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.” _BARBERSTOWN CASTLE_ This castle is situated in the parish of Straffan, County Kildare, in the barony of North Salt, about a mile north of the village of Straffan. The name is spelt variously Barberstowne, Barbeston, Barbieston, Barbiestowne, Barbiston, Barbitstowne, Barbyeston. The present building consists of a battlemented rectangular keep considered by experts to be of thirteenth-century construction, and measuring at its greatest height 52 feet. It is divided into three floors. The lower room, which is vaulted to the height of 17 feet, is 18 feet long by 15½ feet wide, and the walls are 4½ feet in thickness. The entrance is situated at the north-west angle, above which are two grooves of sufficient width to stand in, and evidently intended for the protection of the doorway. The room above the vault is of slightly greater proportions than that below, owing to the walls being of less thickness. Two small rectangular towers are joined to the main building on the south side’s western angle, and west side’s northern angle respectively. The latter contains a winding stone stair of fifty-three steps leading to the now slated roof. The original crenelated loops for musketry have here and there been enlarged to admit more light. The summit of the watch tower is reached from the roof by a short flight of nine steps. A man is said to be interred between the top of the main stair and the roof of the tower. His family having held the castle by a lease which expired when he was put underground, determined to evade relinquishing their hold on the property by keeping him always above the earth.