The barony of Knocktopher () is a

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 ...

in the west of

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny ( gle, Contae Chill Chainnigh) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the South-East Region. It is named after the city of Kilkenny. Kilkenny County Council is the local authority for the cou ...

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 ...

. The barony is in size. There are 16 civil parishes made up of 125

townland A townland ( ga, baile fearainn; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a small geographical division of land, historically and currently used in Ireland and in the Western Isles in Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of Gaelic origi ...

s. It is one of 12 baronies in the county. The chief town is

Mullinavat Mullinavat () is a town in south County Kilkenny, Ireland. Its main industries are tourism and agriculture. It has a renowned sporting history, particularly in hurling. The town's name in Irish translates as 'The Mill of the Stick' which, accor ...

and it contains the settlements of Stonyford,

Ballyhale Ballyhale () is a village in the south east of Ireland. Located in the south of County Kilkenny, south of the city of Kilkenny and roughly halfway to Waterford city. The sport of hurling is popular in the area, and the local Gaelic Athletic Ass ...

, Hugginstown, Knocktopher, and Dunnamaggan. The M9 motorway bisects the barony. Knocktopher lies at the west of the county, the barony is bordered by Kells to the west (whose chief town is Kells), by the baronies of Shillelogher and

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town located on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is located in the centre of Gowran close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course is located one km from t ...

to the north (whose chief towns are

Bennettsbridge Bennettsbridge () is a village in County Kilkenny in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the River Nore south of Kilkenny city, in the centre of the county. Bennettsbridge is a census town, and has population of 745 as of the 2016 ...

and

), and the baronies of Iverk and

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

and to the south (whose chief towns are

Slieverue Slieverue, officially Slieveroe, () is a village in South County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland. It is located in the historical barony of Ida. Despite the name, the land is relatively low-lying and fertile. Slieverue's population, as of the ...

and

Piltown Piltown (), historically known as Ballypoyle, is a village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It lies on the R698 regional road, which was the N24 national primary road before the locality was bypassed in 2002. Approaching Piltown from Carrick-on- ...

). The rivers Black Water, King's River, Little Arrigle, and Arrigle River flow through the barony. The Walsh Mountains make up a large part of the barony. Other historic sites include Norelands House, Saint Molings Well, and Goat's Bridge. Knocktopher was an early medieval cantred within the

shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

of Kilkenny, and part of the historic kingdom of Osraige (''Ossory''). Today it is part of the

Roman 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 ...

diocese of

Ossory Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of ...

and the

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 ...

diocese of Cashel and Ossory. Knocktopher is currently administered by

Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny County Council ( ga, Comhairle Chontae Chill Chainnigh) is the authority responsible for local government in County Kilkenny, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for ...

History

Originally part of the historic kingdom of Osraige (''Ossory''). In the latter 12th century, at the time of the Cambro-Norman invasion, MacBraoin (MacBreen) were the main Gaelic sept in the Knocktopher area. O'Donovan believed that the Clanna or Clanns, were seated in the barony of Knocktopher but were supplanted by the

Breathnach Breathnach or Bhreathnach (meaning ''Welshman'') is an Irish surname, indicating an ancestor who was Welsh. It is the Irish-language version of surnames such as Brannagh, Brunnock, Brannick, Walsh, Wallace, and Wallis. However, it does not nec ...

or Bhreathnach (or Walshes meaning ''Welshman''), who held land there after the

Norman Invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly sanc ...

. The Norman family of Wall was based there. The 1st Baron ( feoffee) of Knocktopher was probably Griffin FitzWilliam, a Cambro-Norman knight from

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, a son of William FitzGerald de Carew, Lord of Carew (of Carew Castle, Pembroke, Wales). Griffin Fitz-William was given the cantred aronyof Knocktopher. Griffin and his brother

Raymond le Gros Raymond (or Redmond) Fitz William Fitz Gerald (died 1185–1198), nicknamed ''Le Gros'' ("the Large"), was a Cambro-Norman commander during the Norman invasion of Ireland. Raymond was among the first of a small band of Norman knights who lan ...

took part in the conquest of Ireland. They were the grandsons of

Arnulf de Montgomery Arnulf de Montgomery (born 1066; died 1118/1122) was an Anglo-Norman magnate. He was a younger son of Roger de Montgomery and Mabel de Bellême. Arnulf's father was a leading magnate in Normandy and England, and played an active part in the Ang ...

and Princess

Nest ferch Rhys Nest ferch Rhys (c. 1085 – c. 1136) was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth in Wales, by his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys. Her family is of the House of Dinefwr. Nest was the wife of Gerald de Windsor (c. ...

, daughter of

Rhys ap Tewdwr Rhys ap Tewdwr (c. 1040 – 1093) was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. He was born in the area which is now Carmarthenshire and died at the battle of Brecon in April 10 ...

the last independent Prince of South Wales.See. Orpen, Vol 1, pp 181-182. The "''Barony of Cnoktofre''" was first mentioned in the year 1358. Knocktopher was recorded in the Down Survey (1656), the 1840 Ordnance Survey Map and on Griffith's Valuation (1864). It was established by 1672 and depicted in ''Hiberniae Delineatio'', "Perry's Atlas", engraved in 1671-2 by William Petty from the data of the Down Survey.

Geography

Knocktopher_Church_and_Cemetery_2017_09_13

Knocktopher contains the civil parishes

Aghaviller Aghaviller () National Monument, is a church and round tower in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Aghaviller gives its name to the wider townland, civil parish, and electoral district. Located south-east of Kilkenny, about six miles south of Thoma ...

, Killahy, Kilbeacon, Kilkeasy, Knocktopher, Derrynahinch, Dunnamaggan, Fiddown, Ennisnag, Listerlin, Lismateige, Muckalee, Rossinan, Jerpointwest, Stonecarthy, and Jerpointchurch. The barony contains St. Peter's Church in Ennisnag, the previous location of the Monastery of Inisnag. Parts of the barony were in the Poor law unions of Carrick on Suir, New Ross, Thomastown, and Waterford.

History

Geography

See also

References

Footnotes

Sources

External links