placenamesWard
An Barda
An early historical account follows Ward from a castle settlement to a village marked by farm buildings and surviving ruins.
The name
A reliable full-name meaning has not been established here. The recorded Irish and English forms are given without an unsupported translation.
Recorded forms
- An Barda · Irish · main form · validated name
- Ward · English · main form
Place & story
A settlement around the castle
Francis Elrington Ball’s history of southern Fingal describes Ward village growing around its castle. In the first half of the sixteenth century it was occupied by the judge Richard Delahide. Ball records a later connection with the St Lawrence family of Howth, including a heraldic tablet dated 1576 placed on the castle. [2]
By the late eighteenth century, the village presented a different appearance. Ball reproduces antiquary Austin Cooper’s observations of granaries, stables, a pigeon-house, walled enclosures and orchards. Cooper could still recognise traces of the earlier residence in the gate piers and castle remains. The surviving castle portion he described was its vaulted basement, with an opening leading towards an orchard and another grass-covered vaulted chamber nearby. [2]
Geographic information
- Place type
- Population centre
- County
- Dublin
- Barony
- Castleknock
- Coordinates
- 53.43441, -6.32963 (approximate)
- Logainm ID
- 1411665 ↗
Sources & further reading
- Logainm.ie — Ward. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Southern Fingal: The Parish of Ward (1920) · Francis Elrington Ball
Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2011-05-26. How this page was prepared.