Project Gutenberg's Castles of Ireland, by C. L. (Constance Louisa) Adams This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license Title: Castles of Ireland Some Fortress Histories and Legends Author: C. L. (Constance Louisa) Adams Release Date: June 27, 2020 [EBook #62488] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CASTLES OF IRELAND *** Produced by Richard Hulse, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Image of the book's cover unavailable.] Contents. List of Illustrations (etext transcriber's note) CASTLES OF IRELAND [Image unavailable] ADARE CASTLE. Castles of Ireland Some Fortress Histories and Legends BY C. L. ADAMS ILLUSTRATED BY REV. CANON LUCIUS O’BRIEN LONDON ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1904 INTRODUCTION The Castles of Ireland are far too numerous for any single volume to contain their separate histories, and all that I claim for the present work is that it includes epitomised accounts of those of chief interest, as well as some regarding which I had special facilities for collecting information. It is, I also believe, the first collection of such records, and therefore I hope but the forerunner of similar works which may be issued in the future, so that the time will yet come when all these interesting {i} {ii} {iii} {iv} {v} relics of a troubled and stormy past may be classified and chronicled, and the present obscurity in which the history of so many of them is shrouded be entirely cleared away. The number of ruined castles in Ireland is always a matter of surprise to visitors from the Sister Isle, and perhaps they help us, of less stirring days, to realise more fully the continual state of warfare in which our ancestors must have lived than printed records can ever do. These castles range in dimensions from the few blocks of protruding masonry on the green sward, which mark the foundation of a ruined peel tower, or the scarcely traceable line of wall which was once a fortified bawn, to the majestic ruins of castles like Adare with its three distinct and separate fortifications one within the other, or royal Trim, deemed strong enough to be a prison for English princes. Yet in the majority of cases little or nothing is known locally about the builders, owners or destroyers who have left us these picturesque, if somewhat sad, mementoes of their warfaring existence. Three items of information will in all probability be supplied to the enquirer—that they were built by King John, occupied by the Geraldines, and demolished by Cromwell in person, and indeed if the hill from which the bombardment was carried out is not shown to the stranger his informant is lacking in the general art of story-telling. In some cases the origin of the castles is boldly attributed by tradition to the Danes, thereby unconsciously introducing the much wider controversy as to whether such stone fortresses were known in Ireland before the landing of the Normans at Wexford in 1169. Be this as it may, it was only subsequent to this date that they were built in any number. Both invaders and invaded relied chiefly on these strongholds for obtaining supremacy in their constant struggles. Grants of land were generally given with the condition of erecting a fortified residence. It was only when the introduction of gunpowder rendered such buildings untenable in war, that they were very generally deserted for more comfortable dwellings, and jackdaws alone keep watch to-day from many a crumbling battlement that once echoed a sentinel’s tread, and bovine heads protrude from the doorways from which mailed knights rode forth to battle. I regret to say that space forbids my mentioning by name all those owners of castles and others who have so generously assisted me in compiling the following accounts, but perhaps I may be allowed to specially acknowledge the valuable help I received from the Librarian and Assistant Librarians of the National Library, Dublin, Lord Walter Fitzgerald, and Mr. Herbert Wood, of the Public Record Office. C. L. ADAMS. London, 1904. CONTENTS PAGE Introduction v Legend of Kilkea Castle xi Adare Castle 1 Antrim Castle 9 Arklow Castle 15 Artane Castle 18 Athlone Castle 22 Ballymote Castle 27 Ballyshannon Castle 31 Ballyteigue Castle 37 Barberstown Castle 39 Bargy Castle 42 Barryscourt Castle 45 Birr Castle 48 Black Castle, Wicklow 54 Blarney Castle 57 Bunratty Castle 65 Carlow Castle 71 Carrickfergus Castle 77 Carrick-on-Suir Castle 85 Carrigogunnel Castle 90 Castle Barnard 97 Castle Boro 101 Castle Donovan 104 Castle Kevin, County Cork 107 Castle Kevin, County Wicklow 109 Castle Salem 114 Cloghan Castle 116 Crom Castle 121 Doe Castle 126 Drimnagh Castle 133 Dublin Castle 137 Dundaniel Castle 142 Dundrum Castle, County Down 148 Dundrum Castle, County Dublin 152 Dunluce Castle 157 Dunsoghly Castle 165 Enniscorthy Castle 168 Enniskillen Castle 172 Ferns Castle 177 Ferrycarrig and Shana Court Castles 182 Geashill Castle 185 Glenarm Castle 191 Glin Castle 193 {vi} {vii} {viii} Greencastle, County Donegal 198 Greencastle, County Down 202 Howth Castle 209 Kilbarron Castle 214 Kilbrittain Castle 217 Kilkea Castle 220 Kilkenny Castle 228 Killiane Castle 235 Killyleagh Castle 239 King John’s Castle, Carlingford 244 King John’s Castle, Limerick 250 Lea Castle 257 Leap Castle 264 Leixlip Castle 272 Lismore Castle 280 Lohort Castle 285 Lough Cutra Castle 287 Macroom Castle 289 Malahide Castle 292 Mallow Castle 297 Maynooth Castle 305 Mongevlin Castle 311 Monkstown Castle, County Cork 313 Portumna Castle 316 Roscommon Castle 318 Ross Castle 325 Rossclogher Castle 330 Shane’s Castle 336 Swords Castle 344 Tillyra Castle 350 Timon Castle 351 Tralee Castle 353 Trim Castle 359 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Adare Castle Frontispiece Antrim Castle 8 Birr Castle 49 Black Castle, Wicklow 55 Blarney Castle 59 Bunratty Castle 64 Carlow Castle 72 Carrickfergus Castle 79 Carrick-on-Suir Castle 84 Carrigogunnel Castle 91 Castle Donovan 105 Crom Castle 120 Drimnagh Castle 132 Dublin Castle 136 Dundrum Castle, County Down 149 Dunluce Castle 156 Dunsoghly Castle 164 Enniskillen Castle 173 Glenarm Castle 190 Greencastle, County