Townland Features

Gerry Costello & Jimmy Laffey.

Garbally Castle

This imposing structure was a 15th century tower house built by Malachy O’Kelly in 1499. However in 1504, the castle was initially destroyed by MacWilliam De Burgo along with two other nearby O’Kelly castles at Monivea and Gallagh. It was unsure thereafter to what extent of which the castle was restored but it was noted by Samuel Lewis in 1832 that the castle was once again ‘partially destroyed by Cromwell’ along with another nearby castle in Clooncurreen during the 17th century invasion. The Kelly Clan was well known at the time for their skill in building strongholds.

What we see today is a mostly ruined castle with its interiors exposed. It’s a three-storey tower about square in plan. The southwest side is the most damaged and shows thick side walls with mural passages and a vaulted ceiling on the first floor. In the southeast wall there’s a pointed arch doorway which is defended by a gun loop in the south jamb and by a murder-hole. The top of the northeast and southeast walls still have the corbels for the machicolations. The northeast wall has some windows, three of which are slits.

Garbally House

Garbally House, later to be the Ruane residence in the 20th century, was originally a Ffrench house and occupied by Patrick Ffrench of the Ffrench family on Monivea. In the early 1800s it was leased to Patrick Blake and at the time of Griffith’s Valuation, in the 1850s, it was occupied by Patrick’s son, Thomas Blake. Patrick Blake was an M.P. and was central to the hanging of Neddy Lohan in Cooloo when his evidence against Neddy Lohan was the final nail in his conviction for the assassination of Mr. Browne of Elmhill.

By 1901 the house was occupied by Dympna Blake, a sister of Thomas, and her nieces Delia and Celia Roche, who were employed as housekeepers. Dympna Blake, or Demmie as she was known, died on July 23rd 1903 to finally end that family name with Garbally. In 1911 the house was occupied by Delia Roche with Charlotte Kelly, a visitor, and Thomas McDonagh, a servant.

It was reported that one sister attended Blake’s house at Garbally and put a curse on it saying “May the sun never shine here at mid-day and may his blood be on its walls”. Many locals would say that a brown stain appeared on the gable wall afterwards and would always reappear even after painting.

(Read more here on the role of Patrick Blake in that event)

Garbally School

St. Jarlath’s National School was built initially as a three roomed centre of education to standard departmental layout that were commonly used throughout the country. Open in 1954 it would replace a much older school in Esker townland which in turn has today become Skehana Community Centre. This new school has been further developed in recent years to include refurbishment and extensions to cater for increased educational needs while more recent work includes car parking, drop off and collection points and roadside safety fencing.

Handball Alley

 

Famine Memorial

A plaque is placed in the handball alley which commemorates Ellen Mannion who died here in 1850, aged 25, with her husband Michael McDermott and their two children after they were evicted from their house and took shelter at the ruins.

This page was added on 22/07/2019.

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