Castle

A tower house like castle is indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of ‘Canice in the Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ and the townland is annotated, 'Newtowne belonging unto Major Adams p[rote]st[ant]' (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). It is likely to be the same castle mentioned by Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 201). According to Carrigan, ‘In former times the name Fennerstown, also written Ballyfennor and Ballyfinnan, extended to Newtown proper, that is the New Town of Fennerstown, and thus denoted nearly all the present townland of Newtown' (ibid.). He goes on to mention that there was a church (KK019-069001-) of which no trace remains, 'but it must have stood in Mr. Michael Madden’s land in Newtown proper, in a field called the Old Gardens, to which tradition still points as the site of a long obliterated “Churchyard.”. Carrigan goes on to say that, 'The Castle of Ballyfinnan was also situated in Newtown proper, in the haggard to the rere of Mr. Madden's house, and about two hundred yards [c. 180m]to the north of the "Churchyard." A fragment of the south wall, 10 ft. [3m] long, the same in height, about 3 ft. [c. 0.9m] thick, is all of it now remaining. Tradition identifies this castle as the ancient residence of "the Sallingers," or St. Legers' (ibid.). The shape of the townland in the 17th century is similar to its modern equivalent and the castle is depicted SE of centre. The precise location of this castle, as with the church (KK019-069001-) and graveyard (KK019-069002-), is unknown within Newtown townland. KK019-070----_01 extract from Down Survey (1655-6) parish map ‘Canice in the Liberties of the Citty of Kilkenny’ (Hib. Reg., courtesy of Trinity College Dublin) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 13 October 2020

Built by Major Adams around 1655-1656, this tower house-like castle is significant as it reflects the military and residential structures of the Cromwellian era in Kilkenny.