Donegal 199 Greencastle, County Down 203 Howth Castle 208 Kilbarron Castle 215 Kilkea Castle 221 Kilkenny Castle 229 Killyleagh Castle 238 King John’s Castle, Carlingford 245 King John’s Castle, Limerick 251 {ix} {x} Lea Castle (interior) 258 Lea Castle (exterior) 262 Leap Castle 265 Leixlip Castle 273 Lismore Castle 282 Mallow Castle 298 Maynooth Castle 304 Ross Castle 324 Shane’s Castle 337 Swords Castle 345 Trim Castle 361 THE LEGEND OF KILKEA CASTLE. IT is seven years since they last awoke From their death-like sleep in Mullaghmast, And the ghostly troop, with its snow-white horse, On the Curragh plain to Kilkea rode past. For the Lord of Kildare goes forth to-night, And has left his rest in the lonely rath. Oh, roughen the road for the silver shoes, That they wear full soon on his homeward path. So thus to his own he may come again, With a trumpet blast and his warriors bold, And the spell that was by his lady cast Will pass away as a tale once told. For dearly she loved her noble lord, And she wished that no secret from her he kept, So she longed to know why in chamber small He watched and toiled while the household slept. But the Wizard Earl would not tell to her The secret dark of his vaulted cell, “For fear,” he said, “in the human frame, Lets loose the power of furthest hell.” But she feared for naught save his waning love, And at length to her wish he bent an ear, So flood, and serpent, and ghost gave place, For the lady’s heart had shown no fear. Then her lord to a bird was soon transformed, That rested its wing on her shoulder fair; But the lady screamed and swooned away When a cat sprang forth from the empty air. For a woman must fear for the one she loves, And a woman’s heart will break in twain, When she knows that her hand has struck the blow To the man she had died to save from pain. And thus the Earl must sleep as dead Till the silver shoes of his steed are worn, By which every seven years, they say, To Kilkea and back to the rath he’s born. And swiftly they pass, that phantom band, With the Earl on his charger gleaming white, So we think ’tis the shade of a cloud goes by, With a shifting beam of the moon’s pale light. PEERS HERVEY. ADARE CASTLE “Peaceful it stands, the mighty pile By many a heart’s blood once defended, Yet silent now as cloistered aisle, Where rung the sounds of banquet splendid.” GERALD GRIFFIN. This name is a corruption of Athdare, or Ath-daar, signifying “The ford of oaks.” The present village is situated on the west bank of the River Maig, nine miles south- south-west of Limerick. Desmond Castle, on the east bank, commands the river pass, and near the northern entrance to the castle were formerly the remains of a gateway and wall, traditionally supposed to have belonged to the ancient town of Adare. The ruins of the fortress are extensive. They consist of an outer and inner ward, separated by a moat, which in former times was crossed by a drawbridge. There are three entrances to the outer ward, the chief being a square gate tower in the west wall which was defended by a portcullis. There is another entrance on the north, as well as a doorway opening on the river. The chief buildings are situated near the water’s edge. They consist of the great hall which is 75 feet long by 37 feet in breadth. It is lighted by three windows of rough masonry in its south wall and by one on the west, with fifteenth-century “ogee” heads inserted in the older workmanship. The doorway on the east opens to the river. The chief entrance and porch were on the north side. The base of one of the sandstone jambs remains, showing it to have been of thirteenth century date. The walls are 3 feet thick, and the roof, which had a very high gable, was supported by four pillars. At the eastern end are the buttery and smaller offices, while separated from them by a passage is the ruined kitchen (45 feet by 19 feet), which contains the remains of an oven and also a small well of river water. A curtain wall running west, connects these building with a fine oblong, two-storey structure, 56 feet by 31 {xi} {2} {1} {3} feet, which is remarkable, inasmuch as the walls of the top storey are thicker than those below, the extra width being supported by projecting stones. The top room, which has loops splayed for archery, was reached by an exterior stone stair. The floor was supported on beams, and the lower room seems to have been used as a stable. Adjoining the building is a small square tower, which projects into the river that flows under it through an archway in the basement. A wall connects this tower with the gateway. The inner ward is now reached by a small wooden bridge. The gate tower is connected with the S.E. angle of the keep by a thick curved curtain with an embrasured and looped parapet. A turret protected the juncture of the outer and inner walls. A semicircular tower also projects from the boundary wall on the left of the inner court. It was loopholed, and divided into two storeys. The keep, which is in the inner court, is about 40 feet square and 67 feet high. Only the north wall and the portions adjoining it remain at their original height. The side next the river is entirely broken down, tradition saying it was destroyed with cannon in Cromwell’s time from the opposite hill. The angles of the remaining wall are crowned with turrets. The doorway leading to the vaults being of later date than the rest it is supposed they were of more recent insertion. One of the dungeons seems to have been used as a prison. It is lighted by a loop of peculiar construction. A staircase leads to the chief apartments, and a well of river water is within the walls. The height of the keep seems to have had a third added to it after its original construction as is shown by the old weather-tabling of the roof. The present building was divided into three storeys above the ground floor, which was vaulted. The stairway was in the thickness of the west wall. Small cells occupy the projecting portions at the angles. From the objects that have been found in the moat which surrounds the keep, it has been thought likely that it occupies the site of a rath, as some of the