Ballyhack, County Wexford
| Ballyhack Irish: Baile Hac | |
| County Wexford | |
|---|---|
 Ballyhack Harbour | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | S706107 |
| Location: | 52°14’38"N, 6°58’1"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 206 (2016) |
| Dialling code: | 051 |
| Local Government | |
Ballyhack is a small village in the south-west of County Wexford, on the eastern shore of the Waterford Harbour, which is the joint estuary of the rivers known as 'The Three Sisters'.
History
The village contains a 15th-century Norman castle or tower house, which belonged to the Knights Hospitallers and was built around 1480,[1] though it is thought the site's use was initially as a Preceptory, as far back as the 12th-century.[2] 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 Normans, and mediæval monks. Some the features of the castle that are on view are its dungeon, murder-hole, effigies and oratory. The castle is denoted as a National Monument, in state care, number 516.[3]
Name
Ballyhack has been represented in Irish as Baile Hac and Baile Each. The derivation is believed to be from the Irish word for stable, seasmhach, and baile meaning town, village, home or settlement. Thus Ballyhack would mean the place or town of the stable.
About the village
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.[4]
A ferry service operates between Ballyhack and Passage East (County Waterford), over the broad estuary of The Three Sisters.[5]
A cemetery on a height near the edge of the village lies 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.[6]
The school in the village is called St. Catherine's NS and is located on top of Ballyhack Hill. It opened in 1959.
Sport
- Gaelic Athletics: St James GAA
- Football: Duncannon FC
References
- ↑ "1480 c. – Ballyhack Castle, Co. Wexford". 31 December 2009. http://archiseek.com/2009/ballyhack-castle-co-wexford/. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "Ballyhack Castle". http://www.megalithicireland.com/Ballyhack%20Castle,%20Wexford.html. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "Irish National Monuments in State Care". http://www.archaeology.ie/sites/default/files/media/pdf/monuments-in-state-care-wexford.pdf. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ Keane, Brendan. "Poignant ceremony for those lost at sea". Wexford Echo. http://www.wexfordecho.ie/2015/03/04/poignant-ceremony-for-those-lost-at-sea/. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- ↑ "Passage East Ferry". http://www.passageferry.ie/.
- ↑ "Ballyhack Church (Saint James's), Ballyhack, County Wexford". http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=WX®no=15616001.
- Baile Hac / Ballyhack: Placenames Database of Ireland