Shackleton was the founder. It was at this school that Edmund Burke, Napper Tandy, and many other men of mark, were educated.
Ballitore derives its name from its former marshy condition, Bally in Irish signifying a town, and togher, corrupted into tore—a bog. The first settlers were two Quakers, Abel Strettel and John Bar croft. They planted and builded until they made the valley into a garden of the Lord. In "A Tour through Ireland," published in 1792, it is thus described:—
"Within a mile of Timolin, on the right, our eyes were enraptured with the most delicious situation, where through the lofty trees w^e beheld a variety of neat dwellings. Through a road which looked like a fine- terrace walk, we hastened to this lovely spot, where Nature, assisted by Art, gave us the most perfect gratification. It is a colony of Quakers, called by the name of Ballitore. The River Griese winds its stream very near the houses, and the buildings, orchards, and gardens show an elegant simplicity peculiar to this people. Their burying-ground, near the road, is surrounded with different trees, whose verdure made us imagine it a well-planted garden till we were informed otherwise. The hedges that enclose the meadows and fields are quick-set, kept of an equal height, and about every ten yards trees regularly pierce through them, forming