relics are of much anterior date to the Norman Conquest. The fortress is supposed to have been formerly a stronghold of the O’Donovans until they were dispossessed by the invaders. The architecture of one of the windows seems to be that in vogue during the close of the twelfth century. Lenihan states that Adare was famous for its castle and church in the reign of Henry II. Geoffrey de Mariscis, Justiciary of Ireland, was granted permission to hold a fair in his manor of Adare in 1226, but according to the Spanish historian, Lopez, it had passed into the hands of the “Earls” of Kildare in 1227, when (still according to him) the Earl of March came from Scotland to Adare on shipping business, and the “Earls” of Kildare, not deeming the accommodation at the inn fit for his rank, insisted that he should come to their castle. During the visit he spoke in such praise of the Trinitarian order that the Earl’s father said he would found a priory at Adare. The story is probably inaccurate. In the first place the Earldom of Kildare was not created until 1316, and Lopez speaks of “Earls” in the plural. It is also hard to imagine what shipping business could have been transacted in an inland town. Yet no doubt there is some foundation for the record, as in 1279, 1315, and 1464 other abbeys were founded at Adare by the Kildare Geraldines. In 1290 the manor of Adare was in the possession of Maurice FitzGerald, 5th Baron of Offaly, and his wife, Lady Agnes de Valence, cousin of the King. Their claim being disputed, a charter was issued in 1299 confirming the grant. The castle was rebuilt in 1326 by the 2nd Earl of Kildare. Edward III. granted the lands of Adare to the Earl’s stepfather, Sir John Darcy, during the Earl’s minority in 1329, and it was probably at this time that the inquisition was held in the report of which we find the first authenticated mention of the castle. It is described as having a hall, a chapel with stone walls and covered with thatch, a tower covered with planks, a kitchen covered with slates, and a chamber near the stone part covered with thatch. Turlough O’Brien burned it sometime during the fifteenth century. The estate was forfeited by Gerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, for his adherence to the cause of Perkin Warbeck, but it was shortly afterwards restored. When the 9th Earl of Kildare was summoned to London to answer the charge of allowing the Earl of Desmond to evade arrest, it is likely that he set out from Adare, as he was in that part of the country. It was during this trial in 1526 that Cardinal Wolsey cried out, “The Earl, nay, the King of Kildare—for, when you are disposed, you reign more like than rule the land.” Upon the confiscation of the estate after the rebellion of “The Silken Thomas,” in 1536, the Earl of Desmond became possessed of Adare, which he leased the following year from the Crown. He seems to have done so with the intention of restoring the lands to his kinsman, the young Gerald, then in hiding from the Government. The castle remained in the Earl of Desmond’s possession (with intermissions) until his death in 1583, when it reverted to the Kildare branch of the Geraldines. His name still clings to the ruins, no doubt because of the stormy scenes that occurred at Adare during his short ownership. Here in 1570 the celebrated Leverus, Bishop of Kildare, sought shelter with the Earl of Desmond. He had been tutor to the young heir to the Earldom of Kildare, when a price was set upon his head after the rebellion of the Lord Thomas. Leverus had saved his pupil, who was ill with smallpox, by putting him in a basket, wrapped in blankets, and taking him from Kildare to Thomond. In 1578 the castle was taken by Sir Nicholas Malby after a siege of eleven days, and garrisoned by English under Captain Carew. Sir John Desmond, the Earl’s brother, shortly afterwards assaulted it in vain. The following year saw continual warfare round the town of Adare between the two parties, and a garrison of English was placed there by the Lord Deputy, who was accompanied by the Earl of Kildare. Desmond made every effort to recover the castle in 1580. He resorted to several stratagems, one of which was to send a beautiful young woman to the constable, by whose means he hoped the castle might be betrayed. But upon hearing from whence she came, the officer tied a stone round her neck and threw her into the river. The following year, however, Colonel Zouch, having disbanded part of his forces, the Earl gained possession of the castle, and put the garrison to the sword. Fresh forces arriving from Cork, Zouch marched on Adare, only to find it deserted; but he pursued the Irish to Lisconnel, where he defeated them in an engagement. Captain Mynce was recommended as custodian in 1585, and in 1598 Mr. Marshal’s castles of Bruff and Adare were reported to have been taken. In 1600 the Sugan Earl of Desmond occupied Adare, but upon the approach of Sir George Carew, in July, the Irish burnt the castle and fled. He reports it as “a manor-house belonging to the Earls of Kildare, wholly ruined by Pierce Lacy.” This Lacy was one of the Earl of Desmond’s supporters. Insurgents seized the stronghold in 1641, but were driven out by the Earl of Castlehaven, and the castle is said to have been dismantled in 1657 by Cromwell’s orders. The lands remained in the possession of the Earls of Kildare until 1721, when they were purchased by the Quin family, now represented by the Earl of Dunraven. Authorities Consulted. J. Dowd, “The County of Limerick.” The Countess and Earl of Dunraven, “Memorials of Adare.” Marquis of Kildare, “The Earls of Kildare.” M. Lenihan, “Limerick: Its History and Antiquities.” J. Ferrar, “History of Limerick.