The barony of Knocktopher () 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 ...

in the west of

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

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 ...

. The barony is in size. There are 16

civil parishes In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishe ...

made up of 125

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

s. It is one of 12 baronies in the county. The chief town is Mullinavat and it contains the settlements of Stonyford,

Ballyhale Ballyhale () is a village in the south east of Ireland. Located in the south of County Kilkenny, south of the city of Kilkenny and roughly halfway to Waterford city. The sport of hurling is popular in the area, and the local Gaelic Athletic Ass ...

, Hugginstown,

Knocktopher Knocktopher (historically ''Knocktofer'' and ''Knocktover''; ) is a village in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is situated on the R713 road (Ireland), R713 road between the villages of Stoneyford, County Kilkenny, Stoneyford t ...

, and Dunnamaggan. The M9 motorway bisects the barony. Knocktopher lies at the west of the county, the barony is bordered by Kells to the west (whose chief town is Kells), by the baronies of Shillelogher and

Gowran Gowran (; ) is a town on the eastern side of County Kilkenny, Ireland. The historic St. Mary's Collegiate Church is in the centre of Gowran, close to Gowran Castle. Gowran Park race course and Golf Course are one kilometre from the centre of ...

to the north (whose chief towns are Bennettsbridge and

), and the baronies of Iverk and Ida and to the south (whose chief towns are Slieverue and Piltown). The rivers Black Water, King's River, Little Arrigle, and Arrigle River flow through the barony. The Walsh Mountains make up a large part of the barony. Other historic sites include Norelands House, Saint Molings Well, and Goat's Bridge. Knocktopher was an early medieval

cantred A cantred was a subdivision of a county in the Anglo-Norman Lordship of Ireland between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, analogous to the cantref of Wales or the hundred of England. In County Dublin the equivalent unit was termed a serjeant ...

within the

shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

of Kilkenny, and part of the historic kingdom of

Osraige Osraige (Old Irish) or Osraighe (Classical Irish), Osraí (Modern Irish), anglicized as Ossory, was a medieval Irish kingdom comprising what is now County Kilkenny and western County Laois, corresponding to the Diocese of Ossory. The home of ...

(''Ossory''). Today it is part of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

diocese of Ossory and the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

diocese of Cashel and Ossory. Knocktopher is currently administered by

Kilkenny County Council Kilkenny County Council () is the local authority of County Kilkenny, 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 ...

History

Originally part of the historic kingdom of

(''Ossory''). In the latter 12th century, at the time of the

Cambro-Norman Cambro-Normans (; "Wales", ; ) were Normans who settled in southern Wales and the Welsh Marches after the Norman invasion of Wales. Cambro-Norman knights were also the leading force in the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland, led by Richard de ...

invasion, MacBraoin (MacBreen) were the main Gaelic sept in the Knocktopher area. O'Donovan believed that the Clanna or Clanns, were seated in the barony of Knocktopher but were supplanted by the Breathnach or Bhreathnach (or Walshes meaning ''Welshman''), who held land there 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 ...

. The Norman family of Wall was based there. The 1st Baron (

feoffee Under the feudal system in England, a feoffee () is a trustee who holds a fief (or "fee"), that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner. The use ...

) of Knocktopher was probably Griffin FitzWilliam, a

knight from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, a son of William FitzGerald de Carew, Lord of Carew (of Carew Castle, Pembroke, Wales). Griffin Fitz-William was given the cantred aronyof Knocktopher. Griffin and his brother

Raymond le Gros Raymond (or Redmond) Fitz William Fitz Gerald (died 1185–1198), nicknamed ''Le wikt:gros#Norman, Gros'' ("the Large"), was a Cambro-Norman commander during the Norman invasion of Ireland. Raymond was among the first of a small band of Nor ...

took part in the conquest of Ireland. They were the grandsons of

Arnulf de Montgomery Arnulf de Montgomery (born 1066; died 1118/1122) was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman magnate. He was a younger son of Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, Roger de Montgomery and Mabel de Bellême. Arnulf's father was a leading magnate ...

and Princess

Nest ferch Rhys Nest ferch Rhys (c. 1085 – c. 1136) was the daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, last King of Deheubarth in Wales, by his wife, Gwladys ferch Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn of Powys. Her family is of the House of Dinefwr. Nest was the wife of Gerald de Wind ...

, daughter of

Rhys ap Tewdwr Rhys ap Tewdwr (c. 1040 – 1093) was a king of Deheubarth in Wales and member of the Dinefwr dynasty, a branch descended from Rhodri the Great. Following the Norman Conquest, he had to pay William the Conqueror to keep his kingdom, which lasted ...

the last independent Prince of South Wales.See. Orpen, Vol 1, pp 181-182. The "''Barony of Cnoktofre''" was first mentioned in the year 1358. Knocktopher was recorded in the Down Survey (1656), the 1840 Ordnance Survey Map and on Griffith's Valuation (1864). It was established by 1672 and depicted in ''Hiberniae Delineatio'', "Perry's Atlas", engraved in 1671-2 by

William Petty Sir William Petty (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth in Cromwellian conquest of I ...

from the data of the Down Survey.

Geography

Knocktopher_Church_and_Cemetery_2017_09_13

Knocktopher contains the

Aghaviller, Killahy, Kilbeacon, Kilkeasy, Knocktopher, Derrynahinch, Dunnamaggan,

Fiddown Fiddown () is a small village in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the south of the county, just off the N24 road, south of Kilkenny city. The village is on the banks of the River Suir, near the border with County Waterford to which ...

, Ennisnag, Listerlin, Lismateige, Muckalee, Rossinan, Jerpointwest, Stonecarthy, and Jerpointchurch. The barony contains St. Peter's Church in Ennisnag, the previous location of the Monastery of Inisnag. Parts of the barony were in the

Poor law union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

s of Carrick on Suir, New Ross, Thomastown, and Waterford.

References

Footnotes

Sources

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External links