Castles in Ireland

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Dunsany Castle

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Dunsany Castle (Irish: Caisleán Dhún Samhnaí), Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland is a modernised Norman castle, started c. 1180 / 1181 by Hugh de Lacy, who also commissioned Killeen Castle, nearby, and the famous Trim Castle. It is possibly Ireland's oldest home in continuous occupation, having been held by the Cusack family and their descendants by marriage, the Plunketts, to the present day. The castle is surrounded by its demesne, the inner part of the formerly extensive Dunsany estate. The demesne holds an historic church (still consecrated), a working walled garden, a walled farm complex, an ice house, various dwellings and other features.

Contents [hide]
1 Location
2 History
3 Castle structure
4 Demesne
4.1 Walls, entrances and lodges
4.2 Church of St. Nicholas ("The Abbey")
4.3 Walled Garden
4.4 Other structures
4.5 Lands
5 Access
6 Points of Note
7 External links
Location[edit]
Dunsany Castle and demesne, and other remnants of the family estates, are situated in and near the townland of Dunsany, between the historic town of Trim and Dunshaughlin. At Dunsany Cross(roads) is a hamlet, with a post office store, Catholic church and primary school, and a mix of private housing with a small local authority development. The former Dower House is located just east of the hamlet. The demesne can be reached from the N3 road and from Trim, and is signposted from the Navan Road, from Dunshaughlin and from Warrenstown, near the former railway station for the area, at Drumree. The next village is Kilmessan, and today Dunsany and Kilmessan together form a single Catholic parish.

History[edit]
The castle was built, probably in succession to basic "motte" fortifications, remnants of which can still be seen to the left and right in front of it, in the period 1180 – 1200, construction being thought to have begun in 1180 / 1181. Foundations and the lower parts of the four main towers are thought to be original, and some interior spaces, notably an old kitchen, but much additional work has been carried out, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the current castle is more than three times the size of the original.

The castle, along with Killeen Castle, was held by the Cusacks, initially on behalf of the de Lacys, and passed by marriage in the early 15th century to the Plunketts. Originally, it and Killeen lay on a single estate but the first generation of Plunketts gave Killeen to the eldest son, and Dunsany to the younger, Christopher, following which the estate was divided, and the Castle descended in the hands of the Barons of Dunsany, who enjoyed almost uninterrupted ownership, aside from issues around Oliver Cromwell's operations in Ireland (the then Lady Dunsany defended the castle against an initial approach but the family were later forced out, some dying on the way to Connaught), and the aftermath of some other troubles between Ireland and England. They were cousins of Saint Oliver Plunket.

The Dunsany Estate was reduced by the operation of the Land Acts in the late 19th and early 20th century but the castle is still surrounded by its original demesne, and other estate lands remain around the district, some adjacent to the demesne and some remote.

Much of the work of the writer Lord Dunsany was done at the Castle, notably in a room in one of the building's towers.

Since the 1990s, work has been carried out, with some attendant publicity, to restore some of the Dunsany properties in the immediate area and in Trim. The family's other castle, the largest in Ireland but a ruin, Trim Castle, was transferred to the State in the 1990s.

Castle structure[edit]
The Castle is entered through a projecting porch and a lobby with a worked plaster ceiling, which opens into the central hallway, featuring the principal stairway and a vaulted ceiling, and into a secondary hall. The ground floor holds the grand dining room, with portraits of past family members, and a fine arts and crafts billiards room, as well as kitchen spaces, ancient and modern, and other rooms. On the first floor are the library, and drawing-room, which has Stapleton plasterwork from 1780. The library, which may have been worked on by James Shiel, is in the "Gothic Revival" style, with a "beehive" ceiling. Also on this floor is a secondary stairway (where a "priest's hole" for hiding Catholic ministers formerly existed). The third floor holds ornate bedrooms.

Demesne[edit]
Walls, entrances and lodges[edit]
The demesne is surrounded by a drystone wall, much of which was built during the Great Famine as a relief work.

The main entrance to the grounds today, opposite a medieval pilgrim cross, has the appearance of a Gothic ruin but is a "sham", concealing a residential "gatehouse" lodge, and with a solid black metal gate. Just behind this is the former Steward's House, a curious sunken structure, and just west on the public road is an access road for the demesne farm.

The former main gateway, leading to a long avenue which abruptly reveals the castle to arrivals, has a tower lodge and high white gates. A third gateway, at Dunsany Bridge, over the River Skane, had a curious black-stone lodge, which was vandalised in the 1980s.

Church of St. Nicholas ("The Abbey")[edit]
The Church of St. Nicholas (of Myra), known locally as "the Abbey", was built in the 1440s, on the site of an earlier church (standing in 1305). It is now a National Monument, with remnants of lofts and living quarters, and inside and around are tombs of family members and local residents. While it fell out of use and a new church was built at Dunsany Crossroads, it is still consecrated, and a wedding Mass was celebrated there (with a temporary roof installed) in the early 2000s, with the Bishop of Meath.

Walled Garden[edit]
There is a full-scale walled garden, over 3 acres (1.2 ha) in size, still producing fruit and vegetables for the estate. A cottage, historically occupied by the senior gardener, is built into the walls of the garden. Nearby are working beehives.

Other structures[edit]
Also within the demesne are stone-built farm and stable yards, an ice-house and wells. There is a home within the stable yard, and at least one ruined cottage near the walls.

Lands[edit]
The lands comprise a mix of farmland, marsh and woodland. At the back of the demesne, alongside the old Dublin-Navan railway line, is the River Skane, a tributary of the River Boyne.

Access[edit]
The castle can be visited on a certain number of days each year, for a fee.

Points of Note[edit]
The castle and demesne have been used for filming on occasions, for example for Braveheart (the wedding scene was filmed in the Church of St. Nicholas, for example) and the remake of The Magnificent Ambersons.

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Durhamstown Castle

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Durhamstown Castle is a 600 year old towerhouse in the townland of Durhamstown of the civil parish of Ardbraccan which is in the barony of Lower Navan, in County Meath, Ireland. It is named after a Mr Doream and has been converted into a guest house and restaurant.

Although the precise origins of the building are unknown the existing castle is believed to date from the early 1400s. The building is of four-storeys and the ground floor has four vaulted chambers with inserted windows. A square tower with a pointed door which opens to a spiral staircase can be found at its east wall. There are three tall chimneys clustering at the north end of the nave. There is believed to have originally been another storey which was knocked down as a result of a fire. A 19th century single storey wing has been added to the north of the old house.

In the 16th century the building was owned by The 1st Earl of Essex, Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland.[citation needed]

In the 17th century Sir Roger Jones-Lord Ranallagh lived there, whose son Arthur, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, was involved in a scandal whereby the entire Irish Exchequer was diverted to pay for the mistresses of Charles II. During the 18th century its occupants were Thompsons and during the 19th the Roberts Family.

It is currently owned by Dave and Sue Prickett, who bought it in 1996 and run it as a guest house and restaurant. It is one of the oldest continually resided-in buildings in Ireland.

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Killeen Castle

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Killeen Castle (Irish: Caisleán Chillín), located in Dunsany, County Meath, Ireland, is the current construction on a site occupied by a castle since around 1180. The current building is a restoration of a largely 19th century construction, burnt out in 1981. Killeen was built as one of a pair of castles either side of a major roadway north, the other being the extant Dunsany Castle.[1]

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Cusacks and Plunketts
1.2 After the Plunketts
2 Contents
3 New Development
4 References and footnotes
5 External sources
History[edit]
Cusacks and Plunketts[edit]

Killeen Castle Co.Meath
The original structure at Killeen Castle is said to have been a Norman fortification, perhaps wooden, built for the de Lacy magnates, and held from 1172 by the Cusack family, beginning with Geoffrey de Cusack. The stone castle was built by Geoffrey de Cusack around 1181.[2] The date is carved above the doorway.[3]

An early recorded description of the castle and its interior[3] reads - The date is Aug 1st (the feast of St. Peter's Chains). As we approach the castle we are faced by four tall battlemented towers with five storeys of slit openings linking the curtain walls of the building. The castle is set on a slight mound. We enter by a steep wooden stairway, and find ourselves, having passed through the considerable thickness of the wall from the narrow doorway, into the Great Hall on the first floor. Rushes cover the stone flags, and besides the usual furniture, such as a trestle-table, benches and the straight-backed, carved, oaken armchair of the Lord of the Manor, we note on our left a heavy green and white curtain covering one wall of the Hall. Opposite us with its sloping stone hood is the fireplace with logs burning in the grate. The right hand wall is hung with the Lord's war harness, his morion, hunting trophies and feathered lure used in falconry. It is a costly piece with a perch and gilt borders.

In such surroundings the de Cusacks Lords of Killeen lived, made war, and expanded their fiefdoms for 225 years until the castle passed to the Plunketts through the marriage of Lady Joan de Cusack to Christopher Plunkett of Rathregan in 1399.

The first Plunkett to hold the castle, Sir Christopher, became the first Baron Killeen, and divided his estate between his eldest two sons, the second son taking possession of sister castle, Dunsany, and later becoming the first Lord Dunsany. The elder branch continued as Barons of Killeen, and later Earls of Fingall. The third, Sir Thomas Fitz-Christopher Plunket married heiress Mary Ann Cruice of Rathmore, daughter of Sir Christopher Cruice of Cruicetown, Moydorrah and Rathmore Castle - a crucifix in their honour is located on the demense. The fourth and sixth sons founded other landed houses. Dunsoghly Castle, one of the few intact fifteenth-century castles in Ireland, was built by the family of Sir Robert Plunket, the fourth son, between 1450 and 1480. An additional title, as Baron Fingall, in the United Kingdom peerage, was acquired in 1831. While the titles survived, the Killeens were the premier Catholic peers of Ireland.[1]

The castle was developed over time, and by the fifteenth century, was a mid-size fortified tower house.[citation needed]

The two branches of the original family remained close through the centuries and during the worst of the Penal Law period, the Dunsany branch, having survived transportation to Connacht under Cromwell and other difficulties, converted to the Church of Ireland, and held Killeen in trust for the elder branch, which remained Roman Catholic. Unlike some arrangements of this sort, Killeen was formally returned.[1]

The castle fell into disrepair in the late 17th century, was leased out, and was not restored until around 1779, when parts of the demesne were landscaped and some of the estate features were added.

