Stradbally, Waterford
Historical Description
STRADBALLY, a maritime parish, in the barony of DECIES-WITHOUT-DRUM, county of WATERFORD, and province of MUNSTER, 7 miles (S. by W.) from Kilmacthomas, on the mail coach road from Waterford to Cork and on the river Tay; containing 3642 inhabitants, of which number, 752 are in the village. The parish comprises 10,302 acres, of which 150 are waste land. The village consists of one long street, with smaller ones diverging from it; the houses are well built and command fine marine views; it is a place of some resort during the bathing season, but the accommodations are inconsiderable. Petty sessions are held once a fortnight; and it is a constabulary police station. Here was formerly a productive salmon fishery, which has totally declined. A new road from Stradbally to Kilmacthomas, shortening the distance one mile, has been lately made. South-west of the village, on a very steep cliff, a signal station-house was erected by the Government during the late war; it has been purchased by J. Hewson, Esq., who calls it Island Castle; he is enlarging and improving the building, with a view of making it his residence; the sea view here is of almost boundless extent, and the cliff on which the house stands is nearly perpendicular, measuring 370 feet from the summit. Near the shore is Woodhouse, the seat of R. Uniacke, Esq., a large and well built mansion, situated in a beautiful valley through which the river Tay winds its course; his ancestor, in 1742, obtained a premium for having planted round it no fewer than 152,640 trees, which form a noble wood, having flourished remarkably, though so near the sea. Woodhouse was anciently called Torc-Raith, or Tar-Cora, and was the residence of a branch of the Geraldines. The other seats are Fahagh, that of Pierse Richard Barron, Esq.; Glenview, of Pierse Marcus Barron, Esq.; and Carrickbarron, the property of Lady Osborne, but occupied by Pierse George Barron, Esq.
The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Lismore, episcopally united, in 1799, to the vicarages of Ballylaneen and Clonea, and in the patronage of the Duke of Devonshire, in whom the rectory is impropriate; the tithes amount to £795.4. 4., of which £500 is payable to the impropriator, and the remainder to the incumbent; and the gross tithes of the benefice amount to £661. 3. 8. The church is a neat structure, with a tower and spire, rebuilt in 1786 by aid of a gift of £500 from the late Board of First Fruits; the churchyard is well planted, and adorned by the ruins of the ancient abbey, which, being overgrown with ivy, have a very picturesque appearance. In the R. C. divisions the parish is the head of a union or district, comprising the parishes of Stradbally and Ballylaneen, and containing three chapels, two of which are in this parish, at Stradbally and Fahagh, the latter built principally at the expense of the late James Barron, Esq.; it is in contemplation to erect a new chapel in the village. A school for children of both sexes was endowed with £30 per ann., by the late Pierse Barron, Esq., who built the school house; a school is supported by Mrs. Uniacke, of Woodhouse, for children of both sexes, and there is also another public school; in these schools about 200 children are taught, and in a private school are about 50 children. The late Rev. P. Wall, P.P., left upwards of £100 to be distributed in clothing and other charities. On the estate of Fahagh are the remains of an ancient building which derives interest from having been the place of refuge of the Fitzgeralds. At Ballivoney the traces of an extensive building are scarcely visible, extending in length 180 feet, and in breadth 90, with an open wall in front; it is supposed to have belonged to the Knights Templars. Two miles south-west of the village, on a very steep cliff, are the ruins of a castle (of which the Irish name signifies "the house of fortification"), built by the Fitzgeralds, and defended on the land side by a deep trench, over which was a drawbridge. At Carrigahilla is a relic supposed to be druidical, consisting of an oval enclosure, 182 yards long by 33 broad, having a large upright stone in the centre and several smaller ones around it. One of the brotherhood of the Augustine friars, ruins of whose abbey are in the churchyard, was called the White Friar, and is the hero of many legendary tales.
Civil Registration
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Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Stradbally from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Waterford is available to browse.