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| 4000 - 2500 BC Neolithic Castletown Arra from Archaeological Excavations at Tullaheady County Tipperary by Rose Cleary & Hillary Kelleher |
One theory I have is that its relative inaccessibility prevented it from being explored and mapped by the various invaders and colonisers to the area. Really this theory is just an excuse to show off lots of old maps for the area!
This map (above) from Archaeological Excavations at Tullaheady County Tipperary by Rose Cleary & Hillary Kelleher has always fascinated me. It shows the likely water levels during the Neolithic around the Castletown Arra area. From my reading of it, this area would have been a practically a large island, cut off with just one landbridge just south of Tullaheady.
Castletown Arra was a half-cantred or mini Barony during the Anglo-Norman times and the main clan were the O'Briens. There are still the ruins of a number of O'Brien castles in the area.
I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert on this period but some of the old maps I have found of the area are very interesting and suggest that during the various surveys of the area it might be that it was "skimmed" over a bit.
The first historical map I look at is by John Speed in 1610. This is taken from the excellent http://www.swilson.info/index.php
One is of the whole of Ireland
In this the main features you can make out is the likely O'Brien castle at Pallamore marked as Palace (on the above) and you can make out what I assume is Nynag or Nenagh. Also interesting is the note on "The 12 great Hilles of Phelim"
The other is a more detailed map of Munster
This one again shows Palace and this time Caernonogher which I assume is Carrigatoher. Family names are McBryne Arra which I assume are the O'Briens and the three clans of the O'Kennedys - Roe, Done & Fyn or Red, Black & White. This would be the last time these clans would own these lands on the maps.
Between 1656 - 1658 a survey was done to enable redistribution of lands following the Crowellian & Williamite Wars in Ireland known as the "Down Survey"
There is a suggestion in Dermot F Gleeson's book "The Last Lords of Ormond" that the surveyor William Petty did not in fact do a new survey of Ormond (and I presume this would extend to the Castletown Arra area) but in fact used the info from a previous survey and still charged for it!
This map is available online at http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/index.html - unlike a lot of other areas in North Tipp the parish surveys are not available for Castletown Arra which would allow us to drill down further into this map. I'm not sure if this is an error with the site (I have contacted them) or whether they are not available. Many of the maps from this survey were lost during the fire at the Customs House in Dublin during the Irish Civil War. I'm leaning towards the later and that they are no longer available.
In this map you can make out the church and other buildings at Castletown near Castlelough. A church at Youghalarra graveyard and a castle at Pallasmore. There also seems to be a church and some other buildings at Burges, I'm thinking that is the graveyard at Burgesbeg.
This 1695 map shows the main settlement in Castletown Arra switching from Pallasmore to Castletown. Map available here.
This 1838 map shows the rough terrain of the area and also it is the first that I've found to mention the slate quarries.
Also interesting to note are the copper mines at Lackamore near Newport where I believe some of my ancestors worked for a time. The copper mine here might also point to one of the reasons why this area is so rich megalithically, perhaps prehistoric copper mining attracted settlers to this fairly remote place?
Next we see one of the 1840s OS maps - these maps show a lot of detail (particularly when you drill down into them) for the Castletown Arra area and I'd say are the basis of our modern maps of Ireland.
This final map today is one that always raises an exciting question. Who are the "Danes" that are marked in the Castletown Arra area of Rev John Gleeson's map?
I have written before about possible Viking bases on Lough Derg. A recent paper made available by Eamonn Kelly of the National Muesuem shows the form of various Viking settlements around Ireland. It might be of interest to anyone looking for a Viking base on Lough Derg via aerial maps.