Significant reworking was carried out from 1803 to 1813 under the supervision of Francis Johnston, and in 1841, much of the castle was demolished and rebuilt (using much existing material) by the 9th Earl, in the style of a small Windsor Castle. The two towers added have the dates 1181 and 1841 inscribed, and at the time of completion, it was said that Killeen had 365 windows.[citation needed]

After the Plunketts[edit]
The last Earl of Fingall sold Killeen Castle and Estate in 1951, to Sir Victor Sassoon. The Earl remained as manager of the stud farm established near the castle.[citation needed] In 1953, the Earl and Countess moved to a modern house built on the lands, and most of the house contents were sold.[citation needed] Sassoon died in 1961 and his heirs sold the estate on in 1963, to French art dealer and major racehorse owner, Daniel Wildenstein.

The last Earl moved from the estate to Corballis on the Dunsany estate, then The Commons. He died in 1984 and is buried at Dunsany Church.[citation needed]

In 1978, the castle and estate were sold to advertiser Basil Brindley, who continued the stud farm operation. On 16 May 1981, the castle was burnt out in an arson attack, being left abandoned for many years. The lands and buildings were sold again in 1989, to Christopher Slattery, who initiated the current development plans.

Contents[edit]
The demesne contains the castle itself, a substantial stable yard, a church (sometimes, incorrectly, called "Killeen Abbey"), a holy well (the "Lady Well") a pond, a walled garden and other features.

The church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was erected around 1425, is in the Gothic style and has an adjacent cemetery. It is preserved as a National Monument.

New Development[edit]
In 1989, a new development plan was proposed, and later revised, with multiple applications for permission, including the conversion of the castle into a high-end hotel, the installation of a championship standard golf course and the construction of more than one hundred units of luxury housing on the estate. With successive modifications and discussions, plans were approved, with conditions to protect parts of the demesne landscape, and estate features, including a holy well. Work began in 2005.

In August 2006 it was announced that Killeen Castle would open in 2009 as a 179 room luxury golf and spa hotel under the Starwood Luxury Collection brand.[4] However in early 2009, Starwood withdrew from the project after plans were scaled down by developers Snowbury following a downturn in the tourism and leisure industry.[5]

On December 14, 2006, after over a year of bidding, Killeen Castle was chosen as the host venue for the 2011 Solheim Cup, the first time Ireland had ever hosted this event, despite the fact that the golf course had yet to be constructed.[6] The 18-hole championship course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 2008; it hosted the revived Ladies Irish Open on the Ladies European Tour in August 2010 and 2011 in the run up to the Solheim Cup.[7]

Dave Pelz Scoring Game School opened at Killeen Castle estate in June 2008, with a focus on the game within 100 yards (91 m) of the hole.[8]

The Killeen Castle estate contains seven lakes, that are stocked with rainbow and brown trout.[9]

[Fairlie]

Skryne Castle

Skryne Castle (Irish: Caislean na Scríne or Caisleán Scrín Cholm Cille) is a castle located at Skryne, County Meath, Ireland. The motte and bailey castle was built by Adam de Feypo in the 12th century

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Slane Castle

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Slane Castle is located in the town of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family home of the Conyngham family since the 18th century.[1]

It holds the Slane Concert event within its grounds, with the Irish Independent claiming in 2004 that "Slane today is the kind of internationally recognised venue that can claim even Madonna's attention".[2] Its sloping lawns form a natural amphitheatre.[3]

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Concerts at Slane
3 References
4 External links
History[edit]

Slane Castle
Overlooking the River Boyne, just a few kilometres upstream from Newgrange and the site of the famous Battle of the Boyne, Slane Castle in its existing form was constructed under the direction of William Burton Conyngham, together with his nephew The 1st Marquess Conyngham. The reconstruction dates back to 1785 and is principally the work of James Gandon, James Wyatt and Francis Johnston. Francis Johnston was also the architect responsible for the gothic gates on the Mill Hill, located to the east of the castle.

The Conyngham's are originally a Scottish Protestant family, who planted in Ireland in 1611, during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal. With that, the family asserted control over lands around the village of Tamhnach an tSalainn, near Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal. Concurrently, the then head of the family, Charles Conyngham, renamed the village in his own honor as "Mount Charles".[4] The family also controlled an extensive estate in West Donegal, especially in The Rosses district.

The association between the Conynghams and the Slane Estate in County Meath dates back over 300 years, ever since the property was purchased by the family following the Williamite Confiscations in 1701. Around that time, the family moved their main ancestral seat south from County Donegal in west Ulster to Slane. Prior to this, Slane Castle had been in the possession of the Flemings, Anglo-Norman Catholics who had aligned themselves with the Jacobites in the War of the Grand Alliance, and thus after the Williamite victory, their property was eligible for confiscation. Christopher Fleming, 22nd of Slane, 17th Lord, Viscount Longford (1669 – 14 July 1726), was the last Fleming Lord of Slane. The present owner of the castle is Henry Conyngham who styles himself,[5] as the 8th Marquess Conyngham.

In 1991, a fire in the castle caused extensive damage to the building and completely gutted the eastern section facing the River Boyne. The castle reopened in 2001 after the completion of a ten-year restoration programme. In 2003, a cannon associated with the castle was found in the nearby River Boyne[6]

On the eastward side of the castle demesne, directly between the river Boyne and the villages Church of Ireland chapel in Slane, lay the ruins of St. Erc's Hermitage a 15th-century multi-storey chapel, and with some 500 metres westward of St. Erc's Hermitage an ancient well can also be found. In one of the central texts of Irish mythology, the Cath Maige Tuireadh, this well is said to have been blessed by the God Dian Cecht so that the Tuatha Dé Danann could bathe in it and be healed, allegedly healing all mortal wounds except decapitation.[7] However with the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and the policy of Christian reinterpretation for traditionally pagan sites, the well is now more commonly referred to as Our lady's well.

Concerts at Slane[edit]
Main article: Slane Concert
Since 1981, the grounds of Slane Castle have been used to host rock concerts. The natural amphitheatre has an 80,000 person capacity.[8] The concerts were launched by the then Earl of Mount Charles (popularly known for several decades as Henry Mount Charles and since March 2009 the 8th Marquess Conyngham), the owner of the castle.

Performers who have headlined Slane concerts since 1981 include The Rolling Stones, U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Queen, David Bowie, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Guns N' Roses, Madonna, R.E.M., Foo Fighters, Celtic Woman and Oasis. On 28 May 2011, Kings Of Leon headlined the 30th anniversary event at Slane Castle. Five support acts played, including Thin Lizzy, who in an earlier line-up headlined the first Slane Concert in 1982.[9]

Celtic Woman filmed their second DVD at Slane Castle, called Celtic Woman: A New Journey in August 2006, and U2 filmed the DVD U2 Go Home: Live From Slane Castle in 2001 but the DVD was released in 2003. They also recorded their 1984 album, The Unforgettable Fire, there while taking up residence for a time. The Red Hot Chili Peppers filmed the DVD Live at Slane Castle in 2003. Parts of Madonna's documentary-film I'm Going to Tell You a Secret were filmed at Slane Castle in 2004. Bon Jovi performed at Slane Castle in June 2013.

[Fairlie]

Trim Castle

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Trim Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhaile Atha Troim) is a Norman castle on the south bank of the River Boyne in Trim, County Meath, Ireland. With an area of 30,000 m², it is the largest Norman castle in Ireland.[1][2] Over a period of 30 years, it was built by Hugh de Lacy and his son Walter as the caput of the Lordship of Meath.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Structure
3 Access
4 Points of note
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading
8 External links
History[edit]


The Castle was used as a centre of Norman administration for the Lordship of Meath, one of the new administrative areas of Ireland created by King Henry II of England. Hugh de Lacy took possession of it in 1172. De Lacy built a huge ringwork castle defended by a stout double palisade and external ditch on top of the hill. There may also have been further defences around the cliffs fringing the high ground. Part of a stone footed timber gatehouse lies beneath the present stone gate at the west side of the castle. De Lacy left Ireland entrusting the castle to Hugh Tyrrel, baron of Castleknock, one of his chief lieutenants. The ringwork was attacked and burnt by forces of the Gaelic High King of Ireland, Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair; Tyrrel, having appealed in vain for help, was forced to flee. Ua Conchobair soon withdrew and De Lacy immediately rebuilt the castle in 1173. His son Walter continued rebuilding and the castle was completed c. 1224. The next phase of the castle's construction took place at the end of the 13th century, and the beginning of the 14th century. A new great hall with undercroft and attached solar in a radically altered curtain tower, a new forebuilding, and stables were added to the keep. On Walter's death in 1241 his granddaughter Mathilda ('Maud') inherited the castle. Her second husband was Geoffrey de Geneville, Lord of Vaucouleurs in France. Mathilda died in 1304, and Geoffrey entered the priory at St. Mary's in Trim. His son had died in 1292 and the estate passed to his oldest daughter, Joan. In 1301, Joan married Roger Mortimer and the castle passed to the Mortimer family who held it until 1425, when the line died out.[3] The estate passed to Richard of York, who was killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. In 1461, Richard's son, Edward IV, appointed Germyn Lynch of London to be his representative at Trim.


The castle site was chosen because it is on raised ground, overlooking a fording point over the River Boyne. The area was an important early medieval ecclesiastical and royal site, and although the site is about 25 miles from the Irish Sea, it was accessible in medieval times by boat up the River Boyne. Trim Castle is referred to in the Norman poem "The Song of Dermot and the Earl".

During the late Middle Ages, Trim Castle was the centre of administration for Meath and marked the outer northern boundary of The Pale. In the 16th and 17th centuries it had declined in importance, except as a potentially important military site, and the castle was allowed to deteriorate. During the 15th century the Irish Parliament met in Trim Castle seven times and a mint operated in the castle. It fell into decline in the 16th century but was refortified during the Cromwellian wars in the 1640s.

After the wars of the 1680s, the castle was granted to the Wellesley family who held it until Arthur Wellesley (the Duke of Wellington), sold it to the Leslies. In following years it passed via the Encumbered Estates Court into the hands of the Dunsany Plunketts. They left the lands open and from time to time allowed various uses, with part of the Castle Field rented by the Town Council as a municipal dump for some years, and a small meeting hall for the Royal British Legion erected. The Dunsanys held the Castle and surrounds until 1993, when after years of discussion, Lord Dunsany sold the land and buildings to the State, retaining only river access and fishing rights.

The Office of Public Works began a major programme of conservation and exploratory works, costing over six million euro, including partial restoration of the moat and the installation of a protective roof. The castle was re-opened to the public in 2000.

