Part 10

They next tried to drive in the door with sledges, and these failing they set it on fire, but they had to undermine the wall in the neighbourhood before the fire became sufficient to make the door yield.

They rushed into the lower room, and the enemy fled to the top of the castle above the vault.

The attacking party then loaded themselves with corn and oatmeal which was stored in the lower chambers, and having provided themselves with plunder they set fire to the wooden floors of the lower rooms. Night came on, and they returned to Bandon with their booty.

Next morning they came back to view the scene, and found that the rebels (who had escaped the fire which did not penetrate the vault), had let themselves down from the battlements in the night time by means of ropes and other contrivances. Many lay dead on the top of the castle, and round about it.

The victors found four or five muskets and fowling pieces, some brass and iron pots and pans, and some money hidden in the oatmeal bins.

About forty of the enemy escaped and joined the Roches. They were pursued, and an encounter took place where over a hundred were killed, but the chiefs escaped.

After this the MacCarthy property was confiscated, and Dundaniel Castle was granted to Richard Earl of Cork, by whom it was leased to various tenants, and through whom it descended to the present Duke of Devonshire.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

H. Gillman, “The Castle of Dundanier, miscalled Dundaniel” (_Cork Archæological Society’s Journal_). Parliamentary Gazetteer. Calendar of State Papers. G. Bennett, “History of Bandon.” Grosart, “Lismore Papers.”

_DUNDRUM CASTLE, COUNTY DOWN_

Situated three and a half miles north by east of Newcastle, County Down, this donjon fortress commands an extensive view of Dundrum Bay and the surrounding district of Lecale. The castle was built on the site of an older fortification known as _Dun Rudhraidhe_, or Rury’s Fort, which is said to have been the scene of the great feast given by Bricrin of the Poisoned Tongue, to King Connor MacNessa and the Red Branch Knights at which he induced them to make war on one another, as is chronicled in “The Book of the Dun Cow.” The present village of Dundrum (Dundroma, signifying the fort on the ridge) lies between the castle and the shore, while to the east of the fortress are the ruins of an Elizabethan mansion erected by a former owner of the castle.

The circular keep or donjon is built upon a rock, and has an external diameter of some 45 feet, the walls of which are 8 feet thick above the projecting base. The tower at present stands about 50 feet in height. The cellar below is hewn out of the rock on which the building was erected, and is said at one time to have contained 200 tuns of Spanish wine belonging to O’Neill.

To the east of the entrance is a circular newel stair 3 feet 3 inches in diameter, constructed in the thickness of the wall and leading to the parapet. From this there are openings at each storey, and it is most likely from the position of the offsets in the wall that the floors were of wood supported on beams, the holes for the latter being still visible at different levels.

Round this tower was the courtyard or bawn, encircled by a high wall 4 and 5 feet thick, which was again protected by a fosse or moat, still to be seen on the north and west sides. The bawn was occupied by the buildings for the retainers, and perhaps the family in times of peace, and is of a roughly circular form about 150 feet across.

South-east of the donjon, in the line of wall, are the two ruined towers which protected the barbican gate, the corbel blocks of which still remain over the archway, and originally supported the defences of the gateway. From these, numerous rebels were hanged in the rebellion of 1798.

The castle was built of stone quarried to form the fosse, mixed with land stones of the district. Little has been done to alter the twelfth or thirteenth century architecture, except the opening out of windows. On the side of the ruined manor the outer fortifications would seem to have been levelled to make terraced gardens to the later dwelling.

It is generally supposed that Dundrum Castle was built by John de Courcy at the end of the twelfth century for the Knights Templars, after his daring conquest of Ulster in 1177 with only a force of about a thousand men. The stronghold remained in the possession of the order (which was bound by vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience) until the suppression of the Knights Templars in 1313. It then passed into the hands of the Prior of Down, and is mentioned by Archdall in his “Monasticon Hibernicum” as a religious house. Upon the abolition of the monasteries the reversion of the castle and manor, with a yearly rent of £6 13s. 4d. reserved out of it, was granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare.

