Chapter C: O’Neill, “Antrim Castle.” (3)

“And because I was to pass by the Carricke, a house of my Lord of Ormond, where his lordship hath lain ever since his last weakness, I went thither to visit his lordship and to rest there upon Easter Day; but because the feast of St. George fell out in the Easter holidays, I was not suffered in any wise to depart until I had seen him do honour to that day. I found the Earl in his bed, for he was weaker at this time than he had been for many months before; so that upon the day of St. George he was not able to sit up, but had his robes laid upon his bed, as the manner is. From thence I returned to Dublin at the end of Easter week.”

Towards the end of his life, Earl Thomas was quite blind, and a quaint old MS., discovered at Brussels in 1822, gives a graphic account of a prophecy supposed to have been delivered by him at a Christmas family gathering in Carrick Castle shortly before his death, which took place in 1614.

Among those present at the feast were Sir Walter Butler, of Kilcash, brother to the Earl, and also his son and grandson, James. The latter was only four years old, and there being no room at the table, he was let play about, and “being a sprightly boy, entertained himself with a whipping of his gigg” (a kind of top) behind his great-uncle’s chair. Black Thomas asked what the noise was, and being told, he took the child (afterwards the great Duke of Ormond) between his knees and said:--

“My family shall be much oppressed and brought very low; but by this boy it shall be restored again, and in his time be in greater splendour than ever it has been.”

Viscount Tullogh, who was the Earl’s son-in-law and heir, pushed back his chair angrily from the table, and again the blind Earl asked who made the noise. Upon hearing, he said--

“Ah! he is a flower that will soon fade.”

Shortly afterwards the Viscount died without children, and later events proved the strange truth of the prophecy. A long law suit, manipulated for political purposes, impoverished the earldom, but it was brought to a satisfactory termination by James Butler of Kilcash marrying Lady Elizabeth Preston, the other claimant to the estates through her mother’s rights.

The young couple began their married life at Carrick, where Walter, Earl of Ormond, joined them, and died in the castle in 1632.

When civil war broke out in 1646, James, then Marquis of Ormond, was appointed Chief Governor and hastened from France. He landed at Cork, and proceeded to Carrick. Here a deputation from the Confederate Assembly of Kilkenny waited on him.

Three years later Cromwell’s troops, under Colonel Reynolds, took the town of Carrick, and about a hundred of the garrison fled to the castle, but surrendered the following day. It was well provisioned with stores, and Cromwell, it is said, intended to winter there. Ormond, hearing of its capture, despatched Lord Inchiquin to retake it. He was, however, repulsed with great loss.

In the time of the Commonwealth Carrick Castle, with its demesne, deer park, and 16,000 acres, were granted to Sir John Reynolds, brother-in-law to Lord Henry Cromwell. Upon the Restoration it reverted to its former owner, who was created Duke of Ormond. He spent much time at Carrick, and did a great deal to improve the trade of the town.

In 1816 Mr. Wogan was the tenant of the castle, and he carried out some restoration. After he left the place was dismantled, and for many years was allowed to go entirely to decay. It is now, however, better preserved.

In 1876, when the present Marquis married Lady Elizabeth Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster, a great feast for the Ormond tenantry was held in the castle.

The fairy “Leather Apron” is said formerly to have haunted the kitchen department and chastised servants who did not do their work.

A local legend foretells the fall of the fortress upon the wisest man. An underground passage is said to connect the building with Edenderry Castle.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Mason, “Parochial Survey of Ireland.”
Murphy, “Cromwell in Ireland.”
Bagwell, “Ireland Under the Tudors.”
State Papers.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
In Journal of _Kilkenny Archæological Society_,
“Panegyric on Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond.”
Graves, “Ancient Tapestry of Kilkenny Castle.”
Graves, “Anonymous account of the early life
and marriage of James, 1st Duke of Ormond.”
In _Journal of Waterford and South-East of Ireland
Archæological Society_, Hurley,
“Was Anna Boleyn born in the Castle of Carrick-on-Suir?”
In _Clonmel Chronicle_, “Carrick-on-Suir and its Ancient Castle.”

CARRIGOGUNNEL CASTLE

“A sort of strength, a strong and stately hold
It was at first, though now it is full old.
On rock alone full farre from other mount
It stands, which shews it was of great account.”
THOMAS CHURCHYARD.

This fortress, sometimes called Carrickaquicy, is situated five miles west-south-west of Limerick City, in the same county, in the barony of Pubble Brien. It stands on an abrupt basaltic rock which has forced itself through the limestone, and is surrounded by low marshy ground called Corkass land which stretches away to the Shannon.

O’Donovan states that the name signifies “rock of the O’Connolls,” but it is more popularly believed to mean “rock of the candle,” and several versions of the following legend are related to account for the designation:--

The site of the castle was formerly supposed to be inhabited by a hag of gigantic form called Grana, and every evening she lighted a candle in her habitation, which from its elevated position was visible for miles round, and every one who saw its light died before morning.

The great Finn hearing of this scourge ordered a man called Ryan to go and extinguish the light, and presented him with a charmed cap to accomplish the mission. This covered his eyes until he had scaled the rock, seized the candle, and thrown it into the Shannon.

The witch in a fury was about to grasp him when he took a jump of two miles westward, and she was only able

to vent her rage by hurling a rock after him, which is still pointed out with the marks of her fingers on it to indicate the “Hag’s Throw.”

The castle ruins comprise one or two towers and part of the ramparts. It was finally destroyed by gunpowder, and huge masses of masonry lie about in all directions, indicating its once extensive proportions.

A great ash-tree adorns the centre of the pile.

