associations. It was the first planned Quaker village in either England or Ireland - and remains the only one in Europe.


History

Ballitore was first developed and founded as a
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
settlement in the early 1700s. Two Quakers named John Bancroft and Abel Strettel founded Ballitore. They developed the farmland in the area around Ballitore, which is located within a valley, and also developed the town. A chapel was built in circa 1707. The Quaker school was founded by Abraham Shackleton (1697–1771) in 1726 and catered for Quakers from other parts of Ireland as well as both Protestant and Catholic local children. Parliamentarian
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
, a student at Shackleton's school from 1741 to 1744, described Shackleton as "the planter of the future age". Due to the religious foundations of the town, it was set on fire during the
1798 Rebellion The Irish Rebellion of 1798 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1798; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ''The Hurries'') was a major uprising against British rule in Ireland. The main organising force was the Society of United Irishmen, a Irish republicanism, ...
. The Quaker school in Ballitore was founded and run by the Shackleton family and kept within the family for three generations. It was the most successful Quaker
private boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
in Ireland throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. The boarding school was founded in 1726, by Abraham Shackleton, who was previously a schoolmaster in Yorkshire. The school was the only one in Ireland which provided more than just elementary-level education. It even offered
modern languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such a ...
in the 1780s, which was well ahead of its era. It held between 50 and 60 pupils ranging greatly in age. It was an esteemed boarding school, with the elites attending, such as the sons of Stratford Eyre. In 2013, the Quaker school was demolished in order to make way for a
Glanbia Glanbia plc ( ) is an Irish global nutrition group with operations in 32 countries. It has leading market positions in sports nutrition, cheese, dairy ingredients, speciality non-dairy ingredients and vitamin and mineral premixes. Glanbia produc ...
development in the centre of the town. The 18th-century building had been a listed building up until 2011 and was on the Record of Protected Structures (RPS). However, in 2012 Kildare County Council decided to delist it.
Mary Leadbeater Mary Leadbeater (; December 1758 – 27 June 1826) was an Irish author and diarist. Early years and education Leadbeater was born in Ballitore, Athy, County Kildare, Ireland. She was the daughter of Richard Shackleton (1726–1792) by his second ...
, the daughter of Richard Shackleton and granddaughter of Abraham Shackleton, who founded the Quaker school, was a poet and a writer who lived in Ballitore. She wrote of her first-hand experiences during the 1798 rebellion. Mary Leadbeater's house is situated on the corner of Ballitore's central village square, and is a preserved building acting as the Quaker museum.


Demographics

In the 2002 census, Ballitore had a population of 338, increasing to 793 by the time of the 2016 census. In 1837 the population was 933.


Historic buildings and places


Ballitore House

Ballitore House, situated on Fuller's Court Road, was once the home of the Strettels, the family of Abel, one of Ballitore's founders. A wood was originally planted next to the house to enhance its beauty. The house was burnt down by the
IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
in 1922, leaving only the original walls, but was restored again in 1926. only to fall into disuse again.


Ballitore Mill

Originally a woollen mill, Ballitore Mill was later adapted for use as a corn mill, while flour was also milled widely including in the nearby village Crookstown less than one kilometre away.


Fuller's Court

Built in 1720, Fuller's Court is the early home of the writer Mary Shackleton (later known as Mary Leadbetter) who was born here in 1758. The granddaughter of Abraham Shackleton, she was a pioneering educator whose pupils included Edmund Burke, Napper Tandy and Paul Cullen (who later became Ireland's first cardinal). She married William Leadbetter in 1791 and became Ballitore's first postmistress.


