The Mac Giolla Padraig (Modern day family name Fitzpatrick), Chief Rulers of Ossory, had a residence in Gowran.

Local place names like Rathvaun, Rathcash, Rathcusack, and Rathgarvan, signified the presence of raths where people lived, farmed and foraged for a livelihood.

The presence of the 3rd/4th Century Christianised Ogham stone on display in the historic St. Mary’s Collegiate Church Gowran would also indicate a place of residence and worship dating back 2000 years.

For example, nearby Tullaherin Church, graveyard and Round Tower dating to the 6th Century.

Freestone Hill Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine situated 4 km from Gowran was a Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement where Roman coins and other artefacts were found during archaeological surveys in 1948 and 1951.

Following the Norman Invasion of Ireland in 1169 a grant of 44,000 acres,[1] the Manor of Gowran was made to Theobald Fitzwalter (Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler) 1st Chief Butler of Ireland.