What is recorded here

Ballyragget means Ragget's ford, naming the shallow stretch of the River Nore where people once waded before a bridge took over. Richard le Ragged held lands there as early as 1220, suggesting the crossing was already familiar enough to give the place its name. Water, horses, carts and foottraffic may have churned that edge for generations, making the town less a sudden invention than a settlement gathered around repeated crossing.

The name 'Ballyragget' translates in Irish as Béal Átha Ragad [https://www.logainm.ie/en/26513?s=Ballyragget]. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 90), the name means, 'Ragget's ford or ford-mouth' and 'as early as 1220, the Anglo-Norman, Richard le Ragged, held lands close to the church or chapel of Tulachbarri, and these lands may be quite safely identified with those on which the town of Ballyragget now stands'. It seems likely that the fording place over the River Nore was at the wide but shallower stretch of the river immediately W of the town, which was subsequent superseded by a bridge (KK010-139001-). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 23 January 2019

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