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Calendar of State Documents. Calendar of Carew MSS. {4} {5} {6} {7} {8} {9} [Image unavailable] ANTRIM CASTLE. ANTRIM CASTLE “Brown in the rust of time—it stands sublime With overhanging battlements and towers, And works of old defence—a massy pile, And the broad river winds around its base In bright, unruffled course.” Antrim town is situated in the county of the same name, on the right bank of Six-Mile-Water just before it enters Lough Neagh, a little more than thirteen miles north- west of Belfast. The castle, sometimes erroneously called Massereene Castle, was erected in the reign of James I. by Sir Hugh Clotworthy, a gentleman of Somersetshire. Hugh and Lewis Clotworthy were amongst those who accompanied the Earl of Essex in his expedition to Ulster in 1573, and in 1603 Captain Hugh Clotworthy was doing garrison duty at Carrickfergus under Sir Arthur Chichester. In 1605 he received a grant of the confiscated lands of “Massarine,” and erected a residence on the site of the present building. This consisted of a moated courtyard flanked by towers. Shortly afterwards he was knighted, and married the beautiful Marion Langford “of the flowing tresses.” In 1610 Sir Hugh Clotworthy commenced to erect a castle according to the undertaking of the grant, and it was completed in three years. It consisted of a quadrangular pile, three storeys in height, which enclosed a small courtyard, and was flanked at the angles by square towers. The walls measured 6 feet in thickness. A short flight of granite steps led to the entrance hall, which contained a great open fireplace. On the right of the hall was the “buttery,” where at about 3 feet from the floor was a small square door through which food was distributed to the poor. The townspeople had the privilege of passing through the hall by the buttery to a pathway leading to the lake. The river protected the castle on the west, while on the other sides it was surrounded by a moat. The “Mount” to the east of the castle was furnished with ordnance. Two bastions commanded respectively the town on the south and the lake on the north. The whole fortress covered more than five acres of ground. Extensive alterations were made in the castle in 1813 by Chichester, fourth Earl of Massereene. At present it consists of a square embattled building of three storeys with a long wing at the same elevation running northward, flanked by two castellated towers near the end. At its extremity rises a very high tower in Italian style, which gives a most picturesque appearance to the stables when viewed from the lough. The grand entrance hall is square, and the wall which once divided it from the centre courtyard has been replaced by oak pillars leading to an inner vestibule and staircase which occupies the site of the former open space. From this a passage extends the whole length of the castle to the Italian tower. The oak room is a magnificent apartment, wainscotted in dark Irish oak, relieved with lighter shades and exquisitely carved. The panels are painted with armorial bearings. There is a beautiful carved chimney-piece at the lower end of the apartment set with the grate in one frame. Upon touching a secret spring this all swings out and discloses a recess large enough to hide in. The furniture of the room is also Irish oak. Here is preserved the “Speaker’s Chair” of the Irish House of Commons. The drawing-room and library are both very handsome rooms, and with the oak room, breakfast-room, parlour, and dining-room, form a splendid suite of rooms, opening one off the other. There is a very valuable collection of family portraits in the castle. The Italian tower contains the chapel, record-room, and a small study. The first of these is in Gothic style and beautifully proportioned. Among the treasures to be seen here are Cranmer’s New Testament and Queen Mary’s Bible. Over the front entrance is a stone screen slightly raised from the wall and ending in a pointed arch under the parapet wall. It is about 8 feet in width, and is handsomely sculptured with arms, mottoes, and events connected with the castle and its owners. At the top is a carved head representing Charles I., supposed to have been placed there by the first Viscount when he added to the fortress in 1662. Lower down are the arms of the founder and his wife, with the date of erection (1613), &c. Immediately over the hall door is a carved shell supported by mermaids, which represents the Skeffyngton crest. The two ancient bastions have been formed into terrace gardens, and the grounds of the whole castle are most beautifully laid out. A splendid view is obtained from the old “Mount,” the summit of which is reached by a winding path. The demesne is entered from the town through a castellated entrance, surmounted by a turretted warder’s lodge, which upon state occasions in modern times has been sentinelled with warders garbed in antique costume, battle-axe in hand. Near the gatehouse upon the angle of the southern bastion is the carved stone figure of “Lady Marion’s Wolfdog,” representing that splendid Irish breed now extinct. At one time this statue surmounted a turret of the castle, where the great animal appeared to be keeping a “look out” over the lough. Local superstition said that it had appeared there without human agency on the night after the incident occurred with which the legend connects it, and that as long as it keeps watch over the castle and grounds so long will the race of Lady Marion Clotworthy continue to live and thrive. The story is as follows:—The lovely bride of Sir Hugh Clotworthy wandered one day in his absence outside the bawn walls along the shores of Lough Neagh. Hearing behind her a low growl, she turned round to find a wolf preparing to spring. In her terror she fell to the ground, and with the force of the animal’s leap he passed beyond her. Before he had time to return to his victim a large wolf-hound had seized him in mortal combat. The lady fainted at the sight, and when she recovered consciousness the dog was licking her hands, while the wolf lay dead. She bound up the noble animal’s wounds, and he followed her home, being her constant companion for many a day, until he suddenly disappeared and no trace of him could be found. Shortly after this the castle was built, and one wild, stormy night the deep baying of a wolf-hound was heard passing round and round the walls of the fortress. The warders, scared by the unusual sound, kindled the beacon on the mount, and by its light discovered a band of natives making preparation