William de Braose had large estates in Ireland when he was driven into exile in 1210, his wife and son starved to death, and his Castle of Carrigogunnel granted to Donogh Cairbreach O’Brien for a yearly rent of 60 marks.

This O’Brien had done homage to King John at Waterford, but he seems to have been shortly afterwards deprived of his land.

In 1535 Lord Leonard Grey marched to Limerick and Mathew O’Brien surrendered him the Castle of Carrigogunnel on condition it should only be garrisoned by Englishmen. It was said at this time to have been in undisturbed possession of the O’Briens for over two hundred years.

The Deputy garrisoned it under the command of George Woodward, “an honest and a hardy man.”

In the meantime the fortress was given by indenture to Donough O’Brien to hold for the King. He was son-in-law to the Earl of Ossory, and had long been fawning on the Government with offers to besiege the castle for them, if provided with a hundred men and a piece of ordnance.

The governor of the castle, no doubt regarding this arrangement as a violation of the conditions on which the castle had been obtained, handed it back to its former owner, Mathew O’Brien, which the State Papers describe as losing it “by treachery.”

This was in 1536, and the same year Lord Butler appeared before it to regain it for his relative, Donough O’Brien.

It was garrisoned partly by followers of Desmond and partly by those of Mathew O’Brien.

A messenger was sent to them offering them their lives, but otherwise no quarter. They returned no answer, but imprisoned the bearer.

A breach was soon made with a battering piece, and after several attempts, the castle was carried by storm.

The besiegers lost thirty killed and wounded, while seventeen of the defenders were killed in the attack, and forty-six were afterwards put to death.

A few of the principal O’Briens were conveyed to Limerick, tried for high treason, and executed. Large ransoms were offered for these men but were refused.

The fortress was then committed to Lord Butler, and he transferred it to Donough O’Brien, who, it is stated, “became a scourge to the citizens of Limerick.”

James of Desmond besieged Carrigogunnel in 1538, and the following year great complaints were lodged about the plundering of the neighbouring country by the castle garrison.

Towards the close of the year these charges became so serious that Donough O’Brien was deprived of his possession.

The castle was in the hands of Brien Duff O’Brien, chieftain of Pobblebrien, in 1590, and is described as being very strong and “a most dangerous place if the enemy were seized thereof.”

Donough O’Brien is mentioned as of Carrigogunnel in 1607, yet Brien Duff O’Brien surrendered his possessions and the castle to the Queen and received a patent for the same. He was knighted, and died in 1615.

Daniel O’Brien forfeited the castle and lands for taking part in the rebellion of 1641. Charles II. granted Carrigogunnel and four plowlands to Michael Boyle, Lord Archbishop of Dublin.

In Thomas Dineley’s Journal he states that it belonged to His Royal Highness, and was at the time rented by the Primate and Chancellor of Ireland.

Archdale says that it at one time belonged to the Knights Templars.

In 1691, during the second siege of Limerick, after the battle of Aughrim, it was garrisoned by a Jacobite ward of a hundred and fifty men. Baron Ginle sent a strong party and four guns, under the command of Major-General Scravemore, to summon the castle, which was relinquished without a blow. An historian of the time, commenting upon this, says: “Which seems to have been rather from want of instructions what to do than courage to defend it; for, to give the Irish their due, they can defend stone walls very handsomely.”

The garrison were marched as prisoners of war to Clonmel, and the following month both the Castle of Carrigogunnel and Castle Connell were blown up. Dean Story received £160 to purchase gunpowder for their demolition.

During the Whiteboy disturbances frequent meetings were held amid the ruins.

Mr. and Mrs. Hall relate at length a sad tradition about the daughter of a Palatine who was in love with one of the conspirators, and whose father, having tracked her to the ruins, was only saved from being put to death by her lover, whom she shortly afterwards married against her parents’ wish.

Upon returning to bid farewell to them before going into exile with her husband, who was obliged to fly for his life, her father detained her. Her husband was unable to come openly to the house, and so she never saw him again, but gradually pined away, and died under the ash-tree growing among the castle ruins, where she used to meet him before their marriage. Since then her ghost is said to frequent the spot after nightfall.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

J. Frost, “The County of Clare.”
Croker, “Researches in the South of Ireland.”
Croker, “Fairy Legends.”
Ferrar, “History of Limerick.”
Lenihan, “History of Limerick.”
Bagwell, “Ireland under the Tudors.”
Hall, “Ireland.”
State Papers.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Shirley (with note by O’Brien), “Extracts
from the Journal of Thomas Dineley,”
in _Journal of Kilkenny Archæological Society_.

_CASTLE BARNARD_

“Where Castle Bernard sees with glad surprise,
At every wish successive beauties rise.”

The former name for this stronghold was Castle Mahon. It is situated on the River Bandon not far from the town. The present castle is said to occupy the site of the former royal rath of the O’Mahonys, Kings of Munster. It was called Rathleann, and the great Saint Fin Barr was born there. This was much anterior to the English invasion, although an inquisition held in 1584 states that the O’Mahonys came from Carbery in 1460, and seized the Crown lands, which had been forfeited by the Barry Oges in 1399.

They were, however, only returning to the country over which they had formerly ruled. The fortress is supposed to have been built by an O’Mahony.

Francis Bernard, who succeeded to the estate in 1660, threw down the ancient bawn walls, and enlarged the windows. His son, Judge Bernard, rebuilt the castle after it came into his possession in 1690.

A new brick front was added on the river side, the bricks having been made in the neighbourhood.

He was succeeded by his son Francis (usually known as Squire Bernard) in 1731, who added an eastern front to the fortress, and planted the great beech avenue. Smith, who collected his information in 1749, describes the castle as having two regular fronts of brick, with Corinthian pilasters and coignes and beltings of Portland stone.

