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Described in the History of the Queens County as 'Ballylehane Castle, now in ruins, is referred to by Clyn at the year 1346' (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1907, vol. 1, 251). Described in 1910 as 'a limestone mural slab (LA025-037----) (23 inches high by 34 inches in length), formerly in Ballylehane Castle, in the Parish of Killabban and Queens County, an now built into a gate-pier of the field in which a fragment of the castle ruin now stands' (FitzGerald 1910, 241-2). Ballylehane Castle was granted to the ancestor of the Hovenden family in 1570, it is difficult to explain the presence of the O'Connor arms there, unless there was an intermarriage between them (FitzGerald 1910, 242). No visible surface remains of the armorial panel or the castle survive.
The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.
Date of upload: 17 December 2007
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