Structure[edit]

With an area of 30,000 m², Trim Castle is the largest Cambro-Norman castle in Ireland. The design of the central three-story keep (also known as a donjon or great tower) is unique for a Norman keep being of cruciform shape, with twenty corners. It was built on the site of the previous large ring work fortification in at least three stages, initially by Hugh de Lacy (c. 1174) and then in 1196 and 1201–5 by Walter de Lacy. Part of the interior of the castle was archaeologically excavated by David Sweetman of OPW in the 1970s and more extensively by Alan Hayden in the 1990s.

The surviving curtain walls are predominantly of three phases. The west and north sides of the enciente are defended by rectangular towers (including the Trim Gate) dating to the 1170s, the Dublin gate was erected in the 1190s or early part of the 13th century and the remaining wall to the south with its round towers dates to the first two decades of the 13th century. There are two main gates into the castle. The one in the west side dates to the 1170s and sits on top of a demolished wooden gateway. The upper stories of the stone tower were altered to a semi-octagonal shape, c. 1200. A single round towered gate with an external barbican tower lies in the south wall and is known as the Dublin Gate. It dates from the 1190s or early 13th century and was the first of its type to be constructed in Ireland.


Apart from the keep, the main extant structures consist of the following: an early 14th century three towered fore work defending the keep entrance and including stables within it and which was accessed by a stone causeway crossing the partly filled-in ditch of the earlier ringwork; a huge late 13th-century three aisled great hall with an under croft beneath its east end opening via a water gate to the river; a stout defensive tower turned into a solar in the late 13th century at the northern angle of the castle; a smaller aisled hall added to the east end of the great hall in the 14th or 15th century; a building (possibly the mint) added to the east end of the latter hall; two 15th- or 16th-century stone buildings added inside the town gatehouse, 17th-century buildings added to the end of the hall range and to the north side of the keep and a series of lime kilns, one dating from the late 12th century the remainder from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Access[edit]
Trim Castle is open, on payment of an entry fee, to the public every day from Easter Saturday to Halloween (31 October) from 10am. The area inside the castle walls is freely accessible for an admittance fee, while access to the Castle keep is via a 45-minute guided tour. In winter, the complex is open only on weekends and bank holidays.

Points of note[edit]

Trim and Talbot Castles. Also visible are the Royal Mint, solar and Trim Cathedral
The Castle is noted for the part it played in the filming of the Mel Gibson directed film Braveheart.

In 2003 there was a controversy surrounding the decision by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government Martin Cullen not to oppose the construction of a five-storey hotel across the road from the castle. The development had been condemned by a local councillor, a senior inspector in An Bord Pleanala (acting in a private capacity, and later choosing to withdraw his appeal lest it be considered a conflict of interest) and heritage bodies, many of whom had been critical of the government's treatment of other heritage sites such as Carrickmines Castle (the ruins of which were excavated partly to allow the completion of a roadway). The hotel was opened in August 2006. The recent addition of buildings (including offices for the OPW) outside the west side of the town has been even more visibly intrusive to the castle remains.

[Tricia]

Amazing history of all these castles thanx Fairlie .. I can see by number of views that plenty of people are reading them they just can't respond as its a closed page

[Fairlie]

Castle Leslie

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Castle Leslie Estate, home to an Irish branch of Clan Leslie and located on the 4 km², Castle Leslie is both the name of a historic Country House and 1,000-acre Estate adjacent to the village of Glaslough, 11 km (7 mi) north-east of Monaghan town in County Monaghan, Republic of Ireland.

Contents [hide]
1 Architecture
2 The Estate
3 Present Status
4 Notoriety and Fame
5 References
Architecture[edit]
The castle is fashioned in the Scottish Baronial style and was designed by the firm of Lanyon, Lynn and Lanyon in 1870 for Sir John Leslie, 1st Baronet, MP. It is situated where an earlier castle stood and never had a defensive purpose. The country house presents a rather dour and austere façade and is sited in such a way so as to mask the gardens to an approaching visitor. To the rear of the house the gardens are relieved by an Renaissance style cloister which links the main house to a single storey wing containing the Library and Billiard Room. In contrast to the exterior designed by W.H. Lynn, the interior shows the hands of Lanyon and John Leslie himself through its strong Italian Renaissance feel.

The Estate[edit]
The Estate has three lakes: the largest, Glaslough (from the Irish Glas Loch or Glasloch, meaning Green Lake), shares its name with the local village; Kilvey Lake is to the north; and, finally, there is Dream Lake, which features a crannóg. The 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) estate comprises park land, meandering streams and several forests. The house is still home to the Leslie family with Sir Jack Leslie in residence and his grandson Roman Leslie, and principal owner Samantha (Sammy) Leslie. Other family members still assert their influence on the running of the estate through a family trust.

Present Status[edit]
The estate is open to paying guests, who can stay in the former Hunting Lodge, the main house itself, the recently constructed traditional-style holiday cottages located in the village or the fully restored and refitted "Old Stable Mews".

While restoration of the house and grounds is ongoing, many new features have been added to the estate, including a spa, a bar and restaurant, and a Cookery School. A new pavilion, adjacent to the long gallery of the main house, facilitates conferences, weddings and other large events. Work on restoring the walled garden is also continuing, though for now they remain overgrown and locked.

2002 Saw Castle Leslie's chance to grab Fame due to former Beatles and Wings singer Paul McCartney and Model and Actress Heather Mills Marriage in the St.Salvator's Church. After this (Read Below) guests flooded the Estate and Pay rates were going through the roof. The Money was used to Make the refurbishment that they planned some 3 years ago.

2004 saw the return to the estate of the Equestrian Centre and Hunting Lodge which had been sold out of the family twenty years previously. The estate now features miles of new horse trails and jumps, a state-of-the-art indoor horse arena and new stabling. Walkers are also catered for with many trails upgraded and clearly signposted, a new estate map being available from the Hunting lodge.

2005 saw 5 new sub-ground floor bedrooms being added to the castle, including the Desmond Leslie room, the Agnes Bernelle Room, the Helen Strong Room, and the only room in the castle not named after a family member, The Calm Room.

Notoriety and Fame[edit]
Castle Leslie hit the headlines in 2002 when Sir Paul McCartney married Heather Mills in the family church located on the estate, followed by a wedding banquet for 300 guests prepared by then executive chef, Noel McMeel. This secret was inadvertently divulged to the media by Sir Jack Leslie, who notoriously remarked on live television "it's on Tuesday, but it's a secret". More recently, in 2008, the castle was the venue of the launch of RAPID IRELAND (Rescue and Preparedness in Disasters, Ireland), a sister rescue charity to RAPID UK. The event was hosted by Sir Jack Leslie and Baron Oranmore and Browne, and attended by a number of ambassadors and dignitaries, including HRH The Duke of Gloucester.

Throughout the years many a famous face has frequented the house including Irish poet WB Yeats, Irish statesman General Michael Collins, Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger, British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and the Duc de Valentinois, not to mention various members of the Churchill family (to whom the Leslies are related).

The castle has had two recent brushes with reality TV. During RTE's Fáilte Towers, Brian Dowling chose Don Baker, Evelyn Cusack and Jennifer Maguire to take time out from the stress of the programme with a day and night's pampering at the castle, proprietor Sammy Leslie being one of the judges on the show.

[Fairlie]

Rossmore Castle

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Also known as Rossmore Park, Rossmore Castle was a 19th century castle of great size and variety. Originally built in 1827 to the designs of William Vitruvius Morrison in Tudor Gothic, it was extended in 1858 by W.H. Lynn. The 1827 range was dominated by a square tower with turret and crow stepped battlements and a line of gables and orial windows. Lord Rossmore and the Shirleys of Lough Fea had competed for many years for the largest room in County Monaghan with the result that the drawing room ar Rossmore was extended five times and resulted in the elongated area seen in the left of the photograph. Eventually the Castle had at least 117 windows of 53 differant sizes and shapes and the three towers produced a romantic shilouette when viewed from the surrounding hills in the demense. In the later years of the 19th century Rossmore was known for its gaeity with the 5th Lord Rossmore being a friend of the Prince of Wales. After the Second World War, dry rot forced the abandonment of the castle in favour of Camla Vale. Rossmore Castle has since been demolished.

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Hope Castle,

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Hope Castle, also referred to as Blayney Castle, is an 18th-century house built in the town of Castleblayney, located in County Monaghan, Ireland. Over the years, Hope Castle has been inhabited for various uses, such as homes to many, military barracks, a hospital, convent, and was most recently used as a hotel before its demise in 2010.[1] The building still stands, although unoccupied.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Timeline
1.2 Demise
2 Architecture
3 References
History[edit]
The land on which Hope Castle was built was originally under the ownership of Sir Edward Blayney, to whom it was granted in 1607. Blayney was a Welsh soldier who was granted land at Ballynalurgan and Muckno, where he built a stone defensive castle, Blayney Castle. The town of Castleblayney has grown up round that original site. Blayney was created the first Baron Blaney in 1621 and the Blayneys would continue to occupy the estate until after the 1830s. In the time of the second baron in 1641 the castle was captured by rebels fighting under Hugh Mac Patrick Dubh MacMahon. The baron escaped but his wife and children were captured.

The 7th Baron Blayney sold off part of the land in 1723. It was not until the 1780s that the present building, named Blayney Castle, was constructed near the old Elizabethan castle for the famous Andrew Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney, who owned the land from 1784 to 1834.

