County Offaly
County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...
,
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 ...
. It is about two kilometres east of
Kilcormac
Kilcormac () is a small town in County Offaly, Ireland, located on the N52 at its junction with the R437 regional road, between the towns of Tullamore and Birr. It is a small town of 935 people (as of the 2016 census), many of whom were prev ...
.
Prior to the
Plantations of Ireland
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 ...
, Ballyboy was ruled by O'Molloy in a territory known as
Firceall
Firceall () was an ancient Gaelic Irish territory which formed the most south - westerly part of the ancient Kingdom of Meath. O'Molloy was chieftain of the territory. Firceall itself comprised the ancient baronies of Ballycowan, Ballyboy and ...
which was allied to the
Kingdom of Meath
Meath (; Old Irish: ''Mide'' ; spelt ''Mí'' in Modern Irish) was a kingdom in Ireland from the 1st to the 12th century AD. Its name means "middle," denoting its location in the middle of the island.
At its greatest extent, it included all of ...
. When the Gaelic chieftains were removed from power following the English Plantations, Firceall was broken up with Ballyboy forming its own
barony Barony may refer to:
* Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron
* Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron
* Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...
County Offaly
County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...
).
Although now a small village of several houses, a pub and a primary school, it was an important and thriving hub in the Middle Ages. During this era, the town had a hat and glove factory, and a mill which was used for making flour, grinding corn and cutting timber. The ruins of the mill are still standing today on the road from the village to Ballyoran. The mill, one of several in the area, was powered by water from the Silver River which is a tributary of the
River Brosna
The River Brosna ( ga, An Bhrosnach) is a river within the Shannon River Basin in Ireland, flowing through County Westmeath and County Offaly.
The river rises in Lough Owel north of Mullingar and is a tributary of the River Shannon. It meets t ...
.
There is also a
ring fort
Ringforts, ring forts or ring fortresses are circular fortified settlements that were mostly built during the Bronze Age up to about the year 1000. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are also many in South Wales ...
in the village environs which legend has it is linked by a tunnel to the Ballyboy church about 400 metres distant. The church in Ballyboy was originally a
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
but was later dedicated as a
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...