In 1516, however, it appears to have been in the possession of O’Neill, who fortified it, with a boast he would hold it against the Earl of Kildare, at the same time sending to the King of France to come and help him to drive the English out.

The following year Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, and Lord Deputy, marched into Lecale and took Dundrum by storm, but it seems almost immediately to have reverted to the Magennises, who repaired it. In 1538 it was retaken along with seven other castles by the English, commanded by Lord Deputy Grey, who says: “I took another castell, being in M’Geeon’s countrie called Dundrome, which, I assure your lordship, as it standeth is one of the strongest holds that ever I saw in Ireland, and most commodious for defence of the whole countrey of Lecayll, both by sea and land, for the said Lecayll is invironed round about with sea, and no way to go by land into the said countrey but only bye the said Castle of Dundrome.”

After this the castle appears to have remained in the hands of the Crown for a few years. In 1551, we learn from the records of the Privy Council that Prior Magennis was seized and imprisoned in Dundrum Castle by Roger Broke without order of law. Six years later Lord Deputy Sussex asked that Lecale with the Castle of Dundrum might be granted to him in fee-farm for ever.

But again in 1565 it was occupied by the great Shane O’Neill, who placed his own ward in it for defence, and the Magennises (with whom O’Neill was intimately connected) were in possession of the stronghold in 1601, when Phelim Magennis surrendered it to Lord Mountjoy.

O’Neill is said to have been a constant visitor at the castle while it was possessed by the Magennises, Lords of Iveagh, and after a night of revelry would indulge in a strange kind of bath, by being buried to his neck in the sands on the shore of the bay.

Four years subsequently to the stronghold passing into the hands of the Crown, Lord Cromwell was commissioned to be governor and commander of Lecale and the tower and castle of Dundrum.

In 1636, Lord Cromwell’s grandson, Thomas, Lord Lecale and 1st Earl of Ardglass, sold it to Sir Francis Blundell, from whom it descended by marriage to its present owner, the Marquis of Downshire.

Sir James Montgomery fought the Irish on the shore at the foot of the castle hill 1642, and placed a garrison in the fortress to protect the district. At this time Dundrum belonged to the Blundells, who afterwards built the now ruined mansion adjoining, and the ancient stronghold was finally dismantled in 1652 by the order of Oliver Cromwell.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Phillips, “Dundrum Castle.” Praeger, “Guide to County Down.” Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.” Grose, “Antiquities of Ireland.” Harris, “History of County Down.” Calendar of State Papers. “Notes to Sir Henry Sidney’s Memoir,” and “Facsimiles of Signatures of Irish Chieftains” in _Ulster Journal of Archæology_.

_DUNDRUM CASTLE, COUNTY DUBLIN_

This fortress was one of the long chain of the Pale castles which defended the metropolis, but having been inhabited until the beginning of the nineteenth century it is in a much better state of preservation than most of these old buildings.

It is situated about three miles south of Dublin on a rise of ground above the Dundrum River, a tributary of the Dodder, at the junction of the Ballinteer and Enniskerry roads.

It is probable that the castle was built on the site of a more ancient stronghold, as Dundrum signifies “the fort on the ridge.”

The principal ruin of the present castle is a keep which is battlemented in a slightly projecting form on the south-east, while the south-west wall rises in rather a high gable. The building is oblong in shape, and the entrance, which is on the south side, is evidently of more modern construction. A gate now gives egress to the interior, which is occupied by a flower bed.

Two large windows on the ground floor also point to later alterations, especially as they occur simultaneously with the remains of earlier openings.

The stairs are likely to have been situated in the south-west side. There are numerous small chambers and passages in the thickness of the walls.

Of the three fireplaces in the north-west wall that on the ground floor is the largest, measuring 9 feet long by 5 feet high, and as the flagstones of the hearth are covered by some inches of gravel its height was once greater. At the back of the fireplace and slightly to one side is an aperture about two feet square, which is framed in cut stone, and was probably used as an oven.

