History & Heritage

Townlands of AskamoreAskamore History and Heritage

Askamore, the big moor or marsh, and its companion Askabeg, the little moor or marsh, lie under the western slopes of Sliabh Bhuí, a peak of some 420m (1369 ft) in the central area of north Wexford.

Askamore gives its name to an area of seventeen townlands which make up the Roman Catholic curacy in the parish of Kilrush. There are now approx 270 inhabited dwelling in this area of fertile rolling land, traditionally devoted to a mixture of tillage crops and grass lands. 

The area is served by a network of small roads intersecting the area between the main Carnew-Gorey road running west to east, and the Carnew-Ferns road running east-south-east under Sliabh Bhuí and Ballybeg.

It was MacMurrough-Kavanagh country for many centuries until the clan was finally driven from their Borris Castle stronghold after the Cromwellian invasion of 1649-1650.

In the Civil Survey taken soon after the Cromwellian conquest, the townlands of the area are mostly detailed under the Parish of Carnew, which was the civil administration of the time. Proprietors listed as of 1640 were Briene Kavanagh, Henry Kenny, Mr. Clebroke and Nicho Loftus.

The Townland Names of Askamore (with thanks to Fr. S. de Vál)

Aska Beg / Aska More: the little / big marsh or bog

Ballyconran: O’Conaráin’s homestead or town

Ballyellis: Ellis homestead

Ballynancoran: Bealach an Corann (?) possibly the way or road of the weir

Ballytarsna: cross-town

Bolinrush: Buaile an Rois – The cattle enclosure or milking place of the wood

Brideswell: Brigid’s Well from the Irish Tobar Bhríde

Burrow: An Coinigéar: the rabbit warren

Castlewhite: Caisleán an Fhaoitigh: White’s Castle, from the family of that name

Drummond: Dromainn, a ridge

Dunishal: An Dún Íseal, the low fort

Kiltilihane: Coill tSaileacháin(?): the wood of the willow herb, or possiblye the wood of the willow or sally tree

Knocknamota: Cnoc na Móta: the hill of the embankments of mounds

Knochshaunfin: Cnoc Sheáin Fhinn: Fair-haired Seán’s hill

Money: Muine: a thicket or shrubbery

Motabower: An Móta Bodhar: the deaf moat or mound, possibly deaf meaning hollow-sounding

Park: An Pháirc

Heritage and Features of Interest locally

Brideswell Cemetery

The “Blue School”

1798

3 thoughts on “History & Heritage

  1. Questions about the Askamore Community Text Alert Scheme.

    Dear members of the Askamore community,
    My name is Senan Fox. My email address is ‘senanfox@yahoo.com’. I can also be found on Facebook. I live in the small village of Tarbert in North Kerry. I recently became interested in possibly setting up a community text alert scheme for my area in order to protect people and their property in this period of rising crime in rural areas. Following a Google search, I came across a story in the Irish Times of how your community set up a text alert scheme. When this in mind, I was wondering if you could tell me more about how your scheme works exactly and how you went about setting it up.There seems to be differing variations of the text alert scheme throughout the country (how it is financed and how it works) and I am eager to hear different ideas and proposals for the most cost-effective and straight-forward way to set one up. I would really appreciate any help or advice that you can provide. If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact me. Take care and best wishes for now, from Senan.

  2. hi i”ve recently found a link on bureau of military history for 1921 if you go on my facebook page dated today 15th of august you’ll access on it information of the askamore company of the north wexford division. enjoy, i did.

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