Richard Whitty, of Ballyteigue, died in 1539, and his son Robert being only fourteen at his father’s death, the custody of Ballyteigue was granted to John Devereux during his minority. The estate contained 3 manors, 3 carucates, and 523 acres.
The manor and castle of Ballyteigue were in the possession of Richard Whittie in 1624 and 1634.
The estate was forfeited in the time of the Commonwealth, and was granted to 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 rebellion 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, about ten leagues from Wexford. 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 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.
A legendary tale of “Sir Walter Whitty and his cat,” published some years ago by the late M. J. Whitty, editor of the Liverpool Post, may have originated from the lion which is represented in the Whitty arms.
| Authorities Consulted. |
| MS. Ordnance Survey. |
| Parliamentary Gazetteer. |
| Book of Inquisitions of Leinster. |
| R. Madden, “United Irishmen.” |
| “Balliteigue Castle,” in The People. |
| Joyce, “Irish Place Names.” |