In 1788 Francis Bernard, afterwards the 1st Earl of Bandon, pulled down the two fronts which had been added by his predecessors, and connected the old castle by a corridor (some 90 feet in length) with a mansion he erected a little to the east of the stronghold. This new part has large rooms, the library being a very handsome oval apartment.

This forms the present beautiful country seat of the Earl of Bandon. It is situated in a park about four miles in circumference, through which the Bandon River flows.

The O’Mahonys were not a powerful sept: their regular field force only numbered twenty-six horse, no gallow-glasses, and a hundred and twenty kern.

In 1575 the O’Mahony paid his respects to Sir Henry Sidney during his visit to Cork, of whom Sir Henry writes that he was “a man of small force although a proper countrie.”

Conoher O’Mahony, of Castle Mahon, threw in his lot with the Earl of Desmond during his rebellion, in which rising he was killed at the age of twenty-three.

In 1587, an inquisition held at Cork found that Conohor O’Mahownye, late of Castle Mahown, entered into rebellion with Gerald, late Earl of Desmond, and was slain therein and that he was seized of Castle Mahown and of the barony or cantred of Kineallineaky.

The following year the castle and lands were conferred by patent on Phane Beecher, son of Alderman Henry Beecher, of London.

Mr. William Weever, in his “discourse” on the Munster rebellion of 1598, records that Mr. Beecher deserted Castle Mahon during the rising.

In 1611 it seems the grant to Phane Beecher was confirmed.

The first Bernard to settle in Ireland during Elizabeth’s reign had a son Francis, who was lord of the manor of Castle Mahon, where he lived before the rebellion in 1641. He had one son, Francis, who was in possession of the castle in 1690 when Bandon was surprised and taken by Colonel M’Carthy’s men. After the town had fallen into their hands they proceeded to Castle Mahon and demanded the fortress and its stores to be given up to King James, and the garrison to surrender as prisoners.

Mr. Bernard had served many years with the Bandon Militia, and had been rewarded with a grant of land from Cromwell for military service, so that he was not likely to surrender without a struggle when the trumpeter appeared on the esplanade in front of the castle.

He had gathered his retainers and the neighbouring farmers into the stronghold, and flew the red flag from King John’s Tower.

Having received a negative to their demand, the besiegers attempted to batter in the great gate, but a discharge of musketry killing some of their number they desisted. They shook the windows and doors to try and effect an entrance.

A line of sentries were posted in front of the castle with orders to shoot any one who appeared at the windows, but the deadly fire of the besieged killed them nearly all.

Seeing that their numbers were rapidly thinning they sought cover from the out-houses in the rear, and from there they carried on an ineffectual fusilade for some time.

Finding, however, this was of no avail they retreated to the river, crossing by the ford. A pike blade and some swords of this date were recently found in a pond which lay in their route.

The brave garrison had many killed and wounded, Mr. Bernard being among those who lost their lives.

The dead Irish were collected and covered with straw in a stable until the next day, when they were buried in a disused graveyard at Killountain.

Judge Bernard succeeded his father, having been born in the castle in 1663. He changed the name from Castle Mahon to Castle Barnard.

His son, “Squire Bernard,” did much for the neighbourhood until a dispute with the townspeople about trees caused him to go and live in England.

In 1760 a sad accident took place which led to the death of little Robert Bernard, one of the sons of the house. He had climbed to the top of King John’s Tower, and as the bats and swallows flew in and out he tried to strike them with his battledore, but overbalancing, he stepped back to recover himself and fell through the trapdoor which gives egress to the summit. He died of the injuries received.

Francis Bernard was created Earl of Bandon in 1800, and Castle Barnard is still the principal residence of the Earls of Bandon.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

G. Bennett, “History of Bandon.”
C. Smith, “County and City of Cork.”
Calendar of State Papers.
Calendar of Carew MSS.

_CASTLE BORO_

Lord Carew’s demesne of about a thousand acres is situated in the townland of Ballyboro, six miles west-south-west of Enniscorthy, and is bisected by the River Boro. The ancient name for this stream was Bel-atha-Borumha, and was derived from the Borumha, or cow tribute, which the Kings of Leinster had to pay to the High Kings of Ireland.

To the south-east of Castle Boro mansion, on the other side of the river, is the ivy-clad ruin, formerly known as Ballyboro Castle. It now stands in the farmyard, and is 42 feet long by 27 feet wide when measured from the outside. Two gables are still to be seen, and the windows are built of brick.

Local tradition states that it was formerly the residence of Brien Boroimhe, but the site is all that could possibly have belonged to a dwelling of his.

About the year 1628 Robert Carew, younger son of Carew of Haccombe in Devonshire, obtained through his kinsman, Sir George Carew, afterwards Earl of Totnes, a grant of lands in the County Wexford, which had formerly belonged to the Desmonds. Charles II. confirmed the grant in 1663 to his son. This Carew is generally supposed to have built the now ruined castle, which was occupied by the family until near the close of the eighteenth century. By others, however, the date of architecture is considered to be that of the beginning of the seventeenth century, and the castle believed to have been the residence of “James Hoar of Bellaborow, constable of the Barony of Bantry” in 1608, who is mentioned thus in the Carew MSS.

When James II. was fleeing to Duncannon, after the battle of the Boyne, he stopped to water and rest his horses at the ford of Aughnacopple, near the castle. The Carew of that time sent provisions to the fugitives, and the pair of gold sleeve links given by the fallen monarch as a mark of his gratitude are still preserved as an heirloom at Castle Boro. There is some doubt as to whether they were presented at the river bank or sent later from Duncannon.