In 1853, the 12th and last Lord Blayney sold the entire estate to the wealthy Henry Thomas Hope, who substantially renovated the building. It was only under the ownership of the Hope family, the Scottish-Dutch banking family that is famous for their ownership of the Hope Diamond, that the Castle got its new name of Hope Castle, one which it still holds today. Henrietta Adela Hope, daughter of Henry Thomas Hope, who married an English Duke, later inherited the estate. Her husband was Henry Pelham Alexander Pelham-Clinton, who was Lord Lincoln at the time of their marriage (1861) and later succeeded his father as the 6th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne. From 1900 to 1904, Hope Castle served as a home for the Duke of Connaught, Queen Victoria's son, and his family. The duke was the commander of the British Forces in Ireland at that time.[2] The Hope family left the estate in 1916, leaving it to serve as a military barracks during the War of Independence between the years 1919 and 1921. It later became the site of Monaghan County Hospital for the short time between 1932 and 1937. Beginning in 1942, Hope Castle served as a Franciscan Order Convent until the early 1970s. After its many years serving as a local convent, Hope Castle fell into private ownership until the Monaghan County Council later acquired it in the 1980s. The County Council leased the building to several people,[3] including the most recent local businessman, Chris Haren who was leasing the property when it was extensively damaged in an arson attack in November 2010. Up until the fire, Hope Castle was being run as a successful hotel, containing bar lounges, a restaurant, and several guest rooms.[4]

Timeline[edit]
Year 1607 1784 1853 1900 1919–1921 1932–1937 1942-1970s 1980 – Current
Owner Sir Edward Blayney Andrew Thomas Blayney Henry Thomas Hope Duke of Connaught Military Barracks Monaghan Co. Hospital Franciscan Order Convent County Council
Demise[edit]
In November 2010, the eighteenth century home was subject to an arson attack that left the hotel building with extensive interior damages. In a very short amount of time the fire spread through the bar and lounge areas, up the stairwells, and into the upstairs rooms. The building was uninhabited at the time of the fire; however, the contents of the hotel including a considerable amount of the fittings, furniture, and valuable antiques were left completely destroyed. At the time of the incident, it was clear to local Gardai that entry was gained by trespassers to the ground floor of the building where the fire was started. It is believed that a local group of teenagers forced entry to the building and intentionally started the fire. Although Gardai questioned juveniles in the town, no persons were ever found guilty of the crime.[5]

Architecture[edit]
Lord Andrew Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney, whom the town, Castleblayney, is named after, originally built Hope Castle in the 1780s.[6] It was later redesigned and styled using Georgian architecture by Irish architect Robert Woodgate in the year 1799.[7] It is a three-story, five bay house located near the site of an earlier plantation, which was restored during the Victorian Era. Some of the embellishments include cresting on the roof parapets and on the entrance to the building, which has a central curved bow. A glass projection porch and canopy of ornamental iron cast were also added to the structure. The gate lodges, stables, and bath houses are still present, which provide a strong sense of history to the land. When it was taken over by the local County Council, the building was renovated and the 19th century additions to the gardens and main front were demolished. Hope Castle is surrounded by grounds of green land next to a forest area accompanied by a large lake, known as the Black Island. The building, although not currently in use, consists of several bedrooms, a bar lounge and restaurant area.[8]

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Birr Castle

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Birr Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhiorra)[1] is a large castle in the town of Birr in County Offaly, Ireland. It is the home of the seventh Earl of Rosse, and as such the residential areas of the castle are not open to the public,[2] though the grounds and gardens of the demesne are publicly accessible.

Contents [hide]
1 Ireland's Historic Science Centre
2 History
3 The "Great Telescope" and other features
4 Notes
5 References
6 External links
Ireland's Historic Science Centre[edit]
The castle grounds are also home to Ireland's Historic Science Centre, a museum of Ireland's historic scientists and their contributions to astronomy and botany.[3]

History[edit]
See also: Earl of Rosse
There has been a castle on the site since 1170, and from the 14th to the 17th century the O'Carroll family ruled from here over an area known as "Ely O'Carroll".[4]

After the death of Sir Charles O'Carroll, Sir Laurence Parsons (died 1628) was granted Birr Castle and 1,277 acres (5.2 km2) of land in 1620.[5][6] Parsons engaged English masons in the construction of a new castle on the site. This construction took place, not on the site of the O'Carroll's Black Tower (since disappeared), but at its gatehouse. "Flankers" were added to the gatehouse diagonally at either side, giving the castle the plan it retains today.[5]

After the death of Sir Laurence Parsons and of his elder son Richard, the castle passed to his younger son William.[7] During the Irish Rebellion of 1641 William was besieged at Birr for fifteen months by Catholic forces. After the civil war, William's son Laurence (baronet from 1677) refurnished the castle.

A later descendant, Laurence Parsons, 2nd Earl of Rosse, also engaged in some re-building, and heightened and "Gothicised" the castle in the early 19th century. In turn, his son, William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse, was responsible for the construction of the great telescope at Birr. When completed in 1845, it was the largest telescope on earth, and capable of capturing more light and seeing further into space than any telescope had done before. Birr therefore became a focus for astronomical observations, and visitors came to visit the observatory from all over the world - including Charles Babbage and Napoléon Eugène, Prince Imperial.[5]

When the 3rd Earl died, his sons carried on the scientific tradition, and the 4th Earl (Lawrence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse) is noted for measuring the heat of the moon. After his death in 1908, however, the telescope fell into disrepair; the mirror was taken to the Science Museum in London, and circa 1914 the telescope's metal supporting structure was melted down to be used in the First World War. In 1925 the wooden structures around the walls were demolished for safety reasons. Following several intermediate restoration attempts, the telescope was restored more completely in the late 1990s.[8]

The "Great Telescope" and other features[edit]
See also: Leviathan of Parsonstown
A main feature on the grounds of the castle is the "Great Telescope" or Leviathan (aka The Rosse Telescope) of the third Earl of Rosse, an astronomical telescope with a 183-cm (72 in) reflector. It was completed in 1845 and was used for several decades before the last observations were made in the first years of the 20th century. Its record size was not surpassed until the completion of the 254-cm (100-in) Hooker Telescope in 1917. It was dismantled in 1914, but was restored in the 1990s and is open to the public.

Laurence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse and his mother were eminent photographers and her darkroom, which is also on show, is believed to be the oldest surviving example in the world.

The grounds of the castle contain the oldest wrought-iron bridge in Ireland, dating from 1820.[9]

The walled gardens in the grounds feature Box Hedges that are over 300 years old. They are also, according to The Guinness Book of Records, the tallest hedge in the world.[10]

The Irish entry to the 2014 European Tree of the Year contest was the Birr Castle Grey Poplar (poplus x canescens). Unfortunately on 12 February 2014, while voting was still open, it was blown down in a storm.

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Charleville Forest Castle

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Charleville Forest Castle is a Gothic-style castle located in County Offaly, Ireland, bordering the town of Tullamore, near the River Shannon. It is considered one of the finest of its type in the country.[1]

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Present day
3 References
4 Related links
History[edit]
The land where the Charleville estate and castle were created is situated in Ireland's most ancient primordial oak woods, once the haunting grounds of Ireland's druids. In the 6th century it was part of the ancient monastic site of Lynally, which itself was in the ancient Durrow monastic settlement.

Later, in the early days of Ireland's colonisation, when the city of Dublin felt threatened by the wild tribes of the West, these lands became the focal point for the first Marian, and later more violent Elizabethan, plantations. By the mid-1500s the lands that were originally ruled by the O'Molloy clan were securely "planted" and in the hands of the Moore family. From this point on a dynasty was established which endured into the late nineteenth century, commencing with the grant of the Tullamore area, comprising some 5000 acres, to Sir John Moore in 1622. At that time the Tullamore estate included a ruined castle, ten cottages and two water mills. Sir Robert Forth, who leased the lands from Thomas Moore (son and heir of Sir John), built a mansion house c.1641 in what is now the Charleville demesne. Charles Moore, Lord Tullamore, grandson of Thomas, eventually regained possession of the estate and when he died in 1674 it went via his sister to Charles William Bury. Charles William was later (1806) created the 1st Earl of Charleville in a second creation of the title.[2]

The new earl decided to build a new house on the estate. Charleville Castle grew from paper doodles in early 1798 to grandiose plans by the end of that very eventful year in Ireland. It was designed by Francis Johnston, one of the leading architects of the day who also designed the GPO in Dublin, and built between 1800 and 1809. It owes its "Tin Soldier Fortress" look to the celebration of victory over the third French revolutionary expedition to Ireland – the first decisive victory by Britain over the revolutionary republican movement, which was sweeping across the monarchies and their colonies at that time. It took fourteen years to complete this gothic dream, a monument not only to a now forgotten power, but also to the people who made it possible, the Irish craftsmen and impoverished people.

The castle had to be temporarily closed at times, due to the castle owners living beyond their means. However, each subsequent re-opening was usually marked by a suitably flamboyant gesture, which included engaging the talents of William Morris, who designed the ceiling within the dining room. Additionally, Charleville is said to have helped start a craze of building castles within Ireland.

The castle played host to Lord Byron, who held many parties here. In fact, whenever he visited Ireland he always went to the castle. This was due to the castle owner's eccentricity.

The castle remained uninhabited from 1912, during the difficult years of the independence war and the long years of economic severity which followed. By 1968 the roof had been removed. It had become a part of "Vanishing Ireland" until finally work on its restoration was commenced by Michael McMullen in 1971 and later by Constance Heavey Seaquist and Bonnie Vance. A Charitable Trust has been formed to help with the restoration.

It is said to be haunted by a girl who got lost and went up the tallest tower. She then went sliding down but fell off and broke her neck. A photographer went up the tower but only his camera was ever found.[citation needed]

Present day[edit]
Currently, the Charleville Castle Heritage Trust is managed by Dudley Stewart. The day-to-day running is handled by volunteers, who come from countries including France, Canada, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as well as other parts of Ireland to help out at the castle. The castle itself is reputed to be haunted, with it appearing on Living TV's Most Haunted and Fox's Scariest Places on Earth. It has also been visited by numerous paranormal investigators and psychics. Guests of the castle have reported strange goings on at the castle as well. The castle has been photographed by Sir Simon Marsden and appeared within his collections.

The castle has been host to multiple events, including "fright nights", an auction and a play by the English Chamber Theatre called Dearest Nancy, Darling Evelyn. More recently, it has played host to the Mór Festival, and its successor, Castlepalooza.

The castle has also been investigated by many paranormal investigation groups from around the world, though it seems that only within the past 2–3 years that it has been investigated by Irish paranormal groups.

It was on ABC Family's Scariest Places on Earth. It also appeared on Ghost Hunters International. It was also used as a filming location for Becoming Jane (2007)[3][4] and Northanger Abbey (2007).

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Clonony Castle

Clonony (Irish: Cluain Damhna Beag) is a hamlet in County Offaly, Ireland, on the R357 regional road. Located between the River Brosna and the Grand Canal, it is noted for its late medieval tower house of the same name, which was built in 1500. It is situated in the parish of Gallen and Reynegh and lies approximately one mile west of Cloghan and four miles east of Banagher.

Contents [hide]
1 Clonony Castle
2 References
3 See also
4 External links
Clonony Castle[edit]


Clonony Castle (Caisleán Chluain Damhna) is a Tudor castle built by the MacCoughlan clan, and ceded to Henry VIII by John Óg MacCoghlan, then to Thomas Boleyn when Henry wanted to marry his daughter Anne.[1] Mary and Elizabeth Boleyn, second cousins to Queen Elizabeth I, lived out their lives in this castle and their tombstone still stands on the castle grounds. The grave was discovered in 1803, approximately 100 yards from the castle. The inscription on the eight feet by four feet, limestone flag reads: "Here under leys Elisabeth and Mary Bullyn, daughters of Thomas Bullyn, son of George Bullyn the son of George Bullyn Viscount Rochford son of Sir Thomas Bullyn Erle of Ormond and Willsheere."[2]

The castle was occupied from 1612 to about 1620 by Matthew de Renzi (1577–1634), a London cloth merchant originally from Cologne in Germany, who created the first English-Irish dictionary, according to his tombstone in Athlone. He acquired it after it had been forfeited by the MacCoghlans during the Nine Years' War.[3]

The fifty-foot tower, an Irish National Monument, is surrounded by gardens and a moat. The castle is a few miles from Clonmacnoise, an ancient seat of Irish learning. Shannon Harbour and the towns of Banagher and Shannonbridge are close by. The castle is currently being restored, and is open to the public at no cost, and although there are no specific hours, the owners try to keep the castle open and encourage tours.