On the south-west end of the keep are the ruins of a smaller building several storeys high, which is connected with the main building by a square topped doorway. The dividing wall is nearly 6 feet in thickness.

Both buildings are largely covered with plaster, and on the south-east the keep has been partly rough cast.

The situation of a third building can be seen adjoining the tower on the north-east side, where the pitch of its roof may be traced about three-fourths of the way up, but very little of the walls remain.

The castle is partly covered with ivy.

The fortress seems to have been built soon after the Norman invasion, and as the lands of Dundrum were held by Hugh de Clahull, it was probably erected for their defence. It subsequently passed to the Fitzwilliams of Merrion, from whom it descended to the Earls of Pembroke, and it forms at present part of the Pembroke estate.

Robert le Bagod, ancestor of the Fitzwilliams, had license to convey the manor of Dundrum to his son William, and in 1332 Thomas Fitzwilliam was found seized of the lands round.

From this time on it is likely the fortress was occupied by cadets of the Fitzwilliam family.

In 1542 Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam was in possession of the manor, and in 1616 his grandson Thomas, afterwards first Viscount Fitzwilliam, recovered the lands of Dundrum and Ballinteer, with the castle and water mill.

His brother William, who had married Archbishop Ussher’s widow, lived at Dundrum Castle about this time.

The building was slated and in good repair during the Commonwealth. It is stated to have had three hearths and a barn, with a garden.

It was tenanted by a Mr. Isaac Dobson during the reign of Charles II. He was a Nonconformist, and probably a trader in Dublin. When James II. came to the throne he left the country, and was attainted by Parliament in 1689.

His son, who was a bookseller, succeeded him at the castle. He greatly improved the grounds, and when he died in 1720 he left the use of the castle to his wife for her life, after which it went to his sons.

The last Dobson who lived in it died in 1762, and when Mr. Cooper visited it in 1780 it was most likely inhabited by a farmer, who was then cutting down the grove of ash which grew between it and the river.

He speaks of the inhabited part as a modern addition to which older remains were adjoining. He states that the principal entrance was from the courtyard by stone steps.

It soon afterwards fell into ruin, and at the beginning of the nineteenth century the present modern dwelling-house was erected. This was at first inhabited by the Walsh family, and later Dr. Reichel, Bishop of Meath, lived in it. Miss Hume is the present occupier.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

E. Dix, “Dundrum Castle,” in “The Lesser Castles in the County Dublin”; F. Ball, “Dundrum Castle,” both _Irish Builder_. Ball and Hamilton, “The Parish of Taney.”

_DUNLUCE CASTLE_

The ruins of this stronghold are picturesquely situated upon a rocky promontory about three miles east of Portrush, in the County Antrim, which is divided from the mainland by a chasm 20 feet wide and 100 feet deep.

The name Dunluce, or _lis_, signifies “strong fort,” and in all probability the castle is built on the site of an ancient _lis_.

The walls of the fortress are constructed of local basalt, and as the columnar structure has been taken advantage of in the dressings of windows and doors, it makes it a difficult matter to compare the date of its erection with other castles by the style of architecture.

It seems likely that the fortress was built in the sixteenth century by the M’Quillans (formerly M’Willies), who derived their title from De Burgo, one of De Courcy’s followers. Experts think that no part of the building is of fifteenth-century workmanship.

The castle was originally confined to the isolated rock, which was connected with the mainland by a drawbridge. Now this part is reached by a footway about 18 inches wide and 20 feet long, supported by an arch.

The strongest walls are on the south and east sides. The drawbridge formerly led into a small enclosed courtyard, at the lower end of which stands the barbican, containing the main entrance, and with an embrasure at one side commanding the bridge. This has corbelled bartizans at the angles of the south gable, which are a Scotch type of architecture.

A strong wall, following the cliff, connects the barbican with a circular tower at the south-east angle called M’Quillan’s Tower. The walls of this building are 8 feet thick, and a small staircase in them leads to the top of both tower and wall.

Formerly another curtain extended from M’Quillan’s Tower along the edge of the rock northward to Queen Maud’s Tower, which is also circular but of smaller dimensions.