Griesebank House

Griesebank House, once known as the Mill House, is a Georgian property dating from about 1700 that has been noted by the
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) maintains a central database of the architectural heritage of the Republic of Ireland covering the period since 1700 in complement to the Archaeological Survey of Ireland, which focuses on arc ...
as being of considerable social and historical importance for its links with the Shackleton family and the development of Ballitore as a Quaker village. It is situated next door to the remains of Ballitore Mill. Like nearby Griesemount House, it is named after the River Greese (also spelt ''Griese''; ) which flows between them, and powered the mill. Set in its own grounds, the house is adjacent to the ruined Ballitore Mill to the southeast. In the early 1990s,
Jonathan Irwin Jonathan Hiatt Nicolson Dermot Irwin (born 21 June 1941), is a former blood stock agent, auctioneer, stud owner, publisher and racetrack executive. In 1997, he founded the Jack and Jill Foundation with his wife Mary Ann O'Brien, to provide h ...
and wife
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Mary Ann O'Brien Mary Ann O'Brien (born 8 September 1960) is an Irish businesswoman and former politician. She is the founder and chairman of Lily O'Brien's Chocolates and in 1997, she founded the Jack and Jill Foundation with her husband Jonathan Irwin, to pr ...
bought the house and upgraded the house with an adjoining contemporary wing. O'Brien is widely recognised as one of Ireland's early female entrepreneurs, having created the international chocolate brand 'Lily O'Brien's Chocolates' from the kitchen of Griesebank House. During the same period, Irwin set up the
Jack and Jill Foundation Jonathan Hiatt Nicolson Dermot Irwin (born 21 June 1941), is a former blood stock agent, auctioneer, stud owner, publisher and racetrack executive. In 1997, he founded the Jack and Jill Foundation with his wife Mary Ann O'Brien, to provide h ...
. In 2015 the house was put on the market.


Griesemount House

Griesemount House is a period property located close to the village possessing intact Georgian features and layout, and containing four reception rooms and six bedrooms. The scale and fine detailing of the house have been noted by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. George Shackleton, a grand-uncle of the Antarctic explorer Ernest, built Griesemount House in 1817 and raised 13 children there, including the noted botanical artist
Lydia Shackleton Lydia Shackleton (22 November 1828 – 10 November 1914) was an Irish botanical artist who studied at the Royal Dublin School of Art and Design. She was the first artist-in-residence at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Dublin, creating hundreds of ...
who was the first artist-in-residence at the
Botanic Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...
in Dublin. One of Shackleton's first recorded sketches is of the house. In the 'Annals of Ballitore', a diary kept between 1766 and 1823 by local writer Mary Leadbeater, it is described how "on the 22nd day of the sixth month this year, (mid-summer's day) 1817, the first stone of George Shackleton's house at Griesemount was laid by his little niece Hannah White". In the early 1970s, the house passed into the ownership of Sara von Stade, the widow of an American army lieutenant killed in Germany during the Second World War and mother of
Frederica von Stade Frederica von Stade OAL (born June 1, 1945) is a semi-retired American opera singer. Since her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1970, she has performed in operas, musicals, concerts and recitals in venues throughout the world, including La Scala, th ...
, the world-famous mezzo-soprano singer. Having bought it “for a knockdown price”, von Stade restored and updated the house including enhancement of the gardens. The most recent owners bought the house in 1983 and began operating it as a part-time B&B circa 2003. The house was put up for sale in 2017 with an asking price of €925,000, and again in 2018 for €850,000. In November 2019 the entire contents of the house were put up for auction, following the recent sale of the house.


Quaker Graveyard

Close to the village lies the Quaker Graveyard in which Mary Leadbetter and her husband lie side by side. Unusually for an Irish graveyard of the 18th century, there is no church. The yard is enclosed by four stone walls and the graves are simple and uniform; flat slabs announcing names only, with no superfluous messages, as is Quaker tradition. The gravestones are designed to be uniform as, according to Quaker beliefs, all are equal in death.


Quaker Meeting House

The village's
Quaker Meeting House A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ...
now serves as a library and museum set in the village square. The museum, refurbished from the old Quaker meeting house, was restored in 1975 by
Kildare County Council Kildare County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chill Dara) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kildare, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housin ...
, and won a European heritage award in 1979. The museum includes artefacts from the original Shackleton home in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
, dating from 1660. The museum also holds items of Quaker interest such as a wedding dress and bonnet worn by Marian Richardson in 1853 and also holds manuscripts and letters from the Shackleton family, as well as watercolours by Mary Shackleton. As of 1999, the Meeting House also remained in service as a house of prayer for the local Quaker community, most of whom were noted to have "embraced the religion relatively recently", and who gathered on Sunday mornings.