The castle has all the basic features of a tower house of this period such as machicolation, murder hole, base batter, mural passages, spiral staircase, gun-loops, garderobe and bawn. The first floor had collapsed but has been replaced in recent restoration works by the owners. The castle also boasts a barrel-vaulted ceiling making up the second floor which has been restored.[4] The Tower House is three storeys high with an entrance in the west wall with a machicolation above it. There is a fire-proof vault over the ground floor in the interior and a spiral stair leads to the upper floors. There are round-headed, ogee-headed and flat headed windows. The bawn wall with its two square corner towers and entrance, which had a coat of arms, was reconstructed in the nineteenth century and gives a good impression of how an original Tower House might have looked, with a set of perimeter and internal defences. The inner bawn building in front of the west entrance appears to be a nineteenth-century construction.[5]

The Annals of the Four Masters record "A great war broke out in Dealbhna between the descendants of Farrell Mac Coghlan and the descendants of Donnell, in the course of which James Mac Coghlan, Prior of Gailinne, and the Roydamna of Dealbhna Eathra, was killed by a shot fired from the castle of Cluain-damhna."[5][6]

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Blundell Castle,

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Blundell castle sits atop a hill which overlooks the town of Edenderry and has for its companion a water tower. The castle was built in the 15th century by the De Berminghams. In the 16th century it was held by the Colley family and as a result, Edenderry became known as Coolestown or Colleytown. Sir George Colley defended the castle from attack by the O'Neill forces in 1599 during the Nine Years' War. In May 1691 the army of James II attacked the castle and it has been derelict ever since. A tunnel entrance can be found in the vicinity of Blundel and Edenderry locals say this tunnel runs between Blundal and Carbury castle, a distance of about five miles. If the tunnel actually connects both castles it may have been installed by the Berminghams as a means of communication in times of conflict. During the 19th century Edenderry was governed by a Lord Downshire and it has been said that his wife used this tunnel to meet her lover at Carbury. It seems however that this affair was discovered by Downshire and consequently he murdered his wife.

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Kinnitty Castle

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Kinnitty Castle or Castle Bernard is a 19th-century gothic revival castle in Kinnitty (Cionn Eitigh), County Offaly, Ireland. It is located north of the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the R421 regional road between the villages of Kinnitty and Cadamstown. A nearby pyramid was built by the Bernard family who resided in the castle,

History[edit]
The first castle at Kinnitty was destroyed in 1209 and was rebuilt by the Normans in 1213. During that period an Augustinian abbey (St Finnian's) was established near the castle, of which the famous High Cross and Abbey Wall still remain. Later the Normans were replaced by the O'Carrolls of Ely and in 1630 William O'Carroll built a new castle close by the old abbey. This castle was confiscated in 1641 as part of the plantation of Offaly, or Kings County as it was then named. In 1664, the crown granted an estate, which included the castle, to Col. Thomas Winter in return for his military service. His descendants sold it to Thomas Bernard, who renamed the house Castle Bernard and left it to his son Thomas Bernard, MP.

In 1811, Lady Catherine Hutchinson, wife of Thomas, jnr, commissioned architect James Pain to extend the castle in a gothic style to its present size. Thomas was succeeded by his son, Colonel Thomas Bernard, Lord Lieutenant of King's County and High Sheriff of King's County for 1837, who died unmarried in 1882 and was succeeded by his niece's husband Captain Caulfield French. The latter was High Sheriff of King's County for 1887.[1]

Although burned by the Irish Republican Army in 1922 the house was restored in 1928. The Bernard family lived there until 1946, when it was sold to Lord Decies who in turn sold it to the state in 1951. From 1955 to 1985, the building hosted a Forestry Training College. It was then purchased in 1994 by the Ryan family of Luimneach, who developed it into a 37 bedroom, 4 star hotel and wedding venue.The castle was seized by the KBC Bank in 2008 and is now the subject of High Court action between the Ryan family and the KBC.

It has been visited by paranormal investigators from Living TV's Most Haunted in its fifth season

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Leap Castle

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Leap Castle (pronounced “Lep”) is a castle in County Offaly, Ireland, about four miles north of the town of Roscrea on the R421.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Haunting
3 References
4 External links
History[edit]
There are varied accounts as to when exactly the main tower/keep was constructed; ranging anywhere from the 13th century to the late 15th century, but most likely around 1250 AD. It was built by the O'Bannon clan and was originally called "Léim Uí Bhanáin" (as was the fertile land around the castle which was associated with the Bannon clan), or "Leap of the O'Bannons". The O'Bannons were the "secondary chieftains" of the territory and were subject to the ruling O'Carroll clan. There is evidence that it was constructed on the same site as another ancient stone structure perhaps ceremonial in nature, and that that area has been occupied consistently since at least the Iron Age (500 BC) and possibly since Neolithic times.

The Annals of the Four Masters record that the Earl of Kildare, Gerald FitzGerald, tried unsuccessfully to seize the castle in 1513. Three years later, he attacked the castle again and managed to partially demolish it. However, by 1557 the O'Carrolls had regained possession.

Following the death of Mulrooney O'Carroll in 1532, family struggles plagued the O'Carroll clan. A fierce rivalry for the leadership erupted within the family. The bitter fight for power turned brother against brother. One of the brothers was a priest. While he was holding mass for a group of his family (in what is now called the "Bloody Chapel"), his rival brother burst into the chapel, plunged his sword into him and fatally wounded him. The butchered priest fell across the altar and died in front of his family.[1]

In 1659, the castle passed by marriage into the ownership of the Darby family, notable members of which included Vice-Admiral George Darby, Admiral Sir Henry D'Esterre Darby and John Nelson Darby. The central keep was later expanded with significant extensions. However, in order to pay for these extensions, rents were raised and much of the land accompanying the castle was sold. This is one theorised motivation for the burning of the castle during the Irish Civil War in 1922.

In 1974 the castle was bought by Australian historian Peter Bartlett, whose mother had been a Banon. Bartlett, together with builder Joe Sullivan, did extensive restoration work on the castle up to the time of his death in 1989.[2]

Since 1991, the castle has been privately owned by musician Seán Ryan, who is undertaking restoration work.

This castle was featured on the cover of several editions of the novel The Riders by the Australian author Tim Winton.

Haunting[edit]
There is a popular legend which states that Leap Castle is haunted by a supernatural entity known as an Elemental. The alleged entity is known as "It".[3]

It has been visited by paranormal investigators from ABC Family's Scariest Places on Earth and Living TV's Most Haunted in its first season, as well as taps from the third season of Syfy's Ghost Hunters. Most recently in August 2014, Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures filmed their tenth season Halloween special at the castle.

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Donamon Castle

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Donamon Castle , or more correctly, Dunamon Castle (Irish: Dún Iomáin) is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in Ireland and stands on raised ground overlooking the River Suck in County Roscommon.[1][2][3] There was a fort here from early times (hence the name Dún Iomáin, fort of Iomán), but the first recorded reference to "Dún Iomghain" is in the Annals of the Four Masters for the year 1154.

It was the seat of the Ó Fionnachta chief of Clann Chonnmhaigh, one of the two main branches of this Connacht family.[4] In 1232, Adam de Staunton fortified the site further as part of the Norman conquest, but this were retaken and demolished by the native O'Connors the following year. The rebuilt castle was occupied in 1294 by de Oddingseles. He died the following year. The de Birminghams then took over but it was again destroyed by the O'Connors and 1307 they were supplanted by a branch of the Burkes, the head of which was known as MacDavid. The MacDavid Burkes occupied it for the next 300 years. During the seventeenth century wars of conquest and dispossession a junior branch of the Caulfeild family came to own the castle and surrounding territory. They continued to own it throughout the Protestant Ascendancy. In 1939 the Divine Word Missionaries came to Ireland and purchased the castle from the Irish Land Commission. It is still their home in Ireland and the site of the Holiday Centre, a leisure and conference resort as well as being the Irish Wheelchair Association's National Holiday Centre.

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Kilronan Castle

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Kilronan Castle, previously known as Castle Tenison, is a large country house standing in 40 acres of parkland on the shore of Lough Meelagh in County Roscommon, Republic of Ireland, 2 km from the village of Ballyfarnon.

The house, originally constructed c.1820, was considerably expanded in the 1880s to form the current building. The newer part is a two storey, irregular building with a large baronial tower adjacent to the older building. It now functions as a spa hotel.

History[edit]
Towards the end of the 18th century the property later known as Castle Tenison, together with its surrounding estate, belonged to the Dundas family. They sold it in 1715 to Richard Tenison, of the English Tenison family, who was the son of the Bishop of Meath and MP for Dunleer. He died in 1726 and left the property to his son, William, who in 1746 was Lieutenant Colonel of the 35th Regiment of Foot and also an MP for Dunleer. William died shortly afterwards in 1728 without an heir and the estate passed to his uncle Thomas and thence to Thomas' son, Thomas jnr. Thomas jnr was High Sheriff of Leitrim for 1763 and MP for County Monaghan from 1776 to 1783. The property, now known as Kilronan Castle, passed to Thomas jnr's only son, yet another Thomas, who was High Sheriff of Roscommon in 1791, Leitrim in 1792 and MP for Boyle in 1792.

His son Edward King-Tenison was High Sheriff of Leitrim in 1845, MP for Leitrim from 1847 to 1852 and Lord Lieutenant of Roscommon from 1856 to 1878. On his death in 1878 the property was left to his son-in-law Henry King who had changed his name to Henry King-Tenison and inherited his brother's title to become the 8th Earl of Kingston. It was the 8th Earl of Kingston who built the present house in the 1880s as a large Gothic Revival extension to the older building. During his occupation much of the surrounding land was sold.

After his death in 1896 the castle was not often occupied, the 9th Earl preferring to live elsewhere, and in 1939 the contents were sold at auction. The castle was later occupied by a section of the Construction Corps who were building a road in the Arigna Mountains. The Land Commission ultimately acquired the property and later sold the castle to Michael and Brendan Layden. It was subsequently converted into a luxury hotel by the Hanly group in 2006.

