The present parish of Ardee & Collon is a patchwork of several smaller parishes which have been united over time. Collon was an independent parish for almost two centuries, until it was united with Ardee as recently as 1998. The parish of Ardee is occasionally referred in older documents as the ‘united parishes of Ardee’.
A school was first founded at Ballapousta in 1823 ... before Catholic Emancipation. It was funded by John Taaffe of Smarmore Castle, a local Catholic landlord.
www.ballapoustans.ie/school_history.htmlThe Taaffe family of Smarmore Castle have an extremely colourful history ... they not only owned many Castles in Ireland but also owned Castles on the continent. One member of the family ... Eduard Franz Josef Taaffe ... was the Prime Minister of Austria between 1881 and 1895.
www.smarmorecastle.com/castlehistory.htm