The Leadbetter House

Another one of the Leadbetter's houses was built with its gable end facing side-on to the main street and looked onto the village market square. In the late 1990s, the house was restored by a FÁS scheme which won a national award worth £100,000. The meticulously ordered Quaker ethos of discipline and avoidance of excess can be observed in the design of the building with a sequence of lime-washed, small-windowed rooms which open up on each other.


Shackleton school

The Quaker school in Ballitore was founded and run by the Shackleton family, and kept within the family for three generations. It was the most successful Quaker
private boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
in Ireland throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. By 1999 a small house existed on the site with a plaque on the wall in memory of the school. In 2013, the Quaker school was demolished in order to make way for a
Glanbia Glanbia plc ( ) is an Irish global nutrition group with operations in 32 countries. It has leading market positions in sports nutrition, cheese, dairy ingredients, speciality non-dairy ingredients and vitamin and mineral premixes. Glanbia produc ...
development in the centre of the town.


Shaker Store

The 'Shaker Store', a workshop which sells
Shaker furniture __NOTOC__ Shaker furniture is a distinctive style of furniture developed by the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, commonly known as Shakers, a religious sect that had guiding principles of simplicity, utility and honesty. ...
and other wooden gifts, is situated in the main square. The building in which the shop sits, built c.1770, is described in its entry in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage as an "important component of the architectural heritage of Ballitore, representing the early development of the area as a planned Quaker village". The building was the family home of the Lawler's for several generations and by 1999 the business was operated by Michael Lawler. An ancestor of Michael's named Paddy Dempsey was a leader of the United Irishmen and the first man killed in the Ballitore Rebellion, while another ancestor, Owen Finn, a blacksmith, was also a participant and executed for making pikes. Both individuals are now memorialised by plaques, one on each of the villages two streets.


Amenities

As of August 2022, the village has two pubs; Case's and Butterfield's, known colloquially as 'The Harp'. Butterfield's, a three-bay two-storey house dating to the late 1700s/early 1800s, is of architectural note retaining many important early or original salient features. These include timber sash fenestration, a timber panelled door, a natural slate roof, a vast open-hearth brick fireplace and a cracked
flagstone Flagstone (flag) is a generic flat stone, sometimes cut in regular rectangular or square shape and usually used for paving slabs or walkways, patios, flooring, fences and roofing. It may be used for memorials, headstones, facades and other con ...
floor. Butterfield's has been noted as being "representative of the unassuming, unrefined architecture of the locality". A third pub, O'Connor's, closed down circa 2015. As of August 2022, the village has a shop, a post office, a café, a
chip shop Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...
and the Shaker Store.


Transport

Ballitore is connected to the R448 and R747 regional roads. Ballitore is in south Kildare, on the border with
County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by t ...
, and is 63km from
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. It is situated between
Kilcullen Kilcullen (), formally Kilcullen Bridge, is a small town on the River Liffey in County Kildare, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its population of 3,473 at the 2011 census made it the 12th largest settlement in County Kildare and the fastest growi ...
and
Castledermot Castledermot () is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford previously passed through the village but upon completion of a motorway ...
, which is just off the N9. The village is served by bus route 880 operated by Kildare Local Link on behalf of the National Transport Authority. There are several buses each day including Sunday linking the village to
Castledermot Castledermot () is an inland village in the south-east of Ireland in County Kildare, about from Dublin, and from the town of Carlow. The N9 road from Dublin to Waterford previously passed through the village but upon completion of a motorway ...
,
Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...
and
Naas Naas ( ; ga, Nás na Ríogh or ) is the county town of County Kildare in Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 21,393, making it the second largest town in County Kildare after Newbridge. History The name of Naas has been recorded in th ...
as well as villages such as
Moone Moone (; ) is a small village in the south of County Kildare, Ireland. It is on the former N9 road (now by-passed) about south of Dublin. It has only a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a national school, one shop and a small community ce ...
in the area.


