Ballymacane Castle

Makarne was granted by Richard, the son of Alan de St. Florence, to the Cistercian abbey of Duiske (Graiguenamanagh) c. 1260, and Hore (1949, 35) identified this with Ballymacane, although this is unlikely (Brooks 1950, 89). References to the Staffords of Ballymacane date from the mid-13th century when Robert de Stafford held half of Ballymakaterin by a quarter a knight’s fee in 1247 from the Valance estate, the other half being held by William de Akevill. In 1324 Hamund de Stafford held the manor of Balymaclaherne by three quarters of a fee, and c. 1425 Ballymakhehrn was held by the heir of Dionysius Stafford (ibid. 119-20). According to the Book of Survey and Distribution (1660s) Nicholas Stafford owned 182 acres at Ballymacane in 1640, and 520 acres elsewhere in Tacumshin parish (Simington 1953, 304-05). Nicholas Stafford, with 16 dependents was listed for transplantation in 1653 (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 502). By the Act of Settlement (1666) 216 acres at an enlarged Ballymacane was bestowed on Thomas Barrington as part of a total package of 615 acres, largely in Tacumshin parish. The castle is depicted as a large structure, probably with a bawn on the Down Survey (1656-8) map of Forth barony. The castle was removed c. 1750 (Lewis 1837, vol. 2, 595), and there are no visible remains of a structure at ground level. The field W of the house is said to be cobbled, and it may be the site of a bawn. There is an inscribed stone (dims 0.56m x 0.53m T 0.3m) preserved at the site bearing the date 1612 and the initials IS, DS and RS, which refer to John, Dionysius and Richard Stafford. A surviving photograph shows the ruin of a four-bay, two storey house and attic, which might have dated to the early 17th century. (Hore 1949, 35-40) See the attached section from the Down Survey barony map (N at right) reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland (Ms 725).