for an attack. A few shots dispersed them, but before they left a howl of pain was heard near the entrance gate, where a few flattened bullets were found the next morning. Then upon the castle tower the affrighted warders perceived the stone figure of the dog. It is probable that Sir Hugh had the figure carved to please his lady, and after the attack considered its mysterious appearance on the fortress the best protection against a superstitious enemy, who had most likely destroyed the beautiful original, which had come from the Abbey of Massarine to warn its former kind friend of danger. Sir Hugh Clotworthy was succeeded by his son, Sir John, afterwards first Viscount Massereene. He sat in both the Irish and English Houses of Commons, and was one of Stafford’s chief accusers. He was in London when the rebellion of 1641 broke out. The insurrection was in part prevented by a retainer of his, one Owen O’Conally, called “the great informer.” Sir John’s brother, James, secured the castle in his absence from attack, and the owner returned to it at the end of the year, and took command of the forces in the district. He was imprisoned in 1647 for three years for censuring (with other Members of Parliament) the seizing of the King. During this time his mother, the Lady Marion, occupied the castle. O’Conally commanded Sir John’s regiment in his absence, and in 1649 it was joined to General Monk’s forces. Oliver Cromwell made O’Conally commander of the regiment then at Antrim Castle, and Monro marched against it and killed its leader, but the castle still remained in possession of the troops. Sir John was raised to the peerage by Charles II. in 1660 as Viscount Massereene. He had no son, and was succeeded in the title and estates by his son-in-law, Sir John Skeffyngton, and henceforward his surname was added to the family name of Clotworthy. James II. conferred several honourable appointments on him, nevertheless the “Antrim Association” was formed in the castle upon the beginning of the revolution, and the Viscount’s eldest son, Colonel Clotworthy Skeffyngton, was appointed Commander-in-Chief. The Jacobite General, Hamilton, pushed on to Antrim after his success at Dromore, and Lord Massereene fled from the castle at his approach. The family plate, valued at £3,000, which was hidden before the family left, was shown to the newcomers by a servant, and was seized by them. {10} {11} {12} {13} {14} {15} Colonel Gordon O’Neill, son of the great Sir Phelim, occupied the fortress in 1688-89, but Lord Massereene recovered his property when William came to the throne. His grandson was created an earl in 1756, but this title expired in 1816, when Harriet Viscountess of Massereene succeeded to the estates, and through her they passed to the present Viscount. The last time that the castle figured in history was during the battle of Antrim in 1798. The yeomanry bravely held the castle gardens against all comers, while the great gun of the mount, “Roaring Tatty,” was drawn from its position and fired on the town. One, Ezekiel Vance, gave the signal to the military outside the town to advance by waving a woman’s red cloak from one of the towers of the fortress. The present Lord Massereene is the 11th Viscount. Authorities Consulted. C. O’Neill, “Antrim Castle.” O’Laverty, “Diocese of Down and Connor.” Smith, “Memoirs of ’98,” in Ulster Journal of Archæology. Parliamentary Gazetteer. ARKLOW CASTLE The town of Arklow is thirty-nine miles and a half south by east of Dublin, in the County Wicklow. Joyce thinks the name may have a Danish origin, but others believe it comes from the Irish word Ardchoch. The ruins of the castle are situated on high ground on the south side of the Ovoca River, and consist of a ruined and now ivy-clad round tower, which protected the northern angle. This building is broken on the riverside to about 12 feet in height, but on the south side it measures some 46 feet. About 10 feet from the ground is a pointed doorway, which leads to a stone floor formed by the arch of the lower chamber. Thirty-four stone steps in the thickness of the wall give access to the top of the tower from this platform. This building is one of similar flanking towers which defended the walls still running south and west, the remains of some of the other turrets having only disappeared during the last century. A barrack for two companies of soldiers was built near the former site of the castle, and the walls of the latter were incorporated with those enclosing the yard of the new building. A monastery was founded at Arklow by Theobald FitzWalter, hereditary Lord Butler of Ireland, who also built the castle. Lord Theobald Walter le Botiller died in the castle in 1285, and was buried in the convent of the Friars Preachers in Arklow, beneath a tomb ornamented with his effigy. In 1331 the castle was attacked by the O’Tooles, but Lord de Bermingham came to its relief with a small party, and drove the enemy off with considerable loss. The same year, however, the Irish got possession of it by treachery. The Lord Chief Justice again re-captured it in 1332, with the help of Dublin citizens and the English settlers in Wicklow, so that it was once more in the King’s hands, and at this time it was partly rebuilt. In 1522-24 Sir Piers Butler was accused of being in league with the O’Mores, and of using the castle of Arklow to rob both by land and sea. The following year the Earl of Kildare made a series of charges against the Earl of Ormond through Lord Leonard Grey, amongst which was that of keeping a ward of evil persons in Arklow Castle to rob the surrounding neighbourhood. A few years later (1532) the Earl of Ossory and Ormond complained to Thomas Cromwell that the Earl of Kildare was trying to get some of his castles into his possession (amongst which he mentioned Arklow), under the plea of holding them by lease from the Earl of Wiltshire. He states these fortresses “bee the veray keyes of the cuntrey,” and that the King ought to prevent Kildare becoming too powerful. Sir Thomas Bullen had then been created Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire by Henry VIII. During the