Towards the close of the eighteenth century the head of the family wished to have a more modern house than the old fortress, but not deeming it worth while to go to the expense unless he had a son to succeed him, he delayed the commencement of the work until the very day when his son and heir was born.

The insurgents of 1798 attacked the residence, and a picture hangs in the hall of Castle Boro which has holes in it that were made by the rebels’ pikes.

Mr. Robert Carew was raised to the peerage in 1834, and in 1840, during the absence of the family, the newly-erected house was burned down, the fire having originated in a chimney. The west wing containing the library was the only portion saved.

Building operations were at once commenced under the direction of Mr. Robertson. The present mansion is in Classic style, having a centre block four storeys in height with wings at either side of a storey less. The drawing-rooms are especially handsome apartments, and are being decorated by the present Lady Carew with embroidered panels of Early English design.

In the gardens are a number of trees which have been planted by distinguished visitors, amongst whom were the late Duke of Clarence, the present Prince of Wales, the Duke of Aosta, the Count of Turin, the Earl of Halsbury and the late Sir H. M. Stanley.

A very handsome granite gateway gives access to the grounds.

The present Lord Carew is the 3rd Baron.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

W. Flood, “History of Enniscorthy.”
MS. Ordnance Survey of Ireland.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Joyce, “Irish Place Names.”

_CASTLE DONOVAN_

This stronghold is situated in a wild romantic district among the mountains, to the north of the village of Drimoleague in the eastern division of West Carbery, about seven miles east of Bantry, County Cork.

Above it rises the hill of Mulraugh-Nesha. The country round is destitute of trees, and from its elevated position the castle is visible from a wide area.

The fortress consists of a tall, square keep with crenelated battlements and defences projecting from the angles. It is built on a rock, the rough surface of which forms the floor of the lower room in the castle.

There seems to have been no attempt to make the ground even, as great indentations, nearly two feet in depth, extend the whole length of the apartment.

The first floor is supported by a vault, and this state apartment measures about 26 feet by 20. The windows and loops are exceedingly small, the former being surrounded by label mouldings well cut in the dark freestone.

A spiral stair leads to the hall above the vault, and this is open to the heavens, but the high-pitched gables of the roof still remain. Great cracks in the masonry run down the centre and through the south-west angle.

It belongs to the earliest type of castle which succeeded the peel tower. The outworks, of which little remain but the foundations, are situated close to the keep.

The O’Donovans were descended from a long line of Munster kings. Cahill, the son of Donovan, was killed in 1254, and from him the district round the stronghold took its name, and also the clan of which he was chief.

It is likely that he erected the fortress.

James I. granted the castle (then called Sowagh) to Donell O’Donovan, of Castle Donovan, Gent., and with it a large tract of country, part of which was created the manor of Castle Donovan, with 500 acres of demesne.

Donell O’Donovan died in 1639, and his son forfeited the estate in the rebellion of 1641.

Tradition states that the castle was reduced by Ireton during the Parliamentary wars.

Charles II. bestowed the lands of Castle Donovan by letters patent on Lieutenant Nathaniel Evanson in 1679.

There is a legend regarding a mysterious drip of water which apparently comes from the upper masonry of the tower, and which it is said will continue as long as there is an heir to the chieftainship of O’Donovan.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

J. Windele, “Notices of City of Cork.”
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
“Rides through the County Cork” (_Dublin Penny Journal_), 1828.

_CASTLE KEVIN, COUNTY CORK_

This name was formerly written Castle Kiffin, and the fortress is situated between Doneraile and the Blackwater in the County Cork.

The castle has been much altered and modernised since its first erection. It contains thirty-two rooms, though some of them are exceedingly small. There are 365 windows, one, therefore, for every day in the year. The hall of black and white marble is L shaped and much worn by age. From this a very handsome oak staircase leads to the first landing, which is lighted by a beautiful old stained-glass window upon which the Thornhill arms are emblazoned.

During repairs in 1810 a number of skeletons were discovered under the steps. They were supposed to be those of soldiers, and beside one a gold piece of James II. and a number of copper coins of various dates were found. These are now in the possession of Colonel Badham-Thornhill.

During a siege, of which the fortress stood many, the water supply was a serious inconvenience. Not only was the well some distance from the castle, but it was apt to run dry when largely drawn upon. It is situated in the limestone rock at a great depth, and when being cleaned in 1825 the key of the portcullis was found at the bottom and carefully preserved by E. Badham-Thornhill, who was then owner.

The castle originally belonged to the O’Keeffs, from which, no doubt, the name is derived. Their territory being seized, was given to the Anglo-Norman family of de Rupe, or Roche, and in 1583 David and Maurice Fitz John Roch are mentioned as of Castlekevin.

Cromwell’s troops besieged and took the castle for the Commonwealth, tradition stating that the soldiers placed the late owner’s head on a lance over the “Bell Gate,” near the present stables.

The castle was then granted to Sir Richard Thornhill, who also possessed considerable property in the neighbourhood by purchase, so that the estate was about 10,000 acres in extent in the counties of Cork and Limerick.

The Thornhills occupied the castle until 1853, when it was sold in the Encumbered Estates Court, and the building was purchased by Mr. E. Reeves.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

C. Smith, “County and City of Cork.”
Fiants of Elizabeth.
Colonel Badham-Thornhill MS.

_CASTLE KEVIN, COUNTY WICKLOW_

“The halls where mirth and minstrelsy
Than Fertire’s winds rose louder,
Were flung in masses lonely,
And black with English powder.”

