The family, possibly descended from Sir Harmmond Cheevers of Norfolk and ultimately from the lordship of Chievres in the Duchy of Lorraine, first appeared in Irish records when William Chevre witnessed William Marshal’s charter to Tintern Abbey between 1207 and 1213. By 1247, Nicholas Chever held Ballydufathely through a knight’s fee from the Bigod estate, establishing a foothold that would see the family expand their influence across Wexford and beyond. Through strategic marriages and acquisitions, the Cheevers established branches at Ballyseskin and Killilane, whilst also securing lands at Macetown in County Meath by 1536.

The castle itself is a robust rectangular tower house measuring 10.35 metres east to west and 7.85 metres north to south, built with Old Red Sandstone quoins and featuring a distinctive base batter. Originally accessed through a round-headed doorway on the south wall, the structure rises through four floors connected by mural stairs built into the western wall. Each level reveals the careful planning of medieval domestic architecture: the vaulted first floor, the second floor with its elegant two-light cusped ogee-headed windows and hidden oubliette sealed within the vault thickness, and upper chambers complete with fireplaces, garderobes, and window seats. The defensive elements remain evident in the narrow loops and the wall-walk accessed via steps at each corner angle, though modern alterations, including a concrete roof and simplified battlements, reflect its later conversion to a dwelling.

The castle’s history took a dramatic turn during the Cromwellian period when Arthur Cheevers was displaced from nearby Cullentstown in the 1650s, though the family retained significant holdings in the area. John Cheever of Macetown still owned the castle and 412 acres at Ballyhealy in 1640, but following the upheaval, the property was granted to Colonel Bunbury. Local accounts suggest Bunbury dismantled two of four towers from what was presumably a bawn, with a third tower removed in the 19th century, though no trace of this defensive enclosure survives today. Despite centuries of change, abandonment, and adaptation, Ballyhealy Castle endures as a remarkable example of a tower house that charts the fortunes of one Anglo-Norman family through Ireland’s turbulent medieval and early modern periods.