Ballysheehan (Irish: Baile Uí Shíocháin) is a village in the southern part of County Tipperary, Ireland. It is also a civil parish in the barony of Middle Third, within the Munster province.[1][2][3][4]

Ballysheehan
Irish: Baile Uí Shíocháin
Village
Ballysheehan is located in Ireland
Ballysheehan
Ballysheehan
Location in Ireland
Coordinates: 52°33′26″N 7°51′38″W / 52.55722°N 7.86056°W / 52.55722; -7.86056
CountryIreland
ProvinceMunster
CountyTipperary
Elevation
100 m (300 ft)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total
499
Time zoneUTC+0 (WET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC-1 (IST (WEST))

In terms of area, it is approximately 0.64 square miles, or a little more than about 412 acres, making it the "810th largest townland" in Tipperary. Additionally, it sits within the Electoral Division of Cashel.[5] Historically, it has been a Protestant community.[6]

The town itself is only about 3 miles north of Cashel and near Fethard, with Ballytarsna as one of the many townlands within Ballysheehan's parish.[7][8][9] Additionally, Ballysheehan is one of the variants of the Clogheen Catholic parish in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore and County Tipperary.[10]

The town's name comes from baile, which means townland, town or homestead.[11] It was created sometime before 1641. That year, the castle of one "William Kingsmill", which sat in the parish, was raided as noted in a local history.[12] The same history also recounts varying individuals living in the parish during the 18th century. Adding to this are scattered mentions in other varying histories of Britain and Ireland along with official documents of the period.[13][14][15]

Location, transportation, and history

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The village is situated on the R639 which runs through varying counties other than Tipperary, such as County Laois, County Limerick, and County Cork.[1] In 1837, Samuel Lewis described the town, in his Topographical Dictionary of Ireland.[7][16][17][18] He wrote that

BALLYSHEEHAN, a parish, in the barony of MIDDLETHIRD, county of TIPPERARY, and province of MUNSTER, 3 miles (N.) from Cashel; containing 3034 inhabitants. It is situated on the mail coach road from Dublin, by way of Cashel, to Cork, and comprises 8678 statute acres, of which 3657 are applotted under the tithe act and valued at £7118 per annum. There are about 150 acres of bog, producing a valuable supply of fuel, and 50 acres of woodland; the remainder is arable and pasture...There is neither church, glebe-house, nor glebe; the members of the Established Church attend divine service at Cashel and Ardmoyle. In the R. C. divisions this parish forms part of the union or district of Boherlahan; the chapel is a neat modern building. There are three pay schools, in which are about 140 boys and 90 girls. Ballytarsney Castle, a lofty square tower, is said to have been built by a person named Hacket, who, according to tradition, was hanged by one of Cromwell's generals, who had gained possession of it by treachery.

What Lewis writes is further confirmed by Ambrose Leet's 1814 book, A Directory to the Market Towns in Ireland, which lists the parish within Tipperary County, with the "post town" as Tipperary.[19] Additionally, other resources expand on the history of the area. Some books show Ballysheehan as sitting within the diocese of Cashel, with a public school in the area, focus on religious matters, burials, testimonies in trials, and much more.[20][21][22] By 1841, when the Great Famine hit Ireland, Ballysheehan only had about 1,400 inhabitants.[23]

There is a graveyard in the parish along with a 417-acre farm for racing horses, and a ruined Medieval church, among other attractions.[24][25][26][27][28][29] The town of Ballysheehan was also the place where the "Waterford hurling legend," Johnny O'Connor died in November 2010.[30][31][32]