In 1216 King Henry III. granted the manor of Swords with increased privileges to Henry de Loundres, Archbishop of Dublin, on condition that he should build and maintain a castle on his manor of Castle Kevin. Nearly two centuries later, Swords was seized by the Commissioner of Forfeitures on the plea that this had not been done, but it was afterwards returned to the Archbishop of the time as having been unjustly taken.

The fortress was intended for protection in this direction against the invasions of the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles. The site was some three and a half miles north-east of Glendalough, the ancient cathedral city of that diocese. Its natural defences were the bog, on the edge of which it stood, and thick woods that stretched almost from Dublin to Glendalough. Quite close to it ran a stream, which joined the Avonmore about a quarter of a mile lower down, near the present village of Annamoe.

It appears to have been a square building, flanked by towers at each corner. The foundations, which still remain, measure some 120 feet each way. They are elevated about 20 feet, and are now covered with grass.

The castle was built of rubble stone and excellent mortar, which is shown by the huge blocks of the walls which still lie round the foundations.

The Archbishops held courts and exercised jurisdiction here through their officers, and had their own gallows.

In 1277-78 the Treasurer’s account for the year contains £60 to John de Saunford for the custody of the new castle of Mackinegan and Castle Keyvin. The stronghold was often used by the Archbishops as a hunting-lodge, the woods around being well stocked with deer. It was also strongly garrisoned.

At the beginning of the next century (1308) the Viceroy Wogan marched against the O’Tooles, but was defeated with the loss of several knights. Castle Kevin was captured and the garrison killed, while the towns near were sacked and plundered.

Later Piers de Gaveston successfully subdued the rising, and made a thanksgiving offering at the Church of St. Kevin, Glendalough. The following year he built New Castle in the O’Byrnes’ country and repaired Castle Kevin, at the same time cutting a pass through the woods, from it to Glendalough.

Thirty years later Alexander de Bickner received royal orders to repair his fortifications at Castle Kevin, so that at this time it was still connected with the See of Dublin, but it subsequently passed into royal keeping.

It appears that Henry VIII. by letters patent “made grants to Arte O’Toole and heirs the manor of Castle Kevin and the Farrtree” (hence Vartry) “on conditions they used the English habit, language, education, hostings, aidings, and the like, and that he should keep Castle Kevin in repair as a bulwark against the rebels.”

Phelim O’Toole was the representative of the family in 1591 when Hugh Roe O’Donnell escaped from one of the gate towers of Dublin Castle, where he had been confined as a hostage for over three years.

O’Toole having visited him in prison, as a friend, during this time, he naturally thought he was safe in seeking shelter at Castle Kevin.

Phelim’s loyalty was not, however, above suspicion, and he was divided between his wish to help the young fugitive and fear for his own head. In this difficulty a woman’s wit apparently solved the problem. His sister Rose, wife to the great O’Byrne of Ballinacor, was at Castle Kevin at the time, and she advised him to send a slow messenger to Dublin advising the Lord Deputy of O’Donnell’s arrival, and a fast messenger to her husband in Glenmalure (who was in a state of open rebellion), telling him to come and carry off Hugh before the Government officials arrived.

Phelim followed the advice given, but the “wine-dark” Avonmore becoming flooded the party of rescuers, at once despatched by O’Byrne, could not cross the river, and the King’s men arrived first upon the scene. Whereupon Hugh O’Donnell was escorted back to Dublin, and was confined in the Wardrobe Tower in irons, from which, however, he escaped the following year.

Captain Charles Montague, writing to the Lord Deputy in 1596, states that Feagh M’Hugh O’Byrne had threatened to besiege the castle with three hundred men, and that he had provisioned it for a month. The same year a ward was placed in it during the rebellion, while in 1599 a commander was appointed to the forts of Rathdrome, Castlekeavyn, and Wicklowe, at ten shillings a day.

No doubt the O’Tooles were implicated in the rebellion referred to, for in 1609 we find John Wakeman, who had received the confiscated estate of the O’Tooles, selling Castle Kevin back to Luke (or Feogh) O’Toole. In the deed recording the transaction it is remarked that the castle for some years past “hath been waste and in utter decay.”

An inquisition of 1636 found that the son of Arte O’Toole, to whom the lands were first granted, had gone into rebellion and died, and that his son Feogh O’Toole who represented the family at the time of the inquiry, had bought back Castle Kevin from the man to whom it had been granted after the confiscation of the O’Toole property. Castle Kevin had at this time been uncovered for thirty years, and this was deemed sufficient for forfeiture, as it had been granted on condition that it should be kept in repair.

Accordingly in July of the same year an ordinance was issued by the King taking possession. The castle and lands were then granted to Sir John Coke, Knight, Secretary of State. Dr. Alane Cooke, writing to him from Dublin in August describing his new property, says:--“Castle Kevin, the town where the castle doth stand; this hath a goodly wood, but no great timber and very fine young oaks;” and again:--“Castle Kevin is the fittest place to build the manor, because of the strength. The bawn is very good, very near 20 feet high. All the castle is down and the bounds are very nearly 50 yards square, a fine small river running at the foot of the castle.”

The grant of land consisted of 15,441 acres of all sorts, English measure, 12 miles from Dublin, with a castle called Kevin, and a fine river full of salmon and trout.

It does not appear, however, that Luke O’Toole was easily dislodged, and when Oliver Cromwell left Dublin to march to Wexford in 1649 he proved a source of constant annoyance to the troops. At this time he was encamped at Glenmalure with his four sons, one of whom managed to seize Cromwell’s favourite steed. Its owner offered £100 to Luke for its return, “but for gold or silver he would not give him back, but preferred to keep him as a monument.”