Culture

St Laurence's GAA St Laurence's GAA LG Naomh Lorcán'' is a Gaelic Athletic Association club in south County Kildare, Ireland. History St. Laurence's G.A.A. Gaelic Athletic Association Club, Oldgrange, Narraghmore, Co. Kildare is based in the parish of Narragh ...
is based in the parish of Narraghmore, encompassing Kilmead, Booley, Narraghmore,
Calverstown Calverstown () is a small village in County Kildare, Ireland. It lies south of the town of Kilcullen and about from each of the towns of Athy, Kildare, Naas and Newbridge. It is an old settlement located close to the archaeological sites of ...
, Kilgowan, Brewel, Ballymount, Ballitore and
Mullaghmast Mullaghmast ( ga, Mullach Maistín), (modern spelling in English is Mullamast) is a hill in the south of County Kildare, Leinster, near the village of Ballitore and near the borders with Wicklow, Laois and Carlow. It was an important site in p ...
. Griese Youth Theatre operates in the Quaker meeting house, and have participated in local historical reenactments as well as in
National Theatre Connections Connections (also referred to as New Connections and formerly Shell Connections and BT Connections) is the Royal National Theatre in London's annual youth theatre festival. It was founded in 1995 and sponsored by Royal Dutch Shell until 2007 when t ...
and with Youth Theatre Ireland.


People

*
Richard Brocklesby Richard Brocklesby (11 August 1722 – 11 December 1797), an English physician, was born at Minehead, Somerset. He was educated at Ballitore, in Ireland, where Edmund Burke was one of his school fellows, studied medicine at Edinburgh, and f ...
, English physician, was educated in Ballitore. *
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
, Anglo-Irish Parliamentarian, writer and political philosopher, was educated in Ballitore. * Charles Kendal Bushe,
Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge i ...
, was educated in Ballitore. *
Mary Leadbeater Mary Leadbeater (; December 1758 – 27 June 1826) was an Irish author and diarist. Early years and education Leadbeater was born in Ballitore, Athy, County Kildare, Ireland. She was the daughter of Richard Shackleton (1726–1792) by his second ...
, Irish Quaker, writer and poet. *
Job Scott ''Job Scott (October 18, 1751 in Providence, Rhode Island – November 22, 1793 in Ballitore, Ireland) was an eminent traveling minister in the Religious Society of Friends and a prominent American quietist. His religious philosophy had a deep, shap ...
, American travelling Quaker minister, died here in 1793. *
Lydia Shackleton Lydia Shackleton (22 November 1828 – 10 November 1914) was an Irish botanical artist who studied at the Royal Dublin School of Art and Design. She was the first artist-in-residence at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Dublin, creating hundreds of ...
, botanic artist and Irish Quaker, was born here in 1828.


See also

* List of towns and villages in Ireland * Market Houses in Ireland *
Moone Moone (; ) is a small village in the south of County Kildare, Ireland. It is on the former N9 road (now by-passed) about south of Dublin. It has only a few hundred inhabitants, a church, a national school, one shop and a small community ce ...
, a nearby village with a
high cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...
dating from the 8th century * Quakers in Ireland


References


Further reading

* ''Biographical Dictionary of Irish Quakers'' Richard S. Harrison 1997 * ''Memoirs and letters of Richard and Elizabeth Shackleton, late of Ballitore, Ireland; compiled by their daughter, Mary Leadbeater, including a concise biographical sketch, and some letters, of her grandfather, Abraham Shackleton'' Shackleton, Richard, 1726-1792. London, Printed for Harvey and Darton, 1822. * ''Poems'' Mary Leadbeater London 1808 * ''The Annals of Ballitore 1766-1824'' Mary Leadbeater ; edited and introduced by John MacKenna ; illustrated by Mary Cunningham. Athy, Co. Kildare Stephen Scroop Press 1986


External links


Kildare Tourism Ballitore
(archived)

(archived)
The Shackleton family in Ballitore
(archived) {{Authority control Towns and villages in County Kildare Planned communities in the Republic of Ireland