Knockgraffon Motte, New Inn, County Tipperary

Castles of Munster, Knockgraffon, Tipperary - geograph

Knockgraffon ( ga, Cnoc Rafann or also ''Cnoc Rath Fionn'' meaning "Hill of the fort of Fionn") is a

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 orig ...

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 same name in

County Tipperary County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...

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 civil parish lies in the barony of Middle Third. It is also part of the

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of New Inn & Knockgraffon in the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly The Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly ( ga, Ard-Deoise Chaisil agus Imligh) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in mid-western Ireland and the metropolis ...

. Interesting features include a fine

Motte A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...

, a church and a castle.

History

While it was once a significant settlement in its own right, by the 18th century it had been abandoned. Around

1610 Some have suggested that 1610 may mark the beginning of the Anthropocene, or the 'Age of Man', marking a fundamental change in the relationship between humans and the Earth system, but earlier starting dates (ca. 1000 C.E.) have received broa ...

, the Irish historian

Geoffrey Keating Geoffrey Keating ( ga, Seathrún Céitinn; c. 1569 – c. 1644) was a 17th-century historian. He was born in County Tipperary, Ireland, and is buried in Tubrid Graveyard in the parish of Ballylooby-Duhill. He became an Irish Catholic priest and a ...

was appointed Parish Priest of Knockgraffon. The motte was built by the English of Leinster beside the

River Suir The River Suir ( ; ga, an tSiúr or ''Abhainn na Siúire'' ) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean through Waterford after a distance of . The catchment area of the Suir is 3,610 km2.

when they were on a raid against Donal Mor, Chief of the O'Sullivan clan, in 1192. It was given by the King to

William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, but later taken from him and granted to Philip of Worcester. Nearby is a ruined 13th-century nave-and-chancel church with an east window inserted in the 15th century. A few hundred yards further away is a 16th-century tower built by the Butlers. In the early 1300s Knockgraffon was part of the inheritance of Joan de Bermingham, who married firstly Meiler, son of

Peter de Bermingham Peter de Bermingham was the Anglo-Irish second lord of Athenry who died c. 1309. Peter was a son of Meyler, who founded the town of Athenry in Clann Taidg, County Galway. His eldest son, Myler, died in 1302 without male issue so the lordship de ...

, Lord of

Athenry Athenry (; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, which lies east of Galway city. Some of the attractions of the medieval town are its town wall, Athenry Castle, its priory and its 13th century street-plan. The town is also well known by virt ...

, and secondly the English judge Sir John de Fressingfield. There is evidence that the site had important historical and ritual significance in the

Kingdom of Munster The Kingdom of Munster ( ga, Ríocht Mhumhain) was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland which existed in the south-west of the island from at least the 1st century BC until 1118. According to traditional Irish history found in the ''Annals of the Four M ...

. Claims are advanced that it was the sacred site for the coronation of the

Kings of Munster The kings of Munster ( ga, Rí Mumhan), ruled from the establishment of Munster during the Irish Iron Age, until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the ''Book of Invasions'', the earliest k ...

. If true, then this would place Knockgraffon second only to Tara in archaeological significance. Fíngen mac Áedo Duib (died 618)all dates per ''The Chronology of the Irish Annals'', Daniel P. McCarthy was a

King of Munster The kings of Munster ( ga, Rí Mumhan), ruled from the establishment of Munster during the Irish Iron Age, until the High Middle Ages. According to Gaelic traditional history, laid out in works such as the '' Book of Invasions'', the earliest ...

from the

Eóganacht Chaisil Eóganacht Chaisil were a branch of the Eóganachta, the ruling dynasty of Munster between the 5th and 10th centuries. They took their name from Cashel (County Tipperary) which was the capital of the early Catholic kingdom of Munster. They were ...

branch of the

Eóganachta The Eóganachta or Eoghanachta () were an Irish dynasty centred on Cashel which dominated southern Ireland (namely the Kingdom of Munster) from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, an ...

. After his death the throne of Cashel passed to his younger brother,

Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib Faílbe Flann mac Áedo Duib (died 639) was a King of Munster from the Eóganacht Chaisil branch of the Eoganachta. He succeeded Cathal mac Áedo Flaind Chathrach of the Glendamnach branch in 628. He was the younger brother of a previous king ...

