Deer park in Dunbell Big

A letter, dated February 1871, from Richard Whyte to John Prim was published in the Old Kilkenny Review (1966, 61-2). The original letter, which had been torn in places with some parts missing, mentions a deer park near Bennettsbridge, 'I heard my father tell that he heard old people say that at the time of the review at B. Bridge (1708) when canon were fired a lot of goats and sheep that.....(torn) in the "deer park" happened....(torn) the time to be standing in the shade of the walls - it was summer time it seems - soon as they heard the thunder of the cannon began in their fright to jump and at each spring cleared the wall, till they were exhausted or until the firing had ceased. By the way by whom was that interminable deer park wall built?'. The deer park is not indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map or on the 1899-1902 revision. The extent of the deer park was outlined by Dan Bryan on an extract from the OS 6-inch map revision, much of the northern portion of which has since been quarried out (OPW correspondence). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 19 October 2021