Currently, the National Archives of Ireland has digitized old Tithe Appointment Books for the parish, some of which are also listed on other genealogical websites.[33][34] Not included in the collection are re-creations of that which was destroyed during the 1922 fire at the Public Record Office of Ireland: "2 volumes of Ballysheehan parish registers, comprisng [sic] baptisms 1837-76 and burials 1839-74."[35]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Ballysheehan Townland, Co. Tipperary, accessed 1 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Search for Ballysheehan". Ask about Ireland. Retrieved 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns, Parishes, and Baronies of Ireland: Based on the Census of Ireland for the Year 1851, p 124, accessed 1 November 2017.
  4. ^ Population of each province, county, city, urban area, rural area and electoral division, 2006 and 2011, Central Statistics Office (Ireland), accessed 1 November 2017.
  5. ^ Irish Statute Book, "S.I. No. 288/1998 - County of Tipperary (South Riding) Local Electoral Areas Order, 1998," accessed 1 November 2017.
  6. ^ David J. Butler, South Tipperary, 1570-1841: Religion, Land and Rivalry, Four Courts, 2006, pp 70, 177.
  7. ^ a b Ireland Gen Web, Ballysheehan Civil Parish County Tipperary, South Riding, accessed 1 November 2017.
  8. ^ The Independent, "Independent Archive: Ned Kelly's father Red was a mean fellow," 24 August 1998.
  9. ^ Census of Ireland, 1901, p 97, 125, 215, 429, 473, 522, 559, 748, 781, 820.
  10. ^ National Library of Ireland, "Clogheen," accessed 1 November 2017.
  11. ^ Dublin City University, Baile Uí Shíocháin, accessed 1 November 2017.
  12. ^ William P. Burke, History of Clonmel, p 60, 381, 390, 433-434.
  13. ^ L.T., A Candid Enquiry into the causes and motives of the late riots in the province of Munster in Ireland; by the people called White-boys or Levellers. With an appendix containing other papers on the same subject. In a letter [signed, L. T.] to a noble Lord in England, 1767, p 43.
  14. ^ "SECOND ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR THE EXTENSION AND IMPROVEMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS IN IRELAND," 1834, p 72.
  15. ^ House of Commons of Ireland, "The Parliamentary Register, Or, History of the Proceedings and Debates of the House of Commons of Ireland, Volume 8," p 201-202.
  16. ^ Nicholas Carlisle, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, 1810, p 118. This is another version of the same text noted above.
  17. ^ The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland: Adapted to the New Poor, Vol 1, p 197. Another variation of the above text.
  18. ^ Samuel Lewis, A topographical dictionary of Ireland, p 166-167. Seemingly the same text which was reprinted on a genealogical website and quoted above.
  19. ^ Ambrose Leet, A Directory to the Market Towns: Villages, Gentlemen's Seats, and Other Noted Places in Ireland ... to which is Added a General Index of Persons Names ... Together with Lists of the Post Towns and Present Rates of Postage Throughout the Empire, 1814, p 55.
  20. ^ Great Britain's Commissioners of Public Instruction in Ireland, Report, 1st and 2d, Volume 2, William Clowes and Sons, 1835, p 29, 33.
  21. ^ The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Browne and Nolan, 1896, pp 434, 438, 612, 614, 618.
  22. ^ Alexander Nimmo, "The Report of Alexander Nimmo: On the Proposed Railway Between Limerick and Waterford," p 26.
  23. ^ Tipperary Irish Famine Mapping Tool, accessed 1 November 2017.
  24. ^ Ballysheehan Graveyard, Find A Grave, accessed 1 November 2017.
  25. ^ Ballysheehan Stud, accessed 1 November 2017.
  26. ^ Ballysheehan ruined Medieval Church, north of Cashel, Tipperary, Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives, accessed 1 November 2017.
  27. ^ CEA Architects, Ballysheehan Stud Farm Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 1 November 2017.
  28. ^ [Ancestry.com] Message Boards, Ballysheehan Graveyard, accessed 1 November 2017.
  29. ^ South Tipperary County Council - Burial Grounds (no. 116), accessed 1 November 2017.
  30. ^ John Murphy, "Waterford hurling legend Johnny O’Connor dies, aged 82, after brief illness," Irish Examiner, 1 November 2010.
  31. ^ Mason Springs Horse Racing Archived 2017-11-07 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 1 November 2017.
  32. ^ Matthew Sleater, "Introductory essay to a new systeme of civil and ecclesiastical topography, and itinerary of counties of Ireland: With remembrances of memorable events, recorded at places where they occurred," Barlow, 1806, p 126.
  33. ^ Tithe Appointment Books, 1823-37, National Archives of Ireland, accessed 1 November 2017.
  34. ^ Connors Genealogy, COUNTY TIPPERARY Tithe Applotments Ballysheehan Civil Parish 1827, accessed 1 November 2017.
  35. ^ RCB LIBRARY - Church of Ireland Archives, accessed 1 November 2017.
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