Part 14

This Earl was called the “Wizard Earl,” and the haunted room of the castle (which also contains a carved stone) is said to have been the place where he practised the Black Art. A legend regarding him runs thus:--His wife, not liking that he should have any secrets from her, begged him to let her be witness to some of his transformations and sorcery. At length he consented to give her three trials, but warned her that any sign of fear on her part would be fatal to him. First, the river Greese rose and flowed through the castle; secondly, an animal, half fish, half serpent, crept out of the water and twined round the lady’s feet; and thirdly, a ghost flitted to and fro, but all these failed to frighten the Countess. Then the Earl was transformed into a little black bird, which lit on her shoulder; but the devil, in the form of a cat, springing at it, she stretched forth her hand with a cry to protect her lord. Hence he and all his knights were spirited away to the Rath of Mullaghmast, where they sleep by their horses’ sides, fully clad in armour, and from thence they ride to Kilkea Castle every seven years. The Earl’s steed is shod with silver shoes, and as soon as they are worn out the spell will be broken, and he will return again to Kilkea, when, after about half a century, he will drive the ancient enemies of Ireland out of the country.

A lady writing of the castle in 1817, mentions the grand staircase being of massy oak, and amongst other things speaks of the ancient kitchen containing seven ovens. The building seems to have been somewhat dilapidated when the 3rd Duke of Leinster began to restore it (1849). Nearly all the battlements were thrown down, and its last tenant had made matters worse in searching for treasure. This same man, writing to the Duke in 1839, speaks of a carved oak ceiling in what had once been the castle chapel. This is said to have been on the north side.

During restoration a few quaint-shaped bottles containing liquid were found in a recess, and previously it is stated that an old gentleman sitting at a table, had been discovered built up in some part of the walls, but that he fell to dust at once when air was admitted.

Two underground passages are believed to connect the castle with the churchyard on the one hand, and a pagan tumulus or burial moat on the other.

The grooves of the portcullis by which the main entrance was protected are to be seen at the hall-door, and also the square holes for fixing beams of timber, which added to the security. The hall had a stone vaulted ceiling at the time of restoration, which was removed to give greater height. A new storey was also added to the building at this time.

The “Evil Eye Stone” is carved with a group of grotesque figures, and is situated 17 feet above the ground, in the quoin of the “Guard Room,” near the entrance-gate of the ancient bawn of the castle.

Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Baron of Offaly, seems to have parted temporarily with his interest in Kilkea to Christiana de Marisco, a niece of his wife’s, through whom a royal claim on the manor was established. In 1317 it appears to have been in possession of the Wogan family. Sir Thomas de Rokeby, Lord Justice of Ireland, died in the castle in 1356.

In 1414, the O’Mores and O’Dempseys, having invaded the pale, Thomas Cranly, Archbishop of Dublin, and Lord Deputy, accompanied the Royal troops as far as Castledermot, where he and his clergy remained praying for the success of the arms. The opposing forces met at Kilkea, where a battle was fought, in which the Irish were defeated. A great many human bones having been found in a field south of the castle, it is likely to have been the scene of this conflict.

John FitzGerald, 6th Earl of Kildare, nicknamed “Shaun Cam,” or Hump-back John, again defeated the native Irish at Kilkea in 1421.

It was here, too, that the “Great Earl,” Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Lord Deputy of Ireland, got his death wound. In August, 1513, he started on an expedition against a castle belonging to the O’Carrolls, and now known as Leap Castle, in the King’s County. While the Earl was watering his horse at the River Greese, near Kilkea, attended by the Mayor of Dublin and a splendid retinue, he received a wound from one of the O’Mores of Leix, which in a few days proved fatal. He was moved by gentle stages to Kildare, where he died. He was thirty-three years Chief Governor of Ireland.

During the rebellion of the “Silken Thomas,” 10th Earl of Kildare, in 1535, Kilkea seems at first to have formed one of the headquarters of his native sympathisers. The surrounding country having, however, been laid waste by the Earl of Ossory, we