It is said that in revenge for this Cromwell ordered his cannon to level Castle Kevin. Local tradition supports this statement by pointing out a furze-covered rath from which the castle is supposed to have been shelled by Ludlow, while the blocks of adhering masonry round the foundations are unlike the crumbling of age alone.

Against this it is remarked that Castle Kevin does not appear in the list of Leinster castles reduced by Cromwell. This, however, might be accounted for from the fact that (as it appears) only a part of the castle walls were standing at the time, and that its final destruction had no strategical value, but was merely private revenge for the theft of a horse, and so was not recorded.

Luke O’Toole was afterwards captured and executed.

The land upon which the remains of the castle stand is now in the possession of the Rev. Charles Frizell, who also owns the modern manor house of Castle Kevin, some quarter of a mile distant, on a hill above the ancient building.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

D’Alton, “Archbishops of Dublin.”
O’Toole, “Clan of O’Toole.”
State Papers.
Carew MSS.
Murphy, “Cromwell in Ireland.”
O’Clery, “Hugh Roe O’Donnell.” Introduction by Murphy.
Gilbert, “History of the Viceroys.”
Stokes, “Anglo-Norman Church.”
Reeves, Pamphlet on Swords.
Rev. W. Stokes, Pamphlet on Derrylossory.

_CASTLE SALEM_

Benduff, signifying the black peak or gable, was the former name of this fortress, which was built on a rock in the centre of a small valley about a mile north-west of Ross, in East Carbery, Co. Cork.

The present ruins consist of the castle and a more modern dwelling-house, which was added to the back of the fortress and communicated with it by the ancient doorway of the keep, about 12 feet from the ground, and which gave access to the first landing of the more modern staircase. The castle had three arches, the walls being 11 feet thick, and containing passages and recesses. A stone stair led to the summit, which originally was reached at about 70 feet from the ground.

When in possession of the Morris family the old covering was replaced by a slated roof, the material for which was, no doubt, procured at the neighbouring slate quarry.

The situation is so enclosed by the surrounding hills that figs grew plentifully here in former days. The pleasure grounds were at one time laid out in the Dutch style; yew, beech, and laurel grew to great perfection, and in a grove of the latter a rookery was established. The remains of a deer-park wall are still to be seen.

The fortress is generally supposed to have been erected by the O’Donovans, but it is also ascribed to the Lady Catherine Fitzgerald, daughter of Thomas, 8th Earl of Desmond, and sister-in-law to the long-lived Countess. This would place its building at the later end of the fifteenth century. There are various legends told about “the black lady” in connection with Benduff, and they may refer to the above Geraldine.

Later the castle belonged to the M’Carthys, and at the time of the Commonwealth confiscation it was in the possession of one Florence M’Carty.

The estate was granted to Major Apollo Morris, an officer in Cromwell’s army, during the seventeenth century, and upon the restoration of Charles II. he retained his lands through the interest of the King’s secretary, to whom he was related.

The grant was preserved in the castle until the middle of the nineteenth century, when Mr. William Morris sent it to a Cork bookseller for publication, and it was lost through the failure of the firm.

Major Morris was succeeded by William Morris, who was an intimate friend of the great William Penn.

On the right-hand side of the avenue is an old Quaker burial-ground, which was established by him, and to which “Friends’” funerals came from all parts of Cork. He was himself interred there, but against all the rules of the order a tomb was erected to his memory, which may still be seen, and after that the Quakers ceased to bring their dead to Benduff for interment.

The property passed from the possession of the Morris family into that of the Fitzgibbons.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

D. Donovan, “Sketches in Carbery.”
Smith, “County and City of Cork.”
Townsend, “Statistical Survey of the County of Cork.”
Book of Survey and Distribution.

_CLOGHAN CASTLE_

This fortress is situated between the Shannon and Little Brosna River, on the banks of the latter, about three miles south of Banagher, in the King’s County. This part of the country was formerly joined to Galway.

Joyce gives the meaning of the name Cloghan as “stepping stones,” but Cooke states that the full appellation is Cloghan-na-geaorach, or “the stony place of the sheep,” Cloghan Hill being still famous for rearing these animals.

When a tennis-court was being made some years back a number of human bones and cannon shot were found, while inside the castle a hand was discovered in the wall covered by the plaster.

The castle is supposed to have been built in the reign of King John and to be one of the oldest inhabited castles in Ireland.

In 1249 we have a mention of “MacCoghlan of the castles” of which Cloghan was one, but it subsequently passed to the O’Maddens. The fortress was usually called “Cloghan O’Madden,” but on Sir William Petty’s map it is marked “Poghan.”

It was destroyed in 1548 for fear it might fall into the hands of the English, but it must have been afterwards restored, as in 1595 Sir William Russell, Lord Deputy, laid siege to it. A quaint account of the taking of the castle is given in a journal of the time which is, no doubt, accurate in the main.

It appears O’Madden was absent “in rebellion,” but he had garrisoned the castle with his chief men.

The Lord Deputy arrived on Thursday, 11th of March, and upon his approach the garrison set alight three of their houses near the castle, and opened fire on the troops, wounding two soldiers and a boy.

When surrender was demanded they replied to Captain Lea that even if every soldier was a Deputy they would hold out.

Captain Izod was detailed to see none of them escaped by the bog. Sir William visited the watch at midnight, and hearing there were women in the castle sent the garrison word that he would begin the attack next morning with fire and sword, and told them to send the women away, but they refused.

In the morning one of the soldiers threw a fire brand on the thatched roof of the castle, which set it alight, and at the same time a bonfire was lighted at the door, which smothered many of the inmates. A breach was soon made in the walls, and those who had not been suffocated were hurled over the battlements.

