I have just come across an abstract of a will made in 1673 by a Thomas Berry of "Castle Cufe, Parish of Kilmannon, Queen's County", who is possibly an ancestor of mine (see file).
I have been unable to find a Castle Cufe or Parish of Kilmannon - only Kilmanmon in Wexford and am somewhat confused about the local geography. Can anyone help please?
Patrick Berry (Perth, Australia)
This is probably a reference to the civil or ecclesiastical parish of Kilmanman in Queen's county (Co. Laois), which includes a townland named Castlecuff / Castlecuffe. An alternate name for the parish was Clonaslee.
The 'f' like letter is an old long 's'. The townland is located abut half way between the towns of Birr and Mountmellick - see the entry on the placename database.
There are some details on the parish included in the entry on Lewis Topographical Dictionary of 1837.
I located the townland of Castlecuffe on the 1st edition OS maps dated c1840, and these show an actual Castle ruin and a later residence labelled as 'Castle Cuffe' and Castlecuff - see attached.
Some ruins of the old Castle appear to survive
p.s. disregard my long 's' comment - was mixed that up with another query
Fantastic! Many thanks Shane.
Patrick