Killyon Abbey (in ruins) — Ballinree (eglish By.)

According to O' Flanagan (1933, vol. 2, 19) St. Ciaran of Saiger founded a nunnery at Killiadhuin [Killyon] in the fifth century. According to local tradition the fortified house and bawn built by Nicholas Herbert in 1627 may have been built on site of the nunnery. Today all that remains are the wall footings of what appears to be a large walled area 52m N/S by 52m E/W with the fragmentary remains of a NW circular turret (H 3m; W T 0.8m) and the foundations of a SE turret with adjoining S wall (L 7m; H 3m; wall T 0.8m). Gun loops visible on S wall. Inside this courtyard area to the N are the grass covered wall footings of a long building (12m N-S by 33m E-W) orientated on an E/W axis. Overall this may be the site of a large defended fortified house (OF036-035002-) with bawn wall and circular corner towers. The presence of gun loops for defensive purposes would indicate a late medieval date for the site. Cooke (1875, 178) described the site as having a large square shaped gatehouse which opened onto a courtyard with small round flanking towers with gun loops visible. The remains represent the site of Killyon Manor which according to Cooke (1875, 182) was occupied by a person named Herbert (Harbart) in 1634. Possibly built near the site of 'Killyon Abbey' which as a result was marked on the six inch OS 6-inch map. A datestone (OF031-069----) from this castle was moved from here to the parish hall in the nearby village of Rath. Monument entered into the Register of Historic Monuments on the 16 December 1988. Monitoring took place under licence no. 04E1197 of foundation trench excavation associated with the construction of a single-storey extension to a house at Ballinree, Killyon, Birr, Co. Offaly. The development is near Killyon Abbey (in ruins) (SMR OF036-035----). Nothing of archaeological significance was recorded during the monitoring. Ellen O'Carroll, The Archaeology Company, 17 Castle Street, Dalkey, Co. Dublin. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 4 January 2016