Forty-six persons were killed, two women and a boy being alone saved by the Deputy’s command. Most of the garrison were O’Maddens, but a Captain M’Coleghan and his two sons were also amongst the slain.

Some accounts give the number executed as 140.

The O’Madden’s territory was forfeited after the rebellion of 1641, and in 1683 Cloghan was granted to Garrett Moore, who claimed to be descended from Rory Oge O’Moore, Chief of Leix.

His almanac, or diary, was found in the castle, dated 1699. It contains entries of lead got for repairing the fortress. It also records methods of making expanding bullets and noiseless powder, as well as other strange information.

After the battle of Aughrim troops from Birr took possession of the castle, and it was garrisoned under the command of Lieutenant Archibald Armstrong.

In the middle of last century it was purchased by Dr. Graves, and is at present in the possession of his descendant, Robert Kennedy Crogan Graves, Esq.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Donovan, “Annals of the Four Masters.”
Cooke, “History of Birr.”
J. Wright, “King’s County Directory.”
Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.”
Proceedings of Kilkenny Archæological Society.

_CROM CASTLE_

This castle is situated in the parish of Galloon, Barony of Coole, County Fermanagh. It stands on the east bank of Lough Erne, about sixteen miles from Enniskillen.

The name Crom, or Crum, signifies “sloping” or “crooked.”

The remains of the chief walls form a square of about 50 feet, which does not coincide with the measurements given in several inquisitions. Some of the stones have evidently been carried off for building purposes since the building was burnt in 1764.

The position of the castle was commanded by wooded hills, and it is built so near the shore that the waves dash against it in winter time. It seems to have had no outer ring of defences, and it is therefore even more wonderful how it should have been successfully defended in two sieges.

The marks of the cannonading are now covered by a heavy growth of ivy.

Michael Balfour, laird of Mountwhany in Fifeshire, began to erect the fortress in 1611, when granted the manor of Crum, under the plantation scheme of Ulster.

In 1616 he sold the property to Sir Stephen Butler, and in 1619 Nicholas Pynnar describes Crum as follows: “Upon this proportion there is a bawne of lime and stone, being 60 feet square, 12 feet high with two flankers. Within the bawne there is a house of lime and stone.”

The Rev. George Hill states that the castle was built by Butler and Balfour at great expense, so it is likely to have been added to after it changed hands.

In 1629 another inquisition describes it as “One bawne of stone and lime, containing 61 feet every way and 15 feet in height; and within the same is one castle, or capital messuage, built in like manner of lime and stone containing 22 feet each way.”

Crum was leased to Dr. James Spottiswood, Bishop of Clogher, in 1624.

It must for a short time after this have been possessed by the M’Manuses, who offered it for sale at £100 and 100 cows. Among the State Papers of 1646 is preserved Sir William Cole’s petition to the Commissioners to be advanced £160, so that he might become the purchaser. He promises to return the money if unsuccessful, and says it is the only hold the rebels have in the country and “a place of good strength.” The money appears to have been sent.

We find, however, in 1645, that it is mentioned in Bishop Spottiswood’s will, and through his daughter marrying Colonel Abraham Creichton the leasehold passed to that family.

It was afterwards converted into a perpetuity, subject to a small head rent, which was bought out by the Earl of Erne in 1810 from Brinsley, 4th Earl of Lanesborough, a descendant of Francis Butler.

In the struggle for the Crown between James and William, Crum was twice unsuccessfully besieged.

It was a place of considerable importance, as it commanded the waterway between Enniskillen and Belturbet.

The first attempt was made in March, 1689.

Colonel Abraham Creichton, although an old man, had fortified the castle and garrisoned it with his tenants and retainers. Lord Galmoy arrived at Belturbet with a considerable force belonging to King James’s army, but found the roads so boggy as to be impassable for cannon. He therefore decided to make some mock guns by which to frighten the garrison into submission.

They were manufactured out of tin, measured about a yard long and 8 inches in the bore. They were bound together with fine cord twisted round them, and the whole covered with a kind of buckram to represent the colour of a real cannon.

To this sham artillery sixteen horses were harnessed and they were brought to Crum with a great show of difficulty and much apparent urging of the animals.

As soon as they were within ordinary range of the fortress Lord Galmoy demanded its surrender, and upon being refused he tried to fire one of his fraudulent guns with a wooden bullet, but it burst and nearly killed the gunner.

He then began a systematic siege and sent messengers to Enniskillen to demand that garrison’s surrender too.

The governor of the town at once despatched two hundred firelocks to relieve the castle of Crum. Some were sent by water and some by land during the night, but daylight had arrived before they reached their destination.

The besiegers opposed their landing, but nevertheless they forced their way into the castle with the loss of only one boatman, while Lord Galmoy’s party lost several.

A sally was at once made from the fortress, and the besiegers were driven from their trenches with a loss of thirty or forty men, and the garrison captured the mock guns and took two suits of armour and several other valuable things.

Lord Galmoy then retreated to Belturbet.

Colonel Creichton’s son David, then a lad of eighteen, greatly distinguished himself during the conflict.

Although the castle was unprovided with cannon, great execution was done by the long fowling-pieces generally used for wild fowl on the lake.

Lord Galmoy was standing on a hill about an English mile distant from the castle, with a glass of wine in his hand, which he was about to drink to the confusion of the garrison, when a fowler from the fortress shattered the glass he was raising and killed the man beside him.

At this time a Captain MacGuire was prisoner at Crum, and Lord Galmoy proposed to Colonel Creichton to exchange Captain Dixey for him. This was agreed to, but when MacGuire was sent, Lord Galmoy, instead of returning Dixey, had him hanged with a cornet named Charleton.