rebellion of “the Silken Thomas” in 1536 the King had to send “an army royal” to get the castle of Arklow and others into his possession. The following year the manor was re-granted to Peter Butler, Earl of Ossory and Ormond. In 1578, when forming the county of “Wicklo or Arcklo,” the castle of the latter is mentioned as the chief place, and belonging to the Earl of Ormond, who was also Lord of Arklow. The Lord Deputy placed a garrison there in 1581. In March, 1589, Feagh M’Hugh O’Byrne seized the wife of Hugh Duff O’Donnell, uncle to Sir Hugh O’Donnell, who was a tenant of the Earl of Ormond in Arklow Castle. In the autumn of the same year O’Byrne tried to force an entrance into the castle “to execute his malice” upon Hugh O’Donnell. The land was laid waste round the fortress in 1600, but the castle was held for the Queen by the Earl of Ormond at his own expense. In the rebellion of 1641 the Irish surprised the fortress and killed the garrison. It remained in their possession until 1649, when it was captured by Cromwell’s forces, of which the following is the account:— “The army marched through almost a desolate country until it came to a passage of the River Doro, about a mile above the Castle of Arklow, which was the first seat and honour of the Marquis of Ormond’s family, which he had strongly fortified; but it was upon the approach of the army quitted, wherein he (Cromwell) left another company of foot.” Authorities Consulted. MS. Ordnance Survey. Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” Grose, “Antiquities of Ireland.” Bagwell, “Ireland Under the Tudors.” Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.” Carew MSS. State Papers. Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.” Griffiths, “Chronicles of County Wexford.” Murphy, “Cromwell in Ireland.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. ARTANE CASTLE The name was originally Tartain, and is probably derived from Tortan, meaning a diminutive tor, being a small knoll or high turf-bank. The site of the former castle is situated on the southern border of the Barony of Coolock, in the County of Dublin, about three miles from the city. {16} {17} {18} {19} The Artane Industrial School now occupies the castle grounds, and the manor house is used as the residence of the Christian Brothers. Lewis states that this house was built of stones from the old castle, but, at any rate, the present dining-room is supported by beams taken from the fortress. A hen-run belonging to the school is now on the site of the former stronghold not far from the present house. The manor of Artane was acquired by the family of Hollywood, or “de Sacro Bosco,” in the fourteenth century, by Robert de Hollywood, one of the Remembrancers, and afterwards Baron of the Exchequer. In 1416 and 1420 the King committed the custody of the lands to Philip Charles and Richard FitzEustace during the minority of Robert Hollywood, the King’s ward, son of the late Christopher Hollywood. On the 27th of July, 1534, the rash Lord Offaly rose in rebellion, and threw the Sword of State on the Council table in Dublin, upon the rumour of his father, the Earl of Kildare, having been murdered in London. He left the presence of the assembly with armed men to muster fresh forces for the rising, and Dublin was at once seized with panic. John Allen, Archbishop of Dublin, was then in Dublin Castle, and having been as bitter and relentless a foe of the Geraldines as his patron Wolsey, he decided to fly when news of the outbreak reached him. He had with him a trusted servant named Bartholomew FitzGerald, who urged him to sail to England, and offered to pilot him across. The Archbishop seems to have had implicit faith in his follower, although a Geraldine, and it has never been actually proved that it was misplaced. The Prelate and his attendants embarked in the evening at Dames Gate, but owing, some say to adverse winds, and others to the design of the pilot, the little vessel stranded at Clontarf. The Archbishop at once made his way to the house of his late friend, Thomas Hollywood, at Artane, whose hospitality he had commemorated in his “Repertorium Viride.” At this time the wardship of the heir, Nicholas Hollywood, was in the hands of Richard Delahide and Thomas Howth. It seems hardly possible that the Lord Thomas FitzGerald could have heard of the mishap so quickly unless treachery had been employed. Be that as it may, he and a band of armed followers arrived at Artane in the early morning, being the 28th of July, and surrounded the castle while the Archbishop still slept. Among the party were the young Vice-Deputy’s uncles, Sir James and Oliver FitzGerald, James Delahide, and about forty men. He sent two Dublin yeomen, John Teeling and Nicholas Wafer, into the house to bring out the Archbishop. They dragged him out of bed, and brought him before the Lord Thomas “feeble for age and sickness, kneeling in his shirt and mantle, bequeathing his soul to God, his body to the traitor’s mercy.” He “besought him not to remember former injuries, but to consider his present calamity, and whatever malice he might bear to his person to respect his calling.” It seems that the “Silken Thomas” was touched by the appeal of his helpless foe, and turning his head aside, he said, “Beir naim an bodach,” meaning, “Take the churl away from me,” and, no doubt, as he afterwards said, he only intended them to imprison him. His followers, however, put a different interpretation upon his order, and immediately murdered the Archbishop, who was in the fifty-eighth year of his age. Some say he was dragged within the castle hall, and there put to death, while others say that the spot on which he was slain was hedged in and shunned as an unholy place for many years. Lord Thomas could not have been ignorant of what had occurred, as he sent Robert Reilly the same day to Maynooth with a casket which had belonged to the murdered prelate. Lord Offaly was excommunicated for the crime in St. Patrick’s Cathedral with great solemnity. Shortly after this Thomas Howth, alias St. Laurence, one of young Hollywood’s guardians, went to live at Artane. This Nicholas Hollywood also