Ballyhack () is a small village located in the south-west of County Wexford, in

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 ...

, on the eastern shore of the

Waterford Harbour Waterford Harbour ( gle, Loch Dá Chaoch / Cuan Phort Láirge) is a natural harbour at the mouth of the Three Sisters; the River Nore, the River Suir and the River Barrow in Ireland. It is navigable for shipping to both Waterford and New Ross ...

, which is the estuary of The Three Sisters

History

The village contains a 15th-century

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

castle or

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strateg ...

, which belonged to the

Knights Hospitallers The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

and was built around 1480, though it is thought the site's use was initially as a Preceptory, as far back as the 12th-century. The castle was occupied by Cromwellian forces during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, and was later used as a transportation point for those displaced by the Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652. It is from this association that the phrase "Go to Ballyhack" was coined. The castle is open to the public, having been partially restored, and displays objects relating to the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

, and medieval monks. Some the features of the castle that are on view are its dungeon,

murder-hole A murder hole or meurtrière is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders could shoot, throw or pour harmful substances or objects such as rocks, arrows, scalding water, hot sand, quicklime ...

, effigies and oratory. The castle is a National Monument, in state care, number 516.

Name

Ballyhack has been represented in Irish as and . The derivation is believed to be from the Irish word for stable, , and meaning town, village, home or settlement. Thus Ballyhack would mean the place or town of the stable.

Amenities

The village contains a shop, a pub, an old schoolhouse, and a small quay for fishing boats. The village also features a memorial to those lost at sea, which was unveiled in 2015. A ferry service operates between Ballyhack and Passage East ( County Waterford), over the broad estuary of The Three Sisters. There is also a cemetery located on a height near the edge of the village, which is located on the site of the former Ballyhack Church (Saint James's). The church was closed in the late 1800s, and demolished at some point before 1902. A point of interest in the graveyard includes a record of a Laurence Power, who supposedly died in 1836 at age 170. The school in the village is called St. Catherine's NS and is located on top of Ballyhack Hill. It opened in 1959.

Sport

The local

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sports, amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include t ...

club is St James GAA, which plays in the Intermediate grade of the Wexford Championship. The local soccer team is Duncannon FC.

References

{{Authority control Towns and villages in County Wexford National Monuments in County Wexford

History

Name

Amenities

Sport

See also

References