placenames.ie
Civil parish

Fennagh

Fionnmhach

The parish’s educational record and the architecture of Ballydarton reveal activity beyond the village streets.

Recorded locationFennagh52.72591° N · 6.80497° WInteractive map supplied by OpenStreetMap.
Recorded place location · Logainm.ie

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

  • Fionnmhach · Irish · main form · non-validated name
  • Fennagh · English · main form

Place & story

Schools supported in different ways

Samuel Lewis recorded several forms of school provision in Fennagh parish in 1837. Donations from the rector and vicar helped the boys' parochial school, while subscriptions supported a school for about fifty girls. Another 270 children attended five private schools. The account distinguishes these sources of support without giving a separate attendance total for the boys' school. [2]

Daniel Robertson’s Ballydarton

Ballydarton House is a Tudor Revival country house designed by Daniel Robertson and dated to about 1830 by the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage. Its central battlemented tower rises through three stages, with a polygonal turret and projecting windows contributing to the varied outline. A service wing and adjacent stable complex extend the house beyond its principal residential rooms. [3]

A nineteenth-century lithograph

The National Library of Ireland holds a lithograph of Ballydarton identifying it as John Watson's seat. Catalogued to about 1833–45, it was produced by Day and Haghe after a drawing by the Reverend J. Shillibeer. The library describes a scene with a mounted rider on the drive, dogs among shrubs and a couple near the house, preserving an early representation of its grounds and setting. [4]

Geographic information

Place type
Civil parish
County
Carlow
Barony
Rathvilly
Barony
Forth
Coordinates
52.72591, -6.80497
Mapped area
42.35 km²
Logainm ID
326 ↗

Sources & further reading

  1. Logainm.ie — Fennagh. Place names and geographic record, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
  2. Fennagh, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland1837 · Samuel Lewis
  3. Ballydarton House, register10301702 · National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
  4. Ballydarton (Co.Carlow), PD3199TB · National Library of Ireland

Name record retrieved 2026-10-25 · Source record modified 2025-01-10. How this page was prepared.