existed near Ballyoughtera, itself said by Smith to have become a village of some note during the Middle Ages. Another historian, Lewis, states that Ballyoughtera Church was built in 1549, only to be destroyed during the conflict of 1641–1642. But there is evidence to suggest that the Church was already in ruins before 1641 (probably as early as 1615) and that it was built before 1539, with a Chancel being added on later, possibly to cope with an expanding population in and around the village. The Fitzgeralds In the Norman invasion of Ireland, the FitzGerald dynasty (a Geraldine line) was granted lands in the barony of Imokilly. In 1575, the Cambro-Norman castle that they built, then called the castle of Ballymartyr, was attacked by Sir Henry Sidney, the Lord Deputy, who captured the castle. The Fitzgeralds of Imokilly were known to the local peasantry as the Madraí na Fola ("Dogs of Blood") due to the blood-thirsty disposition they displayed. Demise of the Fitzgeralds During the Desmond Rebellion, the Fitzgeralds fought against the forces of Queen Elizabeth I in the region. The Fitzgeralds, together with the other southern lords of the Hiberno-Norman stock (who had become "more Irish than the Irish themselves"), formed the Geraldine League to oppose the British attempts to force Protestantism on the Catholic populace and to rout the native chiefs and replace them with English landlords. In 1581, the Earl of Ormond overran Imokilly; at Castlemartyr he captured the aged mother of the seneschal, John FitzEdmund, and hung her from the wall of the castle. FitzEdmund eventually submitted to the Earl, but he did not recover his lands. Instead, the property shared the fate of other properties after the Desmond Rebellion. It was confiscated and included in the grant of land between Lismore and Castlemartyr that were given to Sir Walter Raleigh. FitzEdmund himself was arrested in 1585 and died in Dublin Castle in the following year. In 1602, Raleigh's lands around Castlemartyr were bought by Richard Boyle, the First Earl of Cork and ancestor to the Earls of Shannon. By the early 17th century the FitzGeralds were a spent force. In the south-east corner of the old church in Ballyoughtera, the stone has a boar crest surrounded by triple incised circles and shallow cross carving which is also encircle. At the northern end of Ballyoughtera church ruin is the grave of another Richard Boyle, 4th Earl