Bawn in Kilcreen (shillelogher By.)

According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 217), ‘This townland was long in the possession of the Rothe family. It was forfeited…by David Rother, Irish Papist, in 1653, and was granted, as was also Drakeland, to the Cromwellian, Captain Thomas Evans…The Rothe castle at Kilcreen stood on the site of the present Kilcreen House'. The Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of ‘The Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ indicates a house roughly in the position of the present Kilcreen House, however, on the Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of ‘St Patricks Parish’ a castle is shown at this location (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). The terrier accompanying the parish map notes, ‘in Kilcrine also a Castle & Bawn an orchard and many Cabbins’. The proprietor in 1640 is listed as ‘David Rooth Ir[ish] P[apist]’. The castle (KK019-021001-) and bawn may have been levelled when Kilcreen House was built in the late 17th century. There is no visible trace of the bawn at ground level. See attached extract from the Down Survey (1655-6) terrier accompanying the parish map of ‘St Patricks Parish’ (Hib. Reg., courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 22 September 2020

The Bawn in Kilcreen was held by the Rothe family before being forfeited in 1653 by David Rother, an Irish Papist, and subsequently granted to Cromwellian settlers, reflecting the land redistribution policies following the Irish Confederate Wars. Its importance lies in illustrating the displacement of Catholic landowners and the imposition of English control in post-Cromwellian Ireland.