Settlement deserted — medieval in Lisronagh,shanbally (lisronagh Par.)

In c. 1200 Lisronagh appears to have been in the possession of Alexander de Worcester, as he died heirless the manor passed to the descendants of his brother of Philip de Worcester (Curtis 1935-7, 54). In a deed dated to c. 1200 Alexander grants land to the Hospital in frankalmoign for the building of their house and mill 'on the water whcih is between the said place and my house of Lesrotheragh' (ibid. 54). In an Extent of 1333 Lisronagh was owned by Lady Elizabeth de Burgo, wife of John de Burgo, who inherited from her brother Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Lord of the Liberty of Kilkenny, who died at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 (Curtis 1935-7, 53). According to Curtis (ibid. 53-4) 'this Extent shows that it [Lisronagh] was then a rich and well-organised feudal manor and lordship...By 1400, however, the Earl of Ormond is found as over-lord of Lisronagh, and the actual residential lord of the burgh, if not of the whole manor, has the name Howet'. In 1402 David Howet "of Lysroragh" is mentioned as tenant of the Earl of Ormond in his Liberty of Tipperary (ibid. 55). Over a century later, in 1530, 'Richard, sone and heir of Thomas Howet of Lisronagh, grants to Peter Butler, Earl of Ormond, the site of his castle at Lisronagh which belonged to his father and grandfather before, but which had been levelled and ruined by Edmund fitz Piers Butler of Dunboyne' (ibid.). In the 17th century the land in the parish of Lisronagh was divided between a number of proprietors including 'Ellyn late Countess Dowager of Ormond and the Earle of Ormond' who owned the 'Mannor, and Castle of Court-Lisronagh' and 'Allexander Power of Tickincorr in the County of Waterford Esqr Richard Howett fitz Edmond John Howett fitz Edmond Nicholas Howett and Ellan Howett widdowe all of Lishronagh Irish Papists' (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 295-6). According to the Civil Survey 'The sd Ellynn Lady Countess Dowager of Ormond Proprietrix for life in right of pt of her Dower or Joynture of the Mannor, Castle and three colpes of Court-Lishronagh And the sd Earle of Ormond Proprietor in fee of the Reversion by descent from his ancestors as wee are informed. Upon the sd lands of Court-Lishronagh standeth a castle' (ibid.). Remains of the medieval settlement of Lisronagh consist of a ringwork (TS077-010003-), tower house (TS077-010001-), church (TS077-010002-) and graveyard (TS077-010004-) and earthworks. Lyons (1937, 242-9) identified a number of earthworks. In the gently S sloping field N of the church Lyons (1937, 243) noted three burgage plots running roughly N-S, on inspection there are many undulations, but no clearly definable features. The large field on the 2nd (1906) ed. OS 6-inch map has been subsequently divided by an E-W field boundary into two fields with a house plot in the NE corner of each field. In the field immediately S of the tower house, near the NW corner, there is a raised earthwork (TS077-010008-) which roughly corresponds with Lyons' site 11 (ibid.), the adjacent field boundary, running N-S, appears to transect the W side of the earthwork, there appears to be some trace of it in the field to the W. Running roughly S of the tower house, Lyons recognised an old roadway (TS077-010006-), this roadway runs immediately E of the raised platform and consists of a shallow, flat-bottomed hollow-way (Wth 6m). The roadway ends abruptly at the new road, built in 1939, which runs E-W along the S boundary of the original large field. Approx. 25m S of the raised plaform there is another roughly circular platform (TS077-010009-), the E side of which skirts the old roadway. There are gentle undulations in the field E of the od roadway but no definable features. There is no visible trace above ground of the square monument, described as no.14 on Lyons' map, neither is the sharp kink in the old road around site 14. According to Lyons site 14 is a rectangular 'fort' (diam. 369'[112m] N-S; 210'[64m] E-W) with a ruined rampart 15'[4.5m] wide (ibid.). In a gently undulating field, under pasture, S of the ringwork in Lisronagh village and SE of Lisronagh tower house Lyon's site 12 is situated. It is incorrectly depicted on his map, in a correction he says it is closer to the main Fethard-Clonmel road, the W side of the site being under the road (Lyons 247). There is no clear trace of this monument. There is a trace of a low, broad bank running E-W from the main road which may be an old field boundary (Wth c. 4m; H 0.28m), which peters out. No trace of the 'old road' (TS077-010007-) depicted on Lyon's map. There is a natural dip in the field running in a roughly N-S direction. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011