. His descendants were known as the Cenél Fíngin, survived today by the

O'Sullivan O'Sullivan ( ga, Ó Súilleabháin, Súileabhánach) is an Irish Gaelic clan based most prominently in what is today County Cork and County Kerry. The surname is associated with the southwestern part of Ireland, and was originally found in Count ...

s and MacGillycuddys. On the death of Fíngen mac Áedo Duib, his wife

Mór Muman Mór Muman or Mór Mumain (modern spelling: Mór Mhumhan) is a figure from early Irish literature who is said to have been a queen of Munster and daughter of king Áed Bennán. Her name means "the Great Mother" and the province of Munster (''An ...

re-married and eventually the throne of Munster passed to her sons by this second marriage, including

Cathal Cú-cen-máthair Cathal Cú-cen-máthair mac Cathaíl (died 665), often known as Cú-cen-máthair, was an Irish King of Munster from around 661 until his death. He was a son of Cathal mac Áedo Flaind Chathrach (died c. 628) and belonged to the Glendamnach sept o ...

. Following this dynastic change of fortune, the O’Sullivan clan returned to Knockgraffon where they enjoyed considerable wealth and power. The O’Sullivan lands originally included Clonmel,

Cahir Cahir (; ) is a town in County Tipperary in Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Iffa and Offa West. Location and access For much of the twentieth century, Cahir stood at an intersection of two busy national roadways: the Dubli ...

Carrick-on-Suir Carrick-on-Suir () is a town in County Tipperary, Ireland. It lies on both banks of the River Suir. The part on the north bank of the Suir lies in the civil parish of "Carrick", in the historical barony of Iffa and Offa East. The part on the s ...

and Cashel. In Heerin’s topography, written in 1400, is found the verse:

O’Sullivan, who delights not in violence
Rules over the extensive Eoghanacht of Munster;
About Knockgraffon broad lands he obtained,
Won by his victorious arms, in conflicts and battles.

Following 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 san ...

in 1169, the O’Sullivan chiefs were recognized as princes of the Eóganachta nation who enjoyed considerable independence from the over-lord of Munster, the MacCarthy Mor. In 1192, the O’Sullivan clan suffered a devastating defeat and was forced to surrender its territory to the Normans invaders. The entire tribe immigrated west to the stark mountains of Cork and Kerry. Adding insult to injury, the Normans constructed a large earthen mound surrounded by a wooden fence right on the sacred hill of Rath Fionn. Eventually they also built a small stone castle near the motte. Donal Mor, the chief of the O’Sullivan clan when Knockgraffon was lost, was later assassinated by the MacCarthy Mor in 1214 to quell a movement among the Eoghanacht nation to restore the throne of Munster to the descendants of Fíngen. In 1998, the Knockgraffon motte was purchased by an O'Sullivan (Gary Brian Sullivan of Statesboro, Georgia, US) from its Norman-Irish owner (Donal Keating of Cahir, Ireland). It is the first time that Knockgraffon has been back in O'Sullivan possession for nearly 800 years. Other towns in the area include

New Inn, County Tipperary New Inn ()Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) is a village in

Marian Tobin Marian Tobin ran a safe house in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence and was known particularly for sheltering Dan Breen and Seán Treacy after the Soloheadbeg ambush, the incident which sparked the war. Biography She was born Mary ...

one of the women who ran a safe house in Ireland during the Irish War of Independence and was known particularly for sheltering

Dan Breen Daniel Breen (11 August 1894 – 27 December 1969) was a volunteer in the Irish Republican Army during the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. In later years he was a Fianna Fáil politician. Background Breen was born in Grang ...

and

Seán Treacy Seán Allis Treacy ( ga, Seán Ó Treasaigh; 14 February 1895 – 14 October 1920) was one of the leaders of the Third Tipperary Brigade of the IRA during the Irish War of Independence. He was one of a small group whose actions initiated th ...

after the

Soloheadbeg ambush The Soloheadbeg ambush took place on 21 January 1919, when members of the Irish Volunteers (or Irish Republican Army, IRA) ambushed Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) officers who were escorting a consignment of gelignite explosives at Soloheadbeg ...

was born in Knockgraffon.

References

{{Munster National Monuments in County Tipperary Civil parishes of Middle Third, County Tipperary