Settlement deserted - medieval

The National Monuments Service's description

In the Civil Survey (1654-6) Knockgraffon is described as having 'two decayed castles (the Walls standing, & a stone house habitable many small Cottages an Oarchard & garden...' (Simington 1931, vol.1, 230). No trace of the settlement survives, however it is likely to have been located between or in the vicinity of the motte and bailey (TS075-019001-) and the 13th-century church (TS075-019003-). The motte at Knockgraffon was erected in 1192, the manor having been granted to Philip of Worchester (Orpen 1909, 276). In 1202 King John ordered Worchester to deliver the ‘the Castrum de Cnocgrafon’ to William de Braose, however, in 1215 Knockgraffon was returned to Worchester (ibid.). In 1225 this grant was confirmed to William of Worcester, Philip’s nephew (ibid.). In the Calendar of Ormond Deeds the rental of burgages in 1274 is given as ‘nineteen marks, one pound of pepper, two pounds of cumin’(Curtis 1932, vol. 1, 78). The manor of Knockgraffon was, after the death of John de Bermingham, Earl of Louth, in 1329, committed to the custody of James, Earl of Ormond, in right of his liberty by writ of June 11, 1333 (Curtis 1935-7, 54). A small scale excavation in 1995 c. 100m N of the church revealed a number of pits, a ditch, two firespots and traces of one or two wicker buildings suggestive of settlement, potentially medieval (Pollock 1996, 82). There were also a number of parallel linear features filled with an old soil indicative of medieval/early post-medieval cultivation (ibid.).

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 1 April 2014

References

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1931 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol I: county of Tipperary: eastern and southern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Orpen, G.H. 1909 The mote of Knockgraffon. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 39, 275-7.

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

Curtis, E. 1935-7 Rental of the manor of Lisronagh, 1333, and notes on betagh tenure in medieval Ireland. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 43C, 41-76.

Pollock, D. 1996 Knockgraffon: deserted medieval town. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 1995: Summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 82. Bray. Wordwell.