Mulhussey
Maol Hosae

The Ireland's Ancient East
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Maol Hosae · Co. Meath

A Norman village in south Meath, home to the Hussey family since the 13th century.

Mulhussey (Maol Hosae in Irish, meaning "Hussey's summit") is a small village in the parish of Kilcloon, in south County Meath. The name preserves the history of the place: the Hussey family, a Norman Anglo-Norman family, settled here in the thirteenth century and gave their name to the landscape. The Husseys came to Ireland in 1172 as part of the Norman invasion and conquest. Hugh de Lacy, the Norman conqueror of Meath, granted them lands near Dublin, including Galtrim in County Meath, from which they took their baronial title. The Lord of Trim sent the Husseys to the area outside Maynooth to build a tower house and manor and protect the lands for the DeLacy family. That protection, and that family, lasted for centuries.

Today Mulhussey is a small, quiet townland between Kilcock and Maynooth in the south of the county. The tower house built by the Hussey family still stands, with ruins and a cemetery. St Bridgid's Well, a religious spring in the nearby townland of Calgath, survives as a record of ancient devotion and pilgrimage. The landscape is agricultural, the village is very small, and the Norman history that shaped it is seven centuries old. But the names and the stones remember.

Population

~100

Coords

53.5569° N, 7.1694° W

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At a glance.

Three things every local will eventually mention. Read these and you've already understood more than most day-trippers do.

01 The Husseys

Norman family, 13th century to present.

The Hussey family came to Ireland in 1172 and were sent to this area by the Lord of Trim to protect the DeLacy lands. The place is named after them: Maol Hosae, "Hussey's summit".

Stories & lore → 02 The castle

Tower house ruins.

A tower house built by the Hussey family survives in the townland, together with the remnants of a fortified manor and cemetery.

Stories & lore → 03 St Bridgid's Well

Religious antiquity.

St Bridgid's Well is located in the nearby townland of Calgath, a surviving spring well of religious significance.

Stories & lore →

02 / 03

Stories & lore.

The reason to come back. The things every local will eventually tell you about, usually after the second pint.

Norman settlement, 13th century onwards

The Hussey family at Mulhussey

The Hussey family are among the first Norman settlers in the Meath area. They came to Ireland in 1172 as part of the Norman invasion and were granted lands by Hugh de Lacy. The family established themselves at Galtrim in County Meath, taking the title Baron of Galtrim from that estate. But the Lord of Trim sent the Husseys to the area outside Maynooth to build and occupy a tower house and manor house to protect the lands for the DeLacy family. This was the foundation of Mulhussey. The place is named after them: Maol Hosae combines the Irish word for bald (maol) with the Irish form of Hussey (Hosae), resulting in "Hussey's summit". The family held the land through the medieval period and beyond.

Medieval fortification

The tower house

A tower house, the typical fortified residence of a medieval Norman family, was built at Mulhussey and survives as ruins today. Associated with the tower are the remains of a fortified manor house (possibly called a "castle" in local usage) and a cemetery. The tower house is a small circular or square stone tower, typically three or four storeys high, designed for defence and family residence. It was an economical way to assert and defend a claim to land during the medieval period. The Mulhussey tower house, like many examples across Ireland, now stands in partial ruin, overgrown but substantial.

Religious antiquity, Calgath

St Bridgid's Well

St Bridgid's Well is located in the townland of Calgath, near Mulhussey, and is one of the religious antiquities of the parish. Wells dedicated to St Bridgid are scattered across Ireland and were (and are) sites of pilgrimage and devotion. The well at Calgath is a spring rising from the ground, channelled into a basin, traditionally believed to have healing powers. It is a reminder of the older religious landscape that persists beneath the Christian parish structure: the veneration of water, the association of local saints with particular places, and the long continuity of pilgrimage from pre-Christian times through the medieval period and into modern day.

Getting there.

By car

From Kilcock: 6km north on local roads. From Maynooth: 8km northwest on local roads. From Dunboyne: 16km south-west. From Summerhill: 8km south. The village is accessed by secondary roads from all directions.