School: Ball Áluinn (Balla) (roll number 1146)

Location:
Balla, Co. Mayo
Teacher:
P. Ó Maolanaigh
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0095, Page 207

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0095, Page 207

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  1. Balla Round Tower is about twenty-five feet high. It was much higher until the time of the late Canon Gibbons - about 50 or 60 years ago. He wanted to use it as a bell tower. But he considered it too high so he took off the stones for several feet from the top until it now is not much more than one half its former height.

    Brize Castle about three miles from Balla on the Claremorris road. It is in the barony of Carra in the County of Mayo. It was built by Maurice Prendergast one of the first of the Normans. The name Prendergast is quite common in the locality. In fact it is the commonest name in it. Later it came to the Moores. Then the Lynches got it from these Moores who were the same family as the O'Moores of Leix. The castle was destroyed in Iretons time. Several huge blocks of masonry are down at the bottom of the hill - still held together by the mortar made long ago. The Prendergasts put up a great fight and over one hundred of them were killed before the castle was captured. A law case between the Lynches and the Moores for the property around the castle over 100 years ago begarred both sides it went on for so long.
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. objects
      1. man-made structures
        1. historical and commemorative structures (~6,794)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    P. Ó Maolanaigh
    Gender
    Male