On the west and north the castle walls are not so thick as elsewhere, and here the principal domestic offices are situated.

On the north side, over the mouth of the cave which penetrates below, are the remains of the kitchen, where a terrible accident happened during a storm. The date is placed at 1639. The young Duchess of Buckingham, who had married the 2nd Earl of Antrim, was giving a great entertainment, when suddenly the kitchen gave way, and eight servants, including the cook, sank into the waters of the cave below, and were drowned. It is said a tinker, who was sitting in a window mending pots and pans, was the only survivor of those present, and “the tinker’s window” is still pointed out.

The state rooms of the castle are situated behind the towers at the eastern side. The great hall measures 70 feet by 23 feet, and has a large fireplace and three bay windows, which were probably later improvements made by Sorley Boy M’Donnell for his son Sir James, when he took up his abode at Dunluce.

The castle yard is situated between the hall and the parapet wall, and measures 120 feet by 25 feet.

A small vaulted room at the east side of the castle called the Banshee Tower, is pointed out as a haunted chamber.

The oak roof of the chapel, which had been restored in the Duchess of Buckingham’s time (1637-40), was afterwards used to cover a barn in the district.

The buildings on the mainland are of much later date than those on the rock. It is probable that they are later than 1640, though whether they were built, as tradition states, because the domestics refused to inhabit the older castle after the subsidence of the kitchen, or whether the increase of the family’s importance required more accommodation, it is hard to say.

In 1513 a dispute arose between the descendants of Garrett MacQuillin and those of Walter MacQuillin for Dunluce, then in the former’s hands. O’Donnell seems to have placed the Walter MacQuillins in possession.

Sir Thomas Cusake mentions the castle in his account of the expedition against the MacDonnels in 1551, and four years later a fierce dispute arose between the MacQuillins and MacDonnels for the chieftainship of the Route district.

These MacDonnels were of Scotch descent, and in 1565 the famous Shane O’Neill set out to expel the Scots from Antrim.

A great fight ensued, in which James and Sorley Boy (yellow or swarthy Charles) MacDonnel were taken prisoners.

Dunluce held out for three days longer, but Shane kept Sorley Boy without food until the garrison should surrender, which they accordingly did for his sake as well as their own.

O’Neill then put his men in the castle, and is reported to have “kylled and banyshed all the Skottes out of the north.”

James MacDonnel died in Tyrone Castle in 1567--probably from poison. Two years later his death was avenged by one of the clan, who assassinated Shane, and after this Sorley Boy was set at liberty.

At this time an English garrison was in possession of Dunluce, and Sorley Boy crossed to Scotland, and returned with eight hundred picked Redshanks to demand his castles and lands returned by a grant from the Crown.

This request not being at once acceded to, he commenced hostilities, and in a year had re-possessed himself of all his strongholds and lands, except Dunluce. He then renounced all allegiance to the Oueen, raised some more Scotch troops, and took the surrounding country without opposition.

In 1573 he made a partial submission to the Crown, and asked to have the part of the Glynns, which he claimed through the Bysetts, confirmed to him by letters patent, but when the title deeds arrived he cut them up and threw them in the fire, saying--

“By my sword I got these lands, and by the sword I will hold them.”

The next year Mr. Francis Killaway was granted Dunluce under Essex’s scheme of plantation, but in those days possession was more than “nine points of the law,” and when the Lord Deputy, Sir John Perrott, set out with a great army against the Scots of Ulster, in 1584, Sorley Boy’s warder occupied Dunluce.

In the official despatches it is styled the “impregnable” fortress.

The MacDonnels were unprepared for the attack. Cannon was landed at the Skerries and drawn up by men, but when the castle was summoned to surrender, the Scotch captain replied he would hold the fortress to the last man for the King of Scotland.

The siege lasted nine months; the ward of forty men, mostly Scotch, surrendering in September, 1585.

St. Columkill’s Cross was found amongst the treasure by Perrott, who forwarded it, with a jeering letter, to Burghly. It has since been lost sight of.

