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Castle in Hillcastle

Castle, tower house

What is recorded here

Situated on a broad, low hill. The small manor of Ballyell, occupying perhaps half of Kiscoran parish, was held by the Codd family for a quarter a knight’s fee from the Valence property into the 15th century (Brooks 1950, 122). By the 1640s Nicholas Codd holds only 36 acres at Coddsballyell (Simington 1953, 304) and…

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Situated on a broad, low hill. The small manor of Ballyell, occupying perhaps half of Kiscoran parish, was held by the Codd family for a quarter a knight’s fee from the Valence property into the 15th century (Brooks 1950, 122). By the 1640s Nicholas Codd holds only 36 acres at Coddsballyell (Simington 1953, 304) and the Codds are not connected with the castle at Hill. References to the Hay family date from 1345 when Adrian Fitz-Jones Hay of Kilscoran is recorded (Jeffrey 1979, 20). The castle is marked on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony map. Mathew Hay held 98 acres at Hill in 1640 (Simington 1953, 304). For the Down Survey barony map see this web-page accessed on 12 Dec. 2013 (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php#bm=Forth&c=Wexford) The property later passed to the Nunn family (Jeffrey 1979, 20) and the castle became incorporated into the NW corner of a later house. It was described as a tower ‘about 50 feet (c. 15m) high with six modern windows inserted into the N side’ (OSFM 1940). It was probably a tower house (Hore 1925, 17-18), which was pulled down c. 1960. It is within the circular moated site (WX048-023002-).

From the National Monuments Service (Archaeological Survey of Ireland) record WX048-023001

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.

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Photo credits
  • National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  • Mike Searle, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Fran Mr Hollywood, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • DeFacto, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • User Ali-oops on en.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons · GFDL
  • Sheila1988, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Yosemite, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
  • Jean-Pol GRANDMONT, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 3.0
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