Settlement deserted — medieval in Knockgraffon

In the Civil Survey (1654-6) Knockgraffon is described as having 'two decayed castles (the Walls standing, & a stone house habitable many small Cottages an Oarchard & garden...' (Simington 1931, vol.1, 230). No trace of the settlement survives, however it is likely to have been located between or in the vicinity of the motte and bailey (TS075-019001-) and the 13th-century church (TS075-019003-). The motte at Knockgraffon was erected in 1192, the manor having been granted to Philip of Worchester (Orpen 1909, 276). In 1202 King John ordered Worchester to deliver the ‘the Castrum de Cnocgrafon’ to William de Braose, however, in 1215 Knockgraffon was returned to Worchester (ibid.). In 1225 this grant was confirmed to William of Worcester, Philip’s nephew (ibid.). In the Calendar of Ormond Deeds the rental of burgages in 1274 is given as ‘nineteen marks, one pound of pepper, two pounds of cumin’(Curtis 1932, vol. 1, 78). The manor of Knockgraffon was, after the death of John de Bermingham, Earl of Louth, in 1329, committed to the custody of James, Earl of Ormond, in right of his liberty by writ of June 11, 1333 (Curtis 1935-7, 54). A small scale excavation in 1995 c. 100m N of the church revealed a number of pits, a ditch, two firespots and traces of one or two wicker buildings suggestive of settlement, potentially medieval (Pollock 1996, 82). There were also a number of parallel linear features filled with an old soil indicative of medieval/early post-medieval cultivation (ibid.). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 1 April 2014