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Ballinafad Castle

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Ballinafad Castle is located in Sligo County in the Republic of Ireland. It can be found on the east side of highway N4 overlooking Lough Arrow at the town of Ballinafad.

The castle is in ruins and is accessible year round. There are no tours, guides, or fees. Visitors can park in a small lot at the foot of the hill where they will find an interpretive sign.

To enter the castle grounds, walk up the path and through the small iron gate. The castle is an Elizabethan blockhouse built during the Nine Years' War by Captain John St. Barbe on land granted to him by James I. The castle was garrisoned by ten men and commanded by John St. Barbe. It was partially destroyed by Red Hugh O’Donnel in 1595. The castle was again sacked in 1642 and fell out of use by 1680.

Visitors cannot enter the castle, but the interior is visible through breaches in the walls that are closed off by iron fences.

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Ballymote Castle

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Ballymote Castle (Irish: Caisleán Bhaile an Mhóta) is a large rectangular keepless castle, built around 1300. It is located in the townland of Carrownanty on the outskirts of Ballymote in southern County Sligo, Ireland. This area was known historically as Átha Cliath an Chorainn, which roughly translates as The Ford of the Hurdles of Corran. It is the last of the Norman castles in Connacht. It was probably built in order to protect the newly won possessions of Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (also known as the Red Earl), in County Sligo,[1] some distance from an earlier motte.

Contents [hide]
1 Construction and design
2 History of occupation
3 Access
4 References
5 See also
Construction and design[edit]


Ballymote castle is a large enclosure castle, the most symmetrical of all the Irish "keepless" castles. It has many similarities with Beaumaris Castle, in Anglesey, Wales, built by King Edward I of England. The entrance, with a double towered gate, is in the north wall and had twin D-shaped towers. It has a gatehouse typical of the period, the outer portions of which have almost completely disappeared. The castle, however, remains an impressive structure. The interior measures about 30 square metres. There are three-quarter round towers at all four corners and also in the middle of the east and west walls.[2] A postern gate, which was planned for the centre of the south wall, was never completed, probably because of the events of 1317, when the castle was lost to the O'Connors. A small square tower had protected this gate.



The walls are about ten feet thick and flanked with six noble towers. Passages of about 3 feet wide ran through the centre of the walls all around and the passages were built in such a way that they gave access to the towers, and to the intervening curtain walls at different heights, thereby meeting the needs of attack or defence.

No traces of the interior domestic buildings survive.

Local folklore suggests that underground passages connected Emlaghfad church with the castle and with the nearby Franciscan Abbey, though such stories are common throughout Ireland and are unlikely to be based on fact.

The Red Earl is also credited with building the ancient road from Boyle, County Roscommon to Collooney, known as Bóthar an Corran and as the Red Earls Road.

History of occupation[edit]

Curtain wall and towers of Ballymote Castle.
The castle changed hands many times since construction. It was captured by the O'Connors of Sligo in 1317, but was taken by the Mac Diarmada, during the course of local struggles, in 1347. By 1381 it had passed to the McDonaghs.

Although owned by Tadhg MacDermot, one of the last of the Kings of Moylurg in 1561, it appears to have passed to the O'Connor Sligo by 1571, at which time he surrendered the castle and had it regranted to him by James I of England. In 1577, the castle fell into English hands for a short period and then more permanently in 1584, when it was taken by the Governor of Connacht Richard Bingham. A lack of occupation levels implies that the building was virtually abandoned during the above period (from 1317 to 1584).

The O'Connors, O'Hartes and O'Dowds sacked the castle in 1588. The English surrendered it in 1598 to the MacDonaghs who sold it shortly afterwards to Red Hugh O'Donnell (one source says he bought it for £400 and 300 cows).[3] It was from here that Red Hugh O'Donnell marched to the disastrous Battle of Kinsale in 1601. When the O' Donnells surrendered it to the English in 1602, it was already in a bad state of repair. In 1633, the Taaffes owned it for a short time, but had to surrender it again to the English Parliamentary forces in 1652. In the Williamite wars the castle was held by Captain Terence MacDonagh for King James II, but he had to surrender it to Lord Granard in the face of an artillery attack in 1690. Soon afterwards the fortifications were made harmless, the moat was filled up and the castle fell into ruins.

In more recent years the Office of Public Works have carried out preservation work on the castle.

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Markree Castle

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Markree Castle, in Collooney, County Sligo, Ireland is the ancestral seat of the Cooper family, partially moated by the River Unshin. Today it is a small family-run hotel.

Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 17th century
1.2 19th century
1.3 Weather record
1.4 20th century
2 The castle today
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
History[edit]
17th century[edit]


In 1663 Cornet Edward Cooper, who served under Cromwell when his army defeated the O'Brien Clan, was allotted the original 14th century Markree Castle and the surrounding lands. Until then, Markree had been a fortified outpost of the Irish McDonagh Clan, guarding the ford across the river Unsin.

Conor O'Brien died in this battle, and Edward married his widow Marie Rua (Red Mary). With her two sons they went to live at Dromoland Castle. One son, Donough, was left Dromoland and the other inherited Markree. Charles Cooper, the current owner, is a direct descendant of this son.

Times remained turbulent and during an attempt by the English King James to regain the throne, the Catholic army occupied Markree Castle and the Coopers had to flee. After the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, they returned and have been resident ever since except for a brief period during the Civil War in the 1920s when Markree was again occupied, this time by the Irish Free State army.

19th century[edit]

The entrance gate
In 1830, Col. Edward Joshua Cooper MP (1798–1863) eldest son of Edward Synge Cooper MP, and Ann, daughter of Henry Vansittart, Governor of Bengal set up Markree Observatory in the castle grounds. For a number of years Cooper’s telescope was the largest in the world.

"The Observatory of Mr Cooper of Markree Castle – undoubtedly the most richly furnished private observatory known – is worked with great activity by Mr Cooper himself and by his very able assistant, Mr Andrew Graham." (Royal Astronomical Society, 1851)[1]

The observatory remained active until the death of Edward Henry Cooper MP in 1902.

According to some sources [2] Cecil F. Alexander wrote her famous hymn, All Things Bright and Beautiful, while a guest there in 1848. The castle, as we see it today, dates from 1802 with exterior changes by the architect Francis Johnston and with some changes made, mainly to the interior, in 1896.



Weather record[edit]
Ireland's lowest officially recognised air temperature, -19.1°C (−2.4°F), was measured at Markree Castle on 16 January 1881.[3]

20th century[edit]
The soldier and politician Bryan Cooper inherited the castle on the death of his father in 1902 and resided there with his family (except during World War I and when carrying out political duties) from 1903 until his death in 1930.

After the Second World War the castle fell on hard times and stood empty and derelict for many years. In 1988 it appeared on the front cover of The Vanishing Country Houses of Ireland, a testament to the sad state of decay of many of Ireland’s great houses at the time until, in 1989, Charles Cooper transformed his ancestral castle into a hotel.


Today, Markree Castle operates as a hotel run by Charles and Mary Cooper, the 10th generation of the family to live there.

The 300-acre (1.2 km2) estate holds an array of wild life including red squirrels, otters, and kingfishers.

The entrance contains a monumental staircase, which leads to a wonderful hall, from where a second staircase in carved wood leads to the 30 guest rooms. On the landing, a huge stained glass window traces the Cooper family tree from Victorian times back to the time of King John. The dining room is decorated in Louis Philippe-style plasterwork.

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Temple House Castle

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Temple House is a Georgian mansion set in a private estate of over 1,000 acres overlooking the lakeside ruins of a Knights Templar castle and is now a luxury country guest house, like a hotel. Originally built in c. 1825, it was substantially extended and embellished c. 1864.[1]

Templehouse Castle (Irish: Caisleán) was a rectangular keepless castle, built in 1181 located near the townland of Ballinacarrow on the outskirts of Ballymote in south County Sligo, Ireland.[2]

History[edit]
The Temple House lands were granted to the Knight Templars in 1216 and passed to the Knights Hospitallers when the Templars were disbanded in 1311. The castle was converted to a domestic residence in 1627 and besieged and badly damaged in 1641.[3]

The Perceval family has lived on the lands since 1665. George Perceval (1635-75) had settled in Ireland on acquiring the Temple House property by marriage to an heiress of the Crofton family of Longford House, Colooney. The property passed down in the Perceval family, several of whom were High Sheriffs of Sligo until it descended to Colonel Alexander Perceval (1787–1858) who was MP for Sligo in the UK Parliament and Sergeant-at-Arms in the House of Lords.[4] He rebuilt the previous Gothic house c.1825.[3] He however spent too extravagantly and on his death the house had to be sold, but was bought back for the family by Alexander's third son, also Alexander, who had made a fortune in China. Alexander jnr then enhanced the building c.1864 by adding a 7-bay block at right angles to the existing 5-bay block

[Tricia]

SLIGO a beautiful county

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Ardfinnan Castle,

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Ardfinnan Castle, is a castle which was built circa 1186 to guard the river crossing in Ardfinnan (Ard Fhíonáin in Irish) in County Tipperary, Ireland. It is situated on the River Suir, seven miles west of Clonmel. The castle is currently privately owned and is not open for public viewing.

The castle is positioned on a large rocky incline and it looks out over the Suir valley with the Knockmealdown Mountains to the south, and the Galtee Mountains to the northwest. The castle is rectangular in shape with square towers at the corners, and a fortified entrance gateway.

The castle was built in 1186 by the Earl of Morton for Prince John of England, who would eventually become King John of England in 1199. The castle was destroyed by Oliver Cromwell's forces in 1649 and was partially restored and rebuilt in the 18th century and 19th century.

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Ballyfinboy Castle

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Ballyfinboy Castle (Beal Átha Fionnmhaí in Irish)[1] is a townland in the historical Barony of Ormond Lower, County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located between Borrisokane and Finnoe and shares its name with the Ballyfinboy River which flows by. Ballyfinboy Castle, a ruined tower house with a Sheela na gig on a panel on the western wall stands close to the river.

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Ballyquirk Castle


Ballyquirk Castle(Baile Uí Chuirc in Irish)[1] is a townland in the Barony of Ormond Lower, County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located in the civil parish of Lorrha, north of Carrigahorig.