Captain MacGuire was so disgusted with the treachery that he returned to Crum and threw up his commission in James’s army.

Lord Galmoy also enticed Colonel Creichton to a parley, and would have put him to death, too, had not Lord Mountcashel rescued the old man and conducted him safely back to his castle.

The following year Crum was again besieged, and Colonel Creichton sent an urgent message to Enniskillen to say that the besiegers had brought cannon with them. The next day he sent another message saying that Lieutenant-General MacCarthy had begun to batter the fortress.

This was Monday, and Colonel Wolseley returned answer that they should be relieved on Wednesday, and in the meantime he despatched orders for reinforcements to Ballyshannon.

A strong detachment set out, therefore, from Enniskillen to the castle’s relief, but upon their approach the enemy withdrew to Newtownbutler, where a great engagement was fought that shattered the cause of James II. in the north of Ireland. The garrison of Crum Castle greatly distinguished themselves in this engagement.

The David Creichton, who was eighteen at the time of the siege, finally succeeded his nephew in the estate. He left an only son, who was created Lord Erne, and it was in his lifetime that the castle was burnt.

A letter from Lord Shannon, dated September 1, 1764, is still in the family’s possession, in which he condoles with his kinsman for the destruction of his castle. “Unhappy indeed to be consumed by a few accidental sparks of fire when it had so bravely withstood the firing of 6,000 men so many years ago.”

To the south of the fortress along the side of the lake lay the castle gardens, in the centre of which still grows a magnificent yew-tree, under which tradition records an O’Neill and his lady-love parted in the reign of Oueen Elizabeth upon the former being attainted for high treason.

Henry, however, writing in 1739, says it was only planted about seventy years previously. It is 25 feet in height, while the trunk is 12 feet in girth. The circumference of the branches is 120 feet.

It was the custom for many years for sportsmen on the lake to fire a salute when passing the ruined fortress, which produced a most wonderful echo, as if the shot had been answered by a volley.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

The Earl of Erne, “Crom Castle” in _Ulster Journal of Archæology_.
King, “Henry’s Upper Lough Erne in 1739.”
Latimer, “Actions of the Enniskillen Men.”
Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.”
State Papers.
Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries.

_DOE CASTLE_

This fortress is situated at the extremity of a small Donegal bay called Sheephaven, in the Barony of Kilmacrenan, about a mile east of Creeslough. It was the chief stronghold of the MacSweenys, and derives its name from MacSweeny Doe or MacSweeny “of the districts.”

The castle is built on a projecting rock, surrounded by the waters of the inlet upon the north, east, and south, while on the west its entrance was guarded by drawbridge and portcullis, as well as a fosse filled with sea-water.

A modern house is attached to the old fortress, which has a rectangular tower, and a circular donjon used as a dairy in modern times.

M’Parland, writing in 1802, in his statistical survey, records that the castle was fortified with a strong tower by the grandfather of the then MacSweeny of Dunfanaghy.

There seems to be no record of the erection of the fortress, and different authorities ascribe its building to various persons. Manus Oge says Doe was erected by Nachton O’Donnell for one of his seven sons at the same time that the castles of Burt, Inch, and Ramelton were built, while M’Parland accredits a lady named Quinn with its erection, who married a M’Swine, shortly before Elizabeth came to the throne.

Dr. Allman believes it dates from about the beginning of Henry VIII.’s reign, and tradition states that Doe passed to the MacSweenys in the fifteenth century, when a peace was concluded between O’Neill and O’Donnell in 1440.

Red Hugh O’Donnell lived at Doe Castle with his foster father, Owen Oge MacSweeny, and it was while in his care that he was kidnapped at Rathmullen by Sir John Perrott in 1588.

Sir Hugh MacSwine na Oge, surnamed the Red, was one of Queen Elizabeth’s chief favourites, and a polished courtier. Very different, however, was the last of the MacSwines who occupied Doe Castle. This was Sir Miles MacSweeny of the Club, who was knighted by Oueen Elizabeth, and about whom tales of great brutality are recorded.

He was called “of the club” from his bludgeoning the better classes of his clan to death with his own hand if they offended him, while the poorer ones he consigned to a retainer called Furey and his satellites to hang from the castle walls.

A legend is told of how his beautiful daughter, Eileen, fell in love with Turlogh Oge, son of The O’Boyle, against her father’s wish. The lovers used to meet on the beach and in the woods near the castle. Her father discovered their trysts and confined her to the fortress under the care of a worthy matron. The young people were thus reduced to signalling to each other--the maiden from the battlements, and her lover from his canoe in the bay. This became known to The MacSweeny, and with two boats of armed men he waylaid the young man and a few retainers on their way back from Lackagh, and brought them prisoners to the castle.

Here he starved them to death, and as the bodies were being carried to the graveyard the fair Eileen saw and recognised her lover. She never recovered the shock and grief, and not long afterwards she was found dead on the top of one of the castle towers.

Fishermen say that the spirits of the ill-fated pair haunt the bay, and by moonlight a phantom skiff may sometimes be seen skimming the waters containing the two ghostly lovers.

The castle was included in a grant of lands made by James I. to the Earl of Tyrconnell.

In 1607 it was seized by Caffer O’Donnell and Neale M’Swine with some followers. These young discontents alleged as their reason an old grievance against the Earl, who was given authority by the Lord Deputy and Council to march against them.

Accordingly Sir Richard Handson, the Earl, and Sir Neale O’Donnell arrived before the stronghold, when some of the offenders submitted, and some were taken and hanged. Sir Neale O’Donnell was badly hurt in the fray.