Historic town

The National Monuments Service's description

In gently undulating terrain. A tributary of the River Nore flows c. 600m SE of the settlement. Kilkenny city (KK019-026----) lies c. 12km to the NE and Kells (KK027-029----) c. 12m to the SW. It is roughly centrally placed on the road between Gowran (KK020-060----), c. 5km to the NNE, and Thomastown (KK028-040----), c. 7km to the SSW. Another road at the E end of Dungarvan runs to Graiguenamanagh (KK029-018----) which is c. 10km to the SE. Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 417) ascribes the derivation of the name as, ‘Dún Garbháin, which means the Fort of a man named Garbhán, or of a place anciently so named’.
By the 14th century the manor of Dungarvan had been granted burgage status, as evidenced by a reference in the Calendar of Ormond Deeds where, ‘Hugh son of Randulf grants to William his son and his heirs in fee and heritage a front in the land of the burgagers of Dungarvan, the head of which lies in length near the King’s highway towards Thomastown on the south’ (Curtis 1932, vol. 1, 261 (deed 613); Empey 1990, 80, 647 - footnote 23). The Down Survey (1655-6) terrier accompanying the parish map of Dungarvan notes, ‘on Dungarvan a Small Castle in repaire’ and the proprietors in 1640 are listed as Peter Shortall, John Archdeacon and Redmond Archdeacon (NLI MS720). The Down Survey (1655-6) parish map indicates a church on glebe land within Dungarvan ((Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). Neither the castle (KK024-068008-) at the E end of the village, or the church c. 50m SW of it, are visible above ground.
The full extent of the medieval borough of Dungarvan is unknown and the settlement now consists of a relatively small village. There is a motte (KK024-068001-) at the W end of the village.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 29 April 2021

References

Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.

Curtis, E. (ed.) 1932 Calendar of Ormond Deeds 1172-1350 A.D. Vol. 1. Dublin. The Stationery Office.

Empey, C.A. 1990 County Kilkenny in the Anglo-Norman period. In Nolan, W. and Whelan, K. (eds), Kilkenny: History and Society, 74-95. Dublin. Geography Publications.