Ballyheigue Castle, in Ballyheigue, County Kerry, is a ruined Tudor-gothic-revival-style mansion. It was used as a residence of the Crosbie family (including the Bishop of Ardfert and Aghadoe, High Sheriffs of Kerry and members of the UK Parliament) and later as a gaol. It has been burned twice. It is currently part of a golf course.
It was enlarged in 1809 to a design by Richard Morrison on the site of an earlier house built in 1758 and incorporated part of the fabric of the original building. The 'castle' aspect of the name relates to the crenellations of the parapet. The large two-storey south-facing elevation with the entrance consisted of six bays flanked by three-storey, single-bay circular corner turrets. It was originally thatched and faced an enclosed courtyard. The site was the property of the Crosbie family, historically associated with the bishopric of Ardfert from the time of the Right Reverend John Crosbie (formerly Sean Mac an Chrosáin); before then the Mac an Chrosáin family were a bardic family of Leinster. From 1709, the property was the possession of Thomas Crosbie, member of parliament (MP) for Kerry (1709–10) and Dingle (1713-1731), High Sheriff of Kerry in 1712 and 1714. The line of succession followed: James Crosbie (1731, High Sheriff in 1751); Pierce Crosby (1761, High Sheriff in 1779, 1797); James Crosbie (1797, High Sheriff 1792, MP for Kerry (1797-1800); Pierce Crosbie (1836, High Sheriff 1815); James Crosbie (High Sheriff 1862, colonel Kerry Militia); James Dayrolles Crosbie (1865-1947) (High Sheriff 1894, Deputy Lieutenant Co. Kerry 1900, chairman of Tralee & Fenit Railway Co., Brigadier-General 1916–17, JP). [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
From 1890, parts of the site were used a Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) station. On the 1 December 1912, a hay shed at the Castle was set on fire; the following day, two further hay sheds were similarly destroyed, burning 200 tons of hay. James Crosbie made a claim for £1000 damages. From 1916 through to 1920, Crosbie auctioned the demesne lands of the estate to local people and also sold the Castle to Jeremiah Leen, ending the Crosbie connexion with Ballyheigue. In early 1921, the building was vacant. Later, a Mr. R. Palmer and Mrs. Erskine were resident in the castle for a few weeks. Erskine was involved in some Castle-related transaction with Palmer, a proprietor of local creameries. He planned to live in England and informed Michael Pierce, captain of the Ballyheigue Company of the Irish Volunteers, that the building was to be occupied by the British military. Pierce informed his battalion OC. In March 1921, the building was occupied by elements of the Royal Irish Constabulary. Following a sweep across north Kerry from the coast as far as Kilflynn to find IRA members, hundreds of men were detained in outbuildings on the site. On 25 May 1921, an auction of the buildings' contents was held at the castle. On 27 May, it was attacked and burned by local Irish Volunteers. In October the same year, Palmer was awarded £127 compensation by a Tralee court for furniture lost in the blaze. On 14 June 1923, Leen won a case in the King's Bench Division against Lloyd's of London underwriters who argued that he'd neglected to inform them that Crown forces had occupied the site and Sinn Fein members were interned there; he was awarded £9,500 and costs. During the proceedings, Thomas Clifford, a draper's assistant and IRA officer, admitted starting the blaze with petrol on floorboards after being ordered to destroy the castle. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]
A low part of the building to the left of the front elevation was reconstructed and remodelled as apartments in 1975. [17]
In 1998, Ballyheigue Castle Golf Course was officially opened by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dick Spring T.D. [18]
County Kerry is a county in Ireland. It is in the Southern Region and the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the county was 156,458 at the 2022 census.
Tralee is the county town of County Kerry in the south-west of Ireland. The town is on the northern side of the neck of the Dingle Peninsula, and is the largest town in County Kerry. The town's population was 26,079 as of the 2022 census, making it the 15th largest urban settlement in Ireland. Tralee is known for the Rose of Tralee International Festival, which has been held annually in August since 1959.
