Ballybur Castle

Ballybur Castle stands in Ballybur Upper, Ireland, and was constructed by the Comerford family in the late sixteenth century in a Norman building tradition.

The Comerford clan held the lands at Ballybur for many generations. Around 1588 Richard Comerford erected the castle as a defended residence to protect the family’s estates and to serve as one of their homes.

During the 1641 rising the Comerfords supported the rebellion and flew the banner of the Irish Confederation at their strongholds. The papal nuncio, Cardinal Rinuccini, visited Ballybur and presented a rosary to Richard Comerford and his wife Mary; that rosary remained a family relic and was recorded as passing to the Marnell sisters in 1970. John Comerford, son of Richard, was the final family member to inhabit the castle. After the rebellion was defeated he was sent to exile in Connacht in 1654 and the castle and its lands were taken into government hands.

Following confiscation, Oliver Cromwell granted Ballybur and its estate to Brian Mansseragh. Brian was related to Martin Mansseragh of Tipperary, who acted as an adviser to the English government during talks with leaders from northern Ireland. Records for the period from 1655 to 1841 are sparse; later inhabitants named include Thomas Deegan. Members of the Deegan family, recorded as the Marnell sisters, occupied the property until Frank and Aifric Gray purchased it in 1979. The castle has since been repaired using building methods based on sixteenth-century practice and is now maintained as a commercial lodging, with facilities for weddings and corporate events.