died while his son Christopher was a minor, and in 1570 the wardship and marriage of the boy was granted to John Bathe, of Drumcondra. In 1585 a Charles Hollywood is referred to as being of Tartaine. Nicholas Hollywood possessed the manor and lands of Artane in 1587. They contained one castle, six messuages, and one hundred and ninety acres of land held of the King, in capite by knight’s service. He died in 1629. During the rebellion of 1641 Lord Netterville’s son, Luke, possessed himself of the castle, and established a body of Royalist troops in the stronghold. He met with no opposition, as one of the Hollywood family named Christopher was a partisan, who afterwards sat in the Council of Confederate Catholics at Kilkenny. Nicholas Hollywood forfeited the estate at this time, and John Hollywood, one of the signers of the Roman Catholic Remonstrance, came into possession. In 1680 the King granted the estate for one thousand years to Sir Arthur Forbes, one of the Commissioners of the Court of Claims. Lewis says the old Castle was pulled down in 1825 by Mathew Boyle, Esq., who erected the present manor house with the material. He also says it belonged to the Callaghan family in 1837, while D’Alton states Lord Maryborough owned it in 1838. The Butler family resided there at a later date. A tomb of Elizabeth, daughter of John Talbot of Malahide, and wife of Christopher Hollywood, is in the old churchyard adjacent. She died in 1711, and her husband in 1718. Authorities Consulted. Marquis of Kildare, “The Earls of Kildare.” J. D’Alton, “History of County Dublin.” J. D’Alton, “Memoirs of the Archbishops of Dublin.” S. Lewis, “Topographical Dictionary of Ireland.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Fiants of Elizabeth. ATHLONE CASTLE The castle of Athlone is situated on the Connaught side of the river Shannon in the Barony of Athlone, County Roscommon, sixty miles west-by-north of Dublin. The name is derived from ath, “a ford,” and luain, “the moon,” and signifies “the ford of the moon,” to which it is supposed to have been dedicated in pagan times. Some gold lunettes and crescents found in a neighbouring bog seem to bear out the statement. The castle commands the bridge, and is built upon a spur of the hill upon which the town on the Connaught side is built. It is overlooked by the houses of the town, while on the river side it is supported by a great buttress of masonry. The entrance is on the road which leads from the bridge up to the town, and is by a modern drawbridge. The fortress consists of a strong curtain wall having circular towers mounted with cannon at irregular intervals. Most of them have been restored with fresh blue limestone. The Connaught tower, which stands isolated in the courtyard, is considered the oldest part of the fortress, and usually supposed to have formed the keep of the first Norman castle built in King John’s reign. It is decagonal in form, but owing to having been pebble-dashed and whitened of late years, it does not retain an appearance of antiquity. The English stronghold was erected on the site of an old Celtic fortress of the O’Connors. It is recorded that the castle and bridge of Athlone were built in 1129 by Turloch O’Connor, “in the summer of the drought.” The following year they were demolished by Murogh O’Mleghlin and Feirnan O’Rorke, and in 1153 the castle was burned. Between 1210 and 1213 the Norman fortress was erected by John de Grey, Bishop of Norwich, in his capacity of Lord Justiciary of Ireland. During its building a tower fell and killed Lord Richard Tuit, who founded the Cistercian Abbey of Granard, County Longford. Athlone Castle was built on abbey land, and in 1214 King John commanded Henry, Archbishop of Dublin, to give the monks a tenth of the expenses of the {20} {21} {22} {23} {24} castle in lieu of the land used, in accordance with the conditions agreed to by the Bishop of Norwich when he was fortifying it. After this there are several references in the State Documents to the tithes and other compensation due to the monks. In 1221 the King instituted a fair to be held at the castle. The fortress being situated on the border of Irish territory, its early history has an exceedingly stormy record. In 1226 Geoffrey de Marisco, who was then Justiciary of Ireland, complained that as the King of Connaught refused to come to Dublin, he had appointed to meet him at Athlone, although the castle was fortified against the Crown. In 1232 an order was issued to Hubert de Burgh to deliver the castle to Peter de Rivall, and the next year one to Richard de Burgh, who was to surrender it to Maurice FitzGerald, Justiciary of Ireland. Walter de Lacy received twenty marks for the custody of the fortress in 1240, and eleven years later a tax was levied for its repair. It was granted to Prince Edward, the King’s son, in 1254; and during the years 1276-77 it was repaired. Richard de Verdon was besieged in the castle in 1288 by Richard de Burgo, and the same year John, Archbishop of Dublin, took up residence there to oversee its better fortification, and to try and make terms with the Irish. In 1305 Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, was constable. The castle was “obtained” for the King in 1537, having been in the hands of the Irish for many years. It contained only one piece of broken ordnance, and there is a request that another piece should be sent. During Queen Elizabeth’s reign it was the residence of the President of Connaught, and also the Chief Justice and Attorney-General for Connaught. Tradition states that the Earl of Essex frequently stayed in the castle, and some of his letters to the Queen are dated from Athlone. The O’Conor Don was imprisoned in the fortress in 1570 while Sir E. Fitton was constable, as a hostage for the good behaviour of his sept. Some of his followers, however, brought a “cot” under the castle walls, into which the captive stepped, and so escaped. In 1585-86 it is described as being a fitter residence for the Chief Commissioner of Connaught than the Lord Deputy in the following words:—“That the castle is conveniently furnished with buildings and other necessaries