A number of villages in South Kilkenny are considered culturally and architecturally distinctive on a national level due to their clustered settlement pattern. These are collectively known as the farm villages of South Kilkenny. An essay by Jack Burtchaell entitled The South Kilkenny Farm Villages (Smyth et al, 1988), identifies these villages and provides details on their origins and significance.
Burtchaell identified a total of 57 such villages, and six have been identified as being worthy of further study, namely: Listrolin, Licketstown, Glengrant, Luffany, Corludy, and Portnahully located in the parish of Mooncoin.