Grange was described in the following way in an 1889 publication; "Grange is a village in the parish of Kilcooly, barony of Slieveardagh, 8 miles north-east of Laffan's Bridge. The land of the district is good for pasture and tillage".  In 1893 the grocers in Grange were John Hogan of Grange-castle, Robert Lodge, Patrick Hynes and James Walshe, Grange.  Coalbrook was the nearest money- order office and the nearest telegraph office was in Ballingarry.  The postmaster was Patrick Hynes.  There are still two public houses in Grange- one owned by the Hogan family which also serves as a grocery shop, sub-post office and petrol outlet.  The other bar is operated by the Corcoran family.  At first observation it appears that not a great deal has changed in the attractive little village in the intervening century or so.  However Grange has a long and interesting history. 

The term ‘Grange’ usually refers to a part of a bigger estate that lies outside the estate’s main boundaries.  Grange from the medieval period was long a part of Kilcooly Abbey and later became a part of the secular estate.  In what was often a turbulent border region, the towerhouse castle in the village was erected to guard the isolated monastic farm from raiders.  The earliest reference to the castle was that the monastic orders and their holdings were dissolved in 1538, probably implying that the castle was built in the fifteenth century.  When the lands were taken from the monks, the monastic farm and the castle were rented out and part of its rent was used to provide Christmas fare for the Abbey.

The Civil Survey comments that the castle was inhabited and was in need of repair.  There were some cabins nearby as well.  The castle has four storeys and is approximately 50 feet high with the ground storey having a stone vault. A spiral staircase and a latrine can be found on the east wall.  Over the main entrance are two corbels indicating the presence of a machilation, ( a timber structure with a hole in the bottom for dropping things on unwelcome visitors).  Access to the roof and around the roof was made a one-way system by careful arrangement of the stone blocks to give an advantage to defenders.

On the hill overlooking Grange, "The Crag", is the tower that Sir William Barker order to be built to commemorate the Duke of Wellington’s victory over Napoleon in battle of Waterloo of 1815.  A walking route from the village to the monument and around the hills can be completed in under an hour.  An extension to the walk to Kilcooly Abbey will be opened later in 2001.

The location of the National School in Grange is unknown but we do know that it was built in 1831 at a cost of £80.  The teacher was James Millen and he was a Protestant, his income was £53 a year.  There were 75 pupils in the school, 62 were Protestant and 13 were Catholic.  There was also a school constructed in Clonamicklon in 1910, about one and a half miles from Grange village.  This school was very popular for many years and only closed in the early 1970’s due to falling numbers.

The area surrounding the village has long had a good mix of religious denominations, due in part to the strong presence of descendents of the settler Palatine Community, originally from the Palatinate state on the banks of the River Rhine in Germany.  Many of these were originally Lutherans, who converted to Methodism in the eighteenth century.  Not too far from Grange village, in the townsland of Bawnlea, are the remains of a Methodist chapel, where the founder of that major religion John Wesley often preached.  The road on which this old church lies is called Palatine Street on account of the numbers of that community who lived in the locality.  The area features in the newly inaugurated “Kilkenny – Cashel Scenic Drive” signposted by Bord Failte.

Ringforts

There is a ring fort behind Anne and Betty Tehan's in Grange village.  Much of the fort is eroded, the centre of the ringfort is higher than the surrounding field this seems to have been done to provide a dry platform for cabins etc.  Most ringforts and similar structures seem to have been built to afford protection to small communities, farmsteads or as enclosures for domestic animals.  The residents were protected by a bank with a timber fence and a deep ditch called a fosse.  In the case of Grange, both of these are worn away to a few inches.  The fort has a diameter of 140 feet.  There is also an early Norman farmstead in Grange. These had the same general. function as the ringfort, to provide protection for family and animals against thieves and wolves. These sites are rectangular rather than circular like the native Irish ringforts.  This site can be found in townsland of Grange-Castle on Jackie Kelly’s land. 

There are a number of other similar structures in the area, which are of much significance to historians or archaeologists but are not always visually impressive to the layman.  One other such structure however is noteworthy, in that it is a deserted cemetery or more recent vintage than the ringforts.  It is situated in the townsland of Grange-Castle to the rear of Jim Holohan’s home in what was known locally as the ‘camp field’.  Apparently the British Army used this large field as a camp when on maneuvers and it is local tradition that British troops are buried in the raised cemetery in the field.