fit for the said Commissioner, but far too mean for the Lord Deputy and the train that must follow the state.” It was ordered to be garrisoned in 1599, and the following year it was to be entrusted to none but a “sound Englishman.” In 1606 it was repaired and added to. Two years later it was seized by the Earls Tyrone and Tyrconnell. It passed again to the Crown, and the Earl of Clanricard was constable in 1610. Thirteen years later it was repaired, and a curious tax is mentioned with regard to the operations, which is, that the sept of Kellyes was bound to supply three hundred labourers yearly for work in the fortress. The Court of Claims sat in the castle during the Commonwealth. In 1682 Sir H. Piers writes of it:—“In the centre of the castle is a high raised tower which overlooketh the walls and country round about. On the side that faceth the river are rooms and apartments which served always for the habitation of the Lord President of Connaught and Governor of the castle, the middle castle being the storehouse for ammunition and warlike provisions of all sorts.” After the battle of the Boyne in 1690, Lieut.-General Douglas, with ten regiments of infantry, three of horse, two of dragoons, twelve field-pieces, and two small mortars, endeavoured to take possession of Athlone. The bridge across the Shannon was broken, and he erected his batteries on the Leinster side of the river. He continued the cannonading for eight days, but his powder running short he was obliged to retire. In his despatch he stated he had done his best, and that it was his opinion Athlone Castle was “of the greatest importance of any in Ireland.” Colonel Richard Grace held the fortress for King James. The following year the main division of William’s army, under de Genckell, laid siege to the town. At once seizing that portion of it that is in Leinster, he began to play his batteries on the north-east side of the castle on June 22nd. By seven in the evening he had made a large breach in the walls. Firing continued all night, and by five in the morning the side of the castle next the river was completely broken down, and the garrison was obliged to go in and out by a hole made in the wall on the western side. The following evening the castle garrison raised two batteries above the castle, and some others, but the firing had little effect. The bridge was slowly and surely gained by the besieging troops, and their guns played constantly on the fortress, wrecking the Connaught tower and walls. Two officers deserting from the town informed William’s troops that the best regiments had been withdrawn by St. Ruth, and thereupon a concerted and sudden attack was made on the 30th of June, which carried the bridge, castle, and town by storm. Repairs were at once begun by the victors on July 3rd, and in 1697 the castle was the chief depôt of military stores in the west. It is now used as a barrack, and officers’ quarters and other buildings have been erected inside the walls. Authorities Consulted. Weld, “Statistical Survey of Co. Roscommon.” Joly, “Old Bridge of Athlone.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. State Documents. State Papers. Carew MSS. O’Donovan, “Annals of the Four Masters.” D’Alton, “History of Drogheda.” Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. In Journal of same, Langrishe, “Walls of Athlone,” and “Sieges of Athlone.” BALLYMOTE CASTLE This fine old ruin is situated in the Barony of Corran, County Sligo, about twelve miles north-west of Boyle. The name signifies the “town of the moat,” and was not used before the building of the Norman fortress. Some think “mote” is derived from “mound,” but it is more likely to refer to the ditch which surrounded the castle until the close of the seventeenth century. The place was formerly called Athcliath-in-Chorainn, or “the hurdleford of Corran.” The castle fell to ruin after the rebellion of 1688. The curtain walls, which are 9 feet thick, were flanked by six round towers, one of them still being about 60 feet in height. The courtyard which was thus enclosed contained 150 square feet. A passage about 3 feet wide ran round in the thickness of the walls, and communicated with the towers and defences. The state-rooms were on the north side of the courtyard, and some of them were fine apartments. The Survey of 1633 calls this part “the Court.” A few traces of outworks remain. About twenty years ago the present Rector of Ballymote was told by an old man that an underground passage was locally supposed to lead from the castle to the abbey, a distance of about 200 yards. Upon further investigation Canon Walker discovered two arches, one in the vestry of the abbey and the other within the castle, apparently leading in the same direction. Both are now choked with rubbish. The entrance in the castle is exceedingly narrow, and was reached from the castle yard by descending steps. Ballymote was erected by Richard de Burgo, “the Red Earl,” in 1300. It was dismantled in 1318, and twenty-two years later it was in the possession of Turlough O’Conor, King of Connaught, who was besieged in it by MacDermot. Peace was afterwards concluded. {25} {26} {27} {28} {29} In 1346 it was restored and garrisoned by John de Kerrew. Two years later it is referred to as belonging to Rory O’Conor, and it was by that family entrusted to the MacDonoughs to hold against the Burkes. These MacDonoughs seized the castle of Ballylahan in 1381, and taking its gate to Ballymote, there erected it. In 1470 Brian MacDonough, who was lord of Ballymote, was slain by Teige MacDonough, who took possession of the castle. It was still in this family’s possession in 1522 when the famous parchment “Book of Ballimote” was sold by the MacDonough of the time to Hugh Oge O’Donnell for the large price of 140 milch cows, he having first obtained the consent of his family to the transaction. The MacDermots laid siege to the castle in 1561, and Cathal and Owen MacDermot were both slain before the walls. Five years later the castle was taken by the English and Hugh and Comac MacDonough imprisoned. Almost immediately, however, the fortress was surprised by Tomaltach and D...