Ballyteigue Castle, County Wexford
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Castles in County Wexford Ballyhack Castle Ballyteigue Castle Enniscorthy Castle Ferns Castle Ferrycarrig Castle Johnstown Castle Rathmacknee Castle |
It was erected by Sir Walter de Whitty, one of the Norman settlers, the name being spelt variously- Whythay, Whythey, Wytteyer, Whittey, Wythay, in old documents.
Sir Richard Whitty was summoned to the English Parliament as a baron by King Edward III. His son Richard held three plots of land in Ballyteigue in 1335.
Richard Whitty of Ballyteigue died in 1539. Because his son Robert was only fourteen at his father's death, the custody of Ballyteigue was granted to one John Devereux during his minority. The estate 3 manors and 523 acres.
The manor and castle of Ballyteigue were in the possession of Richard Whittle in 1624 and 1634. The estate was forfeited in the time of the Commonwealth and was granted to a Colonel Brett. It afterwards passed into the hands of the Sweenys and subsequently to the Colcloughs, a branch of the family of Tintern Abbey.
In 1798, the castle was the residence of John Colclough, one of the leaders of the Wexford insurgents. He was only twenty-nine when the rising broke out. As soon as Bagnal Harvey heard that Lord Kingsborough's terms for the surrender of Wexford would not be ratified, he hastened to Ballyteigue, but Colclough and his wife and child had already fled to one of the Saltee Islands. He followed them, but the island was searched and the fugitives taken in a cave. They were conveyed to Wexford, and Harvey and Colclough were immediately tried and hanged. Colclough's head is buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery, Wexford.
His little daughter and only child inherited Ballyteigue. She afterwards married a Captain Young, and both lived in the castle until their death. Their only daughter sold the house to Mr. Edward Meadows, from whom it passed to Mr. Thomas Grant, whose family are still the occupants.
