Ballinacor South () is a

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. This geographical unit of land is one of eight baronies in County Wicklow. It is located in the southern

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: '' Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Where the mountai ...

. Its chief town is Aughrim. The barony lies between Ballinacor North to the north (whose chief town is Rathdrum),

Arklow Arklow ( ; ; ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the Battle of Arklow, bloodiest battles ...

to the east (whose chief town is

), Shillelagh to the south (whose chief town is

Carnew Carnew () is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. It is the most southerly town in Wicklow situated just a mile from the border with County Wexford. For historical reasons it has often been described as "a Protestant enclave". The village is ...

) and Upper Talbotstown to the west (whose chief town is Baltinglass). It is currently administered by

Wicklow County Council Wicklow County Council () is the local authority of County Wicklow, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and community, roads and transportation, urban planning an ...

Legal context

Baronies were created after the

Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the monarchs of England then claimed sovereignty. The Anglo-Normans ...

as divisions of

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

and were used in the administration of justice and the raising of revenue. While baronies continue to be officially defined units, they have been administratively obsolete since 1898. However, they continue to be used in land registration and in specification, such as in planning permissions. In many cases, a barony corresponds to an earlier

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

túath which had submitted to the Crown. This is probably true in the case of Balinacor - see History below.

History

The barony derives its name from the Ballinacor Castle (, town of the weir). It was the main castle of the O'Byrne (Ó Broin) clan. The clan migrated from Kildare to Ballinacor around the 12th century. It included the territory of Gabhal Raghnaill.
Ancestry.com The barony was divided into South and Ballinacor North, North in 1798.

List of settlements

List of civil parishes in the barony:

Kilcommon Kilcommon () is a civil parish in Erris, north County Mayo, consisting of two large peninsulas; Dún Chaocháin and Dún Chiortáin. It consists of 37 townlands, some of which are so remote that they have no inhabitants. Habitation is conc ...

, Preben, Kilpipe. Below is a list of settlements in Ballinacor South: *

Tinahely Tinahely () is a village in County Wicklow in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a market town in the valley of the River Derry, a tributary of the River Slaney. Location and access Tinahely is on the R747 road which links the west Wickl ...

References

Baronies of County Wicklow {{Wicklow-geo-stub