The slates dating back to the 15th century, are inscribed in Latin and/or English and consist of medical or veterinary prescriptions, ecclesiastical matters and musical notation.
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Ballapousta is not a recognised town land in itself although it is mentioned on some maps, but the area is known by this name. The question is why is this so? The answer possibly is related to the road on which the new school house is sited on
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Who were these men and why are they been so honoured each year? To get a better understanding of this let me bring you back in time to Ardee on the early morning of the 30th November 1920.
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Inspired by William Petty's obsessive concern with the ratio of Irish to English in each barony and county, a most crucial component of the ‘Census’ is the listing of the principal family names at the end of each baronial entry.
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The Ardee Corporation Minute Books along with the Ruxton Transcripts are now in the County Archives in Dundalk. However, I made copies of them over 20 years ago and have recently digitalised them all with a view to making them available online in the near future.
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History , Local History
1766 ‘Census’ of the United Parishes of Ardee, Shanlish, Smarmore, Stickillen and Kildemock.
The original list was compiled in 1766 by the Vicar of Ardee, William Lill, most likely from the Parochial Tythes Book. Tythes were another form of taxation and constituted a levy raised by the Church upon the population to fund its institutions.
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On 30th May 1842 the first of many inmates (described as the destitute poor) were admitted. Initially the numbers remained between 200 to 600 but, as the potato crops failed from 1845 to 1849, causing the Great Famine, the numbers shot up to over 1,000 which, as we shall see below, was to lead to many health issues and deaths in the Ardee Workhouse.
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A fascinating mystery involves the Ruxton/Fitzherbert intermarriage which is even more confusing than I had outlined above as William Ruxton, the Surgeon General in 1754 purchased Blackcastle (Registry of deeds Dublin) - presumably Letitia’s sons got it back. I'm indebted to Trevor Fitzherbert of Swynnerton (current spelling) for the following narrative. Taken from Co Louth Archaelogical archives
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With the dawn of the fourteenth century the people of Ardee awakened to a period of increase lawlessness in Ireland in general and in the areas north of Ardee in particular. Its position on the very frontier between the Norman Lordship and the Gaelic North influenced the way of life of Ardonians as they must have lived a frontier lifestyle. Taken from Ardee Facebook page - post by Kevin McKenny
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Taken from Ardee Facebook page by Kevin McKenny. The coming of the Pippards opens a new chapter in the history of Ardee because it was them who, as Lords of Ardee, developed the area from the sparse pre-Norman settlement it had been into a vibrant town.
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