The present Ballyquirk Castle is a single storey over basement property with three bays and a rear tower. It is all that is left following alterations made in the nineteenth century to the original two storey over basement property which featured four towers. Ruins of a still earlier castle stand nearby. The castle appears on North Tipperary County Council's Record of Protected Structures (ref S69)[2]

The woods at Ballyquirk form a part of Borrisokane Forest which consists of several widely dispersed small areas of woodland managed by Coillte, the state sponsored forestry company.[3]

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Cahir Castle

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Cahir Castle (Irish: Caisleán na Cathrach), one of the largest castles in Ireland, is sited on an island in the river Suir. It was built in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Thomond. Now situated in Cahir town centre, County Tipperary, the castle is well preserved and has guided tour and audiovisual shows in multiple languages.

Contents [hide]
1 Role in history
2 Construction
3 In recent times
4 Image gallery
5 External links
Role in history[edit]
In 1375, the castle was granted to James Butler, newly created Earl of Ormond, for his loyalty to Edward III. His son James, the second Earl (by his second marriage) passed the lands around the barony of Iffa and Offa West to his children, though they were not themselves noble. This changed by 1542 when the first of the Barons Cahir was created. Unlike their staunchly Anglican kinsmen, this branch of the Butler dynasty sided with the Roman Catholic Irish in the Elizabethan wars. In 1599 the castle was captured after a three-day siege by the army of the Earl of Essex and was for a year put under the charge of Sir Charles Blount. Lord Cahir joined with the Earl of Tyrone in 1601 and was attainted for treason, but later obtained a full pardon. In 1627 the Castle was the scene of a celebrated killing when Cahir's son-in-law, Lord Dunboyne, murdered his distant cousin, James Prendergast, in a dispute over an inheritance: he was tried for the killing but acquitted.

During the Irish Confederate Wars the castle was besieged twice. In 1647 George Mathew, the guardian of the young Lord Cahir, surrendered to Murrough O'Brien, 6th Baron Inchiquin (later 1st Earl, and a descendant of Cahir's builder) following his victory at the battle of Knocknanauss. In 1650 he surrendered again to Oliver Cromwell, during his conquest of Ireland without a shot even being fired.

In 1961 the last Lord Cahir died and the castle reverted to the Irish state.

Construction[edit]
Cahir Castle was built in the 13th century on a site of an earlier native fortification called a cathair (stone fort), which gave its name to the place. The castle was built in two parts, with the side now by the street being built 200 years before the side now housing the audio-visual show.

Granted to the powerful Butler family in late 14th century, the castle was enlarged and remodelled between the 15th and 17th centuries. It fell into ruin in the late 18th century and was partially restored in the 1840s. The Great Hall was partly rebuilt in 1840.

In recent times[edit]
Now a national monument, the castle is managed by the Office of Public Works.

In 1981 it was used as a location for a major battle scene in the film Excalibur.

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Kilcash Castle

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Kilcash Castle is a ruined castle off the N24 road just west of Ballydine in County Tipperary, Ireland. The castle is currently ruined and is in the care of the Irish State. The Butler dynasty has important links to the area.

History[edit]

The main castle building is a fortified tower dating from the sixteenth-century. An adjoining hall was added at a later date, when the need for defence gave way to the large windows associated with settled times.[1] In the sixteenth century the manor of Kilcash passed from the Wall family into the possession of the Butlers of Ormond until the latter sold it to the Irish State in 1997 for £500.[1]

The castle was visited by James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven, a noted Confederate Catholic commander in the 1641-52 war, who wrote his memoirs at Kilcash where his sister, Lady Frances, was married to another Confederate commander, Richard Butler of Kilcash (d. 1701).[1]

In the 19th century, the castle fell into ruin after parts of the Kilcash estate were sold c. 1800. During the Irish Civil War, the castle was occupied by anti-treaty forces in an attempt to slow the approach of pro-treaty forces towards Clonmel. They were finally dislodged by artillery fire under the command of General Prout, further damaging the already dilapidated structure.[2]

By the late twentieth century the castle was in a dangerous state of repair. It is currently undergoing extensive repairs which will prevent it from collapsing.[3]

Near the castle are the remains of a medieval church with a Romanesque doorway. This building was partially repaired in the 1980s and is now safe to visit. In the graveyard, the mausoleum (a building nearly as large as the church) contains the tombs of Archbishop Christopher Butler (1673–1757), Margaret, Viscountess Iveagh (see below), Walter Butler, the 16th Earl of Ormond (d. 1773) and John Butler, the 17th Earl (d. 1795).[1] Some of the eighteenth-century headstones are carved with elaborate scenes of the crucifixion.

Lament for Kilcash[edit]
The castle is best known for the song "A Lament for Kilcash" (Irish: Caoine Cill Chaise) which mourns the death of Margaret Butler, Viscountess Iveagh (d. 1744), who, after the death of her first husband, married to Colonel Thomas Butler of Kilcash (d. 1738). The song was traditionally ascribed to Fr John Lane (d. 1776) but the woods lamented in its first stanza were not sold until 1797 and 1801, long after Lane's death.[1] The earliest manuscripts of the poem date from the mid nineteenth century. Its first stanza reads:


Castle from a distance
Cad a dhéanfaimid feasta gan adhmad?
Tá deireadh na gcoillte ar lár;
níl trácht ar Chill Chais ná ar a teaghlach
is ní bainfear a cling go bráth.
An áit úd a gcónaíodh an deighbhean
fuair gradam is meidhir thar mhnáibh,
bhíodh iarlaí ag tarraingt tar toinn ann
is an t-aifreann binn á rá.
Now what will we do for timber,
With the last of the woods laid low?
There's no talk of Cill Chais or its household
And its bell will be struck no more.
That dwelling where lived the good lady
Most honoured and joyous of women
Earls made their way over wave there
And the sweet Mass once was said.
(translation by Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin)

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Killahara Castle

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Killahara Castle is a castle in Ireland. It is near the villages of Dovea and Loughmore in County Tipperary and about 15 minutes from the main Dublin to Cork motorway.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Spirit of the Castle
3 References
4 External links
History[edit]
The castle was originally built ca. 1550 for Donagh O'Fogartie, the Chief of the O'Fogartie clan who controlled large areas of North Tipperary at that time. When the Chief was killed in battle in 1583, ownership passed through his widow, a Purcell, to the Purcell clan.

In 1649 during the Cromwellian purges, the Purcells were expelled as 'forfeiting papists'. Cromwell's forces ransacked the building and removed the roof. The Fogartie/Purcell lands were awarded to an English adventurer, Annesley.

The lands and now ruined castle were transferred in the early 18th century to the Trants who already owned large tracts of land in Kerry. The Trants controlled the lands remotely until a branch of the Trant family built an estate house (Dovea House) in the early 1830s.[1]

Tenants of the Trants lived in the semi derilict castle up to 1850 when one Black Jack Fogarty, no doubt a descendant of the original chieftains, died there, beggared by the Great Famine.

In 1852 John Trant commissioned a restoration project for the Castle. He had only partially completed this when his attention moved to building a village (Dovea) and church for workers he had brought in from the UK.

In 1903, Fitzgibbon Trant attempted a further restoration project, after which his aunt Emily took up residence for a period.

In 1920 the Castle was burnt out by the Black and Tans, a notorious British auxiliary force brought in to try to crush the Irish bid for independence.

In 2006 the Dovea Estate sold the Castle and new owners undertook the project of making the castle habitable, under the guidance of conservation experts.[2][3] The project was completed in 2009.

Spirit of the Castle[edit]
The original Fogartie clan's motto was 'Fleadh agus Failte' - festivities and welcomes. That is the spirit which the conservation team chose as the spirit they set out to restore to the building.

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Lackeen Castle,

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Lackeen Castle, a tower house within a bawn built in the 12th century as a Kennedy stronghold (rebuilt in the 16th century). The castle is located near to Lorrha in County Tipperary, Ireland and is occasionally open to the public. Close by, stands Lackeen House dating from around 1730.[1][2]

Lorrha Missal[edit]

It was at Lackeen Castle that the Lorrha Missal, which is strictly speaking a sacramentary rather than a missal was found. An Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin with some Gaelic in the late eighth or early ninth century, probably after 792. In the mid-11th century it was annotated and some pages rewritten at Lorrha Monastery. It is also known as the "Stowe" Missal as it once belonged to the Stowe manuscripts collection formed by George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham at Stowe House. When the collection was bought by the nation in 1883, it and the other Irish manuscripts were handed over to the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, where it remains, catalogued as MS D II 3.[3] The cumdach or reliquary case which up to this point had survived together with the book was later transferred, with the rest of the Academy's collection of antiquities, to the National Museum of Ireland (museum number 1883, 614a). The old story was that the manuscript and shrine left Ireland after about 1375, as they were collected on the Continent in the 18th century,[4] but this appears to be incorrect, as they were found here at Lackeen Castle in the 18th century.

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Lisheen Castle

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Lisheen Castle is an 18th-century building in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. It was originally a three storey Irish Palladian country house. It burnt down in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence and disused for eighty years before being restored in 1996.

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Loughmoe Castle

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Loughmoe Castle (Irish: Caisláin Luach Magh, also spelt Loughmore Castle) is a ruined castle at Loughmore Village, near Templemore in County Tipperary, Ireland. The castle was the ancestral home of the Purcell family, the Barons of Loughmoe.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Location
3 See also
4 External links
History[edit]
The oldest part of the castle was originally built in the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries, and consists of a four-storey tower-house. Additions were made by the Purcell family in the seventeenth century. The family lived in Loughmoe Castle until around 1760.

Location[edit]
The castle can be seen from the Dublin-Cork Railway line between Templemore and Thurles railway stations. If one comes through Loughmore village from the N62 road, the castle is on the right hand side after one passes under the railway bridge before one reaches the river Suir bridge.

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Moorstown Castle

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Moorstown Castle is a late 15th-century stone structure consisting of a circular keep and walled courtyard or bawn. The circular tower house is unusual in Irish architecture, most such structures being square in plan. It was built by James Keating, an ally of the Earl of Ormond. The castle and associated lands passed to Robert Cox in 1635 and by marriage to the Greene family. It was bought by Richard Grubb through the Landed Estates Court in 1855. The property remains in private ownership.[1]

It is thought that the 17th-century Catholic priest, poet and historian Geoffrey Keating had family connections with the castle.[2] Evidence suggests that he may have been the third son of James fitz Edmund Keating of Moorstown.[3]

Moorstown Castle was one of the Tipperary locations used in Stanley Kubrick's 1975 epic film Barry Lyndon.[

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Nenagh Castle

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Nenagh Castle[edit]

This fine Norman Keep was built c1200 by Theobald Walter, 1st Baron Butler and completed by his son Theobald le Botiller c1220.[21] The circular keep is over thirty metres high, and has a base of sixteen metres and is one of the finest of its kind in Ireland.[21] The crown of mock crenellations and ring of clerestory windows were added at the instigation of Bishop Michael Flannery in 1861. The intention was that the keep would become the Bell tower of a Pugin-designed cathedral which was never built.[21] Though not true to historic character these additions have ensured the iconic status of the keep which ensures that it features on the logos of many local clubs and businesses including Nenagh Town Council.[4] A project is currently under way to develop the castle and its surrounds. This project will position the castle as the main tourist attraction in the area.

