Ballyduff Barracks

Ballyduff Barracks lies south of the village of Ballyduff, in County Waterford in Ireland.

The Ballyduff Barracks were built in 1869 as a barracks for the Royal Irish Constabulary, in response to the growing agrarian unrest in Ireland at that time. It was designed by the Jacobs Brothers in the Scottish Baronial style and meant to house a head constable and 5 men. It stands on an elevation on the south bank of the River (Munster) Blackwater, guarding the southern approach to a bridge.

Legend has it that the building was intended for India, but the architect’s plans got mixed up and it was built in Ballyduff instead. The R.I.C. barrack at Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry, now called The Old Barracks, carries a similar story.

After the forming of the Irish Free State in 1922 it still maintained its function, but now as a station for the An Garda Síochána. The Garda are the Irish police. The denomination 'barracks' was deemed too military.

The barracks is a rectangular building with 2 square protruding turrets at opposite corners. The turrets have machicolations and several gun loops.

At present the barracks is no longer in use but still maintained by the Office of Public Works. It has already been standing empty since 2013 when the last Garda left.

Ballyduff Barracks is a simple, but nice, defensible building.

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