The Lord Deputy appointed a pensioner called Peter Carey as constable, and a ward of English soldiers.

Perrott reports that Carey dismissed them, and re-filled their places with Northerns, some of whom were in league with MacDonnel, and that one night fifty men were drawn up the rock by ropes made of wythies. He also says they offered Carey his life, but he refused, and retired to a tower with a few men, where he was eventually slain.

This seems a rather unlikely story, and another account states a good many of the garrison were slain, and that Carey being hanged over one of the walls of the stronghold, the English soldiers fled. Carey’s widow was granted a pension.

Having recovered his castle, Sorley Boy made overtures of peace to the Government, which were eagerly accepted, and he travelled to Dublin and prostrated himself before Elizabeth’s portrait. The Indenture, dated 1586, amongst other things, states he was appointed Constable or Keyholder of Dunluce Castle.

His son, Sir James MacDonnel, occupied the stronghold in 1597, and the Governor of Carrickfergus lodged numerous complaints against him, amongst which were his refusal to give up the ordnance he had taken from Don Alonzo’s ship of the Spanish Armada, and his having fortified himself in Dunluce.

The following year Tyrone’s two sons and their tutor were lodged in the castle, and Sir Geffrey Fenton had suspicions that they were placed there as hostages to the Scotch King.

Shortly afterwards open hostilities began between MacDonnel and the Government until Sir James died suddenly at Dunluce in 1601.

The castle was granted to his son, Randel, by letters patent in 1614, to be surrendered if required for a garrison, and he was created Earl of Antrim in 1620.

His son, who succeeded in 1636, married the widowed Duchess of Buckingham. The castle was summoned by the Irish in 1641, and they also burned the town.

The Earl did not join the Rebellion, though many of his relations were in arms. In 1642 Munro came to Dunluce on pretence that some of the Earl’s tenantry were implicated. After having been well entertained, he treacherously seized Lord Antrim and sent him prisoner to Carrickfergus, at the same time plundering Dunluce.

The Earl escaped to England, and his lands, which had been confiscated during Cromwell’s time, were restored to him in 1663; but in the meantime Dunluce had fallen to decay, and does not seem to have been inhabited since.

The Antrim family at present reside at Glenarm Castle.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

G. Hill, “Macdonnells of Antrim.” Calendar of State Papers. Parliamentary Gazetteer. Proceedings of Archæological Association of Ireland, Papers by R. Young and J. O’Laverty. Joyce, “Irish Place Names.” “The Description and Present State of Ulster,” in _Ulster Journal of Archæology_.

_DUNSOGHLY CASTLE_

This castle is situated eight miles north-by-west of Dublin, near the village of St. Margaret’s, off the Ashbourne road.

It consists of a splendidly preserved keep about 80 feet high, flanked by four square towers which rise above the roof at each corner. One of these contains a winding stair leading to the battlements, at the top of which a flight of ten steps gives egress to the summit of the watch tower.

The other three towers have little rooms opening off the different storeys.

The ground floor, which was most likely a kitchen, is a large vaulted apartment into which a door has been quarried in later years.

The first floor was once a fine wainscotted room, the walls of which were yet hung with family pictures when D’Alton visited it in 1838.

A flight of wooden stairs connects this apartment with the ground.

The two upper storeys had wooden floors, and the building is still covered by a good slated roof, which is evidently a modern addition. So too are the large square windows, some of which are glazed and others protected by wire netting. The doorways are Gothic.

In the south-west tower is the prison with no entrance except through a hole in the roof by which captives and their food were let down.

Tradition states an underground passage connects the castle with St. Margaret’s Church, as well as having many hidden vaults.

Beside the keep is the ruined chapel with an arched doorway, which has been used as a cowshed. At the side towards the castle is a low built-up archway over which is a slab carved with the symbols of the crucifixion, and having under it the inscription:--“J.P.M.D.S., 1573,” which is supposed to mean Johannes Plunket Miles de Dun-Soghly, 1573.

There seems to be no record of the building of the castle.