Ballyduff, County Kerry
| Ballyduff Irish: An Baile Dubh | |
| County Kerry | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | R746888 |
| Location: | 52°27’11"N, 9°39’47"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 447 (2022) |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Listowel |
Ballyduff is a village near Listowel, County Kerry County Kerry. Located on the R551 road between Ballyheigue and Ballybunion on hills above Cashen Bay where the River Feale flows to the sea at the mouth of the River Shannon.
The name of the village is from the Irish An Baile Dubh; 'The black town'.[1]
History
Near Ballyduff at Rattoo, a round tower reaches a height of 97 feet, with a base circumference of 49 feet.[2]
The Rattoo Round Tower is the only complete round tower in Kerry, and has been dated to the late 11th century.[2] In the mid-19th century, the tower stood on a raised earth causeway in what was then a swamp. The swamp was drained and the causeway removed in the late 19th century so the fields could be cultivated.[3]
On 1 November 1920, in reprisals for the killings and shootings of various RIC constables in the area, the Black and Tans shot a local man (John Houlihan) dead, burned the local creamery to the ground, and then burned seven homes in the Abbeydorney area.[4]
Of the area's three great houses, only two are still standing, Rattoo Great House and Bushmount House.[5] Ballyhorgan House was burned in 1920 in disputed circumstances.[6] There is a soup kitchen that was used during the great famine (1845–1847). There is a forge that was recently renovated.
Sport
- Football: Rattoo Rovers
- Gaelic sports: Ballyduff GAA, which plays both Gaelic football and hurling
References
- ↑ An Baile Dubh / Ballyduff: Placenames Database of Ireland
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Rattoo, County Kerry-monuments and landscape". https://www.antaisce.org/blog/rattoo-county-kerry.
- ↑ "Rattoo Round Tower". http://www.roundtowers.org/rattoo/index1.htm.
- ↑ "BMH Witness statement". https://www.militaryarchives.ie/collections/online-collections/bureau-of-military-history-1913-1921/reels/bmh/BMH.WS1118.pdf#page=8.
- ↑ "The Great Houses of Ballyduff". https://www.gokerry.ie/index.php?action=locations&location_id=56&page_id=442.
- ↑ Browne, Fergal (2020). "From Kerry to Gloucestershire-the Stoughton family of Ballyhorgan, Gortigrenane and Owlpen". Journal of the Kerry Historical and Archaeological Society.