Ardfert is a village and civil parish in County Kerry, Ireland. Historically a religious centre, the economy of the locality is driven by agriculture and its position as a dormitory town, being only 8 km (5 mi) from Tralee. The population of the village was 749 at the 2016 census.
Castleisland is a town and commercial centre in County Kerry in south west Ireland. The town is known for the width of its main street. As of the 2016 census, Castleisland had a population of 2,486.
Fenit is a small village in County Kerry, Ireland, located on north side of Tralee Bay about 10 km (6 mi) west of Tralee town, just south of the Shannon Estuary. It is also a civil parish. The bay is enclosed from the Atlantic by the Maharee spit which extends northwards from the Dingle peninsula. Fenit harbour is a mixed function sea port, where fishing, freight import and export, and a 136 berth marina are the main forms of business. As of the 2016 CSO census of Ireland, Fenit had a population of 538 people.
West Kerry was a parliamentary constituency in Ireland, represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. From 1885 to 1922 it returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Patrick Denis O'Donnell was an Irish military historian, writer, former UN peace-keeper, and Commandant of the Irish Defence Forces.
The Kerry Senior Hurling Championship is an annual hurling competition organised by the Kerry County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association since 1889 for the top hurling teams in the county of Kerry in Ireland.
Tralee Bay is located in on the west coast of County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated between Kerry Head on the north side and the Maharees on the west and extends eastwards as far as the bridge at Blennerville. Several small rivers feed into the bay through the town of Tralee. Villages around the bay include; Ballyheigue, Fenit, Kilfinora, Spa, Blennerville, Camp and Castlegregory.
Blennerville is a small village near Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland. It is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town centre on the N86 road to Dingle, where the River Lee enters Tralee Bay. The village was formerly Tralee's port, and is connected to the town centre by the Tralee Ship Canal. Part of Blennerville electoral division falls within the area of Tralee Town Council, and at the 2011 census had a population of 141. The remaining portion, outside the urban boundaries, had a 2011 population of 556.
The High Sheriff of Kerry was the British Crown's judicial representative in County Kerry, Ireland from the 16th century until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replaced by the office of Kerry County Sheriff. The sheriff had judicial, electoral, ceremonial and administrative functions and executed High Court Writs. In 1908, an Order in Council made the Lord-Lieutenant the Sovereign's prime representative in a county and reduced the High Sheriff's precedence. However, the sheriff retained his responsibilities for the preservation of law and order in the county. The usual procedure for appointing the sheriff from 1660 onwards was that three persons were nominated at the beginning of each year from the county and the Lord Lieutenant then appointed his choice as High Sheriff for the remainder of the year. Often the other nominees were appointed as under-sheriffs. Sometimes a sheriff did not fulfil his entire term through death or other event and another sheriff was then appointed for the remainder of the year. The dates given hereunder are the dates of appointment. All addresses are in County Kerry unless stated otherwise.
Maurice Crosbie, 1st Baron Brandon, was an Irish politician and peer.
Derryquin Castle was an 18th-century stone-built country house, now demolished, in the Parknasilla estate in Sneem, County Kerry in Ireland. It stood on the Ring of Kerry route some 40 km south-west of Killarney.
Sir Edward Denny, 3rd Baronet was an Anglo-Irish politician. His family effectively owned the town of Tralee and had great political influence in County Kerry.
James Crosbie was an Irish politician from County Kerry.
John Gustavus Crosbie was an Anglo-Irish politician, mainly remembered for killing another Member of Parliament, Sir Barry Denny, in a duel in 1794.
Edward Day was Archdeacon of Ardfert from 1782 until his death.
Sir Thomas Crosbie, also recorded as Crosby, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and politician.
James Dayrolles Crosbie was an Irish Justice of the Peace (JP), High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant (DL) of County Kerry and a Brigadier-General in the British Army during World War I. He was the last in the Crosbie line to live in Ballyheigue Castle.