History[edit]
The Butlers who descended from the 1st Baronlater became Earls of Ormond. Nenagh remained their principal seat until 1391 when it was moved to Kilkenny Castle.

In the rebellion of 1641 Neagh Castle was garrisoned by Sir George Hamilton for the twelfth Earl (later the twelth Duke). It was taken by Phelim O'Neill in 1648 during Owen Roe's journey south via the silvermines but was re-taken by Inchiquin in the same year and Sir George was back again as Governor to face Ireton and Abbott in 1650. After a short siege he surrendered on articles and was allowed to march out— not being hung out of the top window as asserted by many writers following an error apparently first made by a writer in the "Dublin Penny Journal" in 1833. Colonel Daniel Abbott then became Governor for the Cromwellians and withstood attacks on the Castle both by Colonel Grace from Birr and a Captain Loghlen O'Meara of a local family who defeated his forces in an engagement close by and forced them to take shelter in the Castle. After the Restoration, Sir William Flower came along in 1660 on behalf of the Marchioness of Ormond who had the ownership of the Manor on her marriage settlements.

—Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1925).[22]
The last Marquess (James Butler) died in 1997. Without a male heir the marquessate became extinct, while the earldom is dormant.

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Ormond Castle

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Ormond Castle (Irish: Caisleán Urmhumhan) is a castle on the River Suir on the east side of Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary, Ireland.[1] The oldest part of the existing castle is a mid-15th century walled bawn, cornered on the northeast and northwest by towers.

History of Ormonde Castle[edit]
Built before 1315, the original castle was acquired that year by the Butler Family. James Butler would eventually be granted the title 1st Earl of Ormond

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Redwood Castle

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Redwood Castle (also known as Egan Castle or Caislean Choillte Rua in Irish) is a Norman castle near Lorrha in County Tipperary, Ireland.[1]

The castle was built by the Normans around 1200 AD, and was occupied by them until c.1350, when the Mac Aodhagáin (MacEgan, Egan, Keegan) were installed on the lands.

As hereditary Brehons or lawyers, the Mac Aodhagáin clan established a school of learning here, which was patronised by the family for several hundred years.[1]

The castle was enlarged and renovated several times, with considerable work in 1350 and 1580.[2] Aside from the original thick stone walls, the building demonstrates some architectural features common to Irish fortifications of the period (including a murder-hole), and some less common features (including a Sheela na gig).[3]

The castle remained under continuous occupation and ownership by the (Mac)Egan families until it was confiscated and burned at the time of the Cromwellian conquest c.1650.

The site remained in ruin, with only the thick exterior walls standing, until Michael J. Egan, a Mayo lawyer, purchased and renovated the building in 1972. While the castle remains a private residence, terms of the Department of Finance Heritage/Cultural Tax Relief mean the castle is periodically open to the public during the summer months.[1] It is a protected structure (ref S329) on the North Tipperary list of protected structures.[4]

The castle hosted several "Clan Egan" rallies in 2000, 2004 and 2008

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Rock of Cashel

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Rock of Cashel (Irish: Carraig Phádraig), also known as Cashel of the Kings and St. Patrick's Rock, is a historic site located at Cashel, County Tipperary, Ireland.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Buildings on the Rock
3 Other features
4 Burials
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
History[edit]

Aerial view of the Rock of Cashel, circa 1970, prior to any modern work
According to local mythology, the Rock of Cashel originated in the Devil's Bit, a mountain 20 miles (30 km) north of Cashel when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock's landing in Cashel.[1] Cashel is reputed to be the site of the conversion of the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century.

The Rock of Cashel was the traditional seat of the kings of Munster for several hundred years prior to the Norman invasion. In 1101, the King of Munster, Muirchertach Ua Briain, donated his fortress on the Rock to the Church. The picturesque complex has a character of its own and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe.[2] Few remnants of the early structures survive; the majority of buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries.

The Round Tower
The oldest and tallest of the buildings is the well preserved round tower (28 metres, or 90 feet), dating from c.1100. Its entrance is 12 feet from the ground, necessitated by a shallow foundation (about 3 feet) typical of round towers. The tower was built using the dry stone method. Modern conservationists have filled in some of the tower with mortar for safety reasons.

Cormac's Chapel, the chapel of King Cormac Mac Carthaigh, was begun in 1127 and consecrated in 1134.[2] It is a very sophisticated structure, unlike most Irish Romanesque churches, which are ordinarily simple in plan with isolated decorated features. The Irish Abbot of Regensburg, Dirmicius of Regensburg, sent two of his carpenters to help in the work and the twin towers on either side of the junction of the nave and chancel are strongly suggestive of their Germanic influence, as this feature is otherwise unknown in Ireland. Other notable features of the building include interior and exterior arcading, a barrel-vaulted roof, a carved tympanum over both doorways, the magnificent north doorway and chancel arch. It contains one of the best preserved Irish frescoes from this time period. The Chapel was constructed primarily of sandstone which has become water logged over the centuries, significantly damaging the interior frescos. Restoration and preservation required the chapel be completely enclosed in a rain-proof structure with interior dehumifiers to dry out the stone.



The Cathedral, built between 1235 and 1270, is an aisleless building of cruciform plan, having a central tower and terminating westwards in a massive residential castle. The Hall of the Vicars Choral was built in the fifteenth century. The vicars choral were laymen (sometimes minor canons) appointed to assist in chanting the cathedral services. At Cashel there were originally eight vicars choral with their own seal. This was later reduced to five honorary vicars choral who appointed singing-men as their deputies, a practice which continued until 1836. The restoration of the Hall was undertaken by the Office of Public Works as a project in connection with the European Architectural Heritage Year, 1975. Through it visitors now enter the site.[1]

In 1647, during the Irish Confederate Wars, Cashel was sacked by English Parliamentarian troops under Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin. The Irish Confederate troops there were massacred, as were the Roman Catholic clergy, including Theobald Stapleton. Inchiquin's troops looted or destroyed many important religious artefacts.[2]

In 1749 the main cathedral roof was removed by Arthur Price, the Anglican Archbishop of Cashel.[1] Today, what remains of the Rock of Cashel has become a tourist attraction. Price's decision to remove the roof on what had been the jewel among Irish church buildings was criticised before and since.

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Shanbally Castle

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Shanbally Castle was built for Cornelius O'Callaghan, the first Viscount Lismore, in around 1810. It was the largest house built in Ireland by the noted English architect John Nash.[1] The castle—located near Clogheen, County Tipperary—was acquired by the Irish Land Commission in 1954. On 21 March 1960 the castle, after much controversy, was demolished.

Destruction[edit]
The protests against the demolition of Shanbally Castle came from some local sources, An Taisce, a few academics such as Professor Gwynn and some political voices such as Senator Sean Moylan, the Minister for Agriculture until his death in November 1957, and TD from Mitchelstown, John W Moher. Politically, the Fianna Fáil Government had no love for houses of the ascendancy and local TD Michael Davern was in favour of its demolition.[citation needed]

For a brief period it seemed that a purchaser could be found in the form of the London theatre critic Edward Charles Sackville-West, 5th Baron Sackville, who had a tremendous love of the Clogheen area,[citation needed] which he had known since childhood. He agreed to buy the castle, together with 163 acres (0.66 km2), but pulled out of the transaction when the Irish Land Commission refused to stop cutting trees in the land he intended to buy.

When this sale did not happen, the Irish Government claimed that it could not find another suitable owner for the castle.[citation needed]

In March 1960, The Nationalist reported the final end of a building which was once the pride of the neighbourhood.[citation needed] "A big bang yesterday ended Shanbally Castle, where large quantities of gelignite and cortex shattered the building," it said. The explosion could be heard up to 10 miles (16 km) away.

A statement from the Irish Government released after the demolition of the Castle said in response to protests favouring the retention of Shanbally Castle for the nation: "Apart from periods of military occupation the castle remained wholly unoccupied for 40 years"

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Benburb Castle

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Benburb Castle lies in the village with the same name, north west of the town of Armagh, in County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland.
Benburb Castle was built in the 1610's by Sir Richard Wingfield during the Plantation. It was probably built on the site of an earlier stronghold of Shane O’Neill, on a cliff above a bend in the Blackwater River; the border between the counties of Tyrone and Armagh. It was then called the Wingfield Bawn.
Benburb Castle has an irregular four-sided plan with the entrance in the north wall, large rectangular flanking towers at the north east and north west corners and a smaller, round tower at the south east corner. There was no main building in the castle as Wingfield had no desire to live here, but living accommodation was provided in gabled flankers.
In 1641 Benburb Castle was taken by Phelim O'Neill who had all the occupants slaughtered. In 1646 it was occupied by Owen Roe O'Neill before he decisively defeated the English army, led by General Monro, at the Battle of Benburb nearby. The castle was dismantled soon afterwards and has remained a ruin ever since.
In the second part of the 19th century the Bruce family built the large manor house north east of the castle and a cottage was built inside the castle walls.
In the 1940's American troops used the manor house as a hospital and the towers of the castle were altered to allow watchmen on the roofs.
At present the manor house is used as a priory by the Servite Order. The cottage within the castle seemed to be a private residence. Benburb Castle, and the Benburb Valley Park in which it lies, is freely accessible during daytime.

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Castle Caulfield

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Castle Caulfield is a large ruined house situated in Castlecaulfield, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The building was three storeys high with attics, many large mullioned windows and tall chimneystacks. A joist from one of the walls was dated using dendrochronology to about 1282 and may belong to this earlier fort. There are substantial remains. The oldest part of the existing building is the gatehouse, which has Tudor-style doorways, murder-holes and gun-loops. The Caulfeild arms appear over the entrance.

The house was built by Sir Toby Caulfeild[1] between 1611 and 1619 on the site of an earlier O'Donnelly castle. It was burned in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 but was repaired and reoccupied by the Caulfeilds until the 1660s. Oliver Plunkett is known to have held a service at the castle in 1670, but the castle was in ruins when John Wesley preached there in 1767.


Castle Caulfield, Present Day
Castle Caulfield, today a ruin, is a State Care Historic Monument in the townland of Lisnamonaghan, in Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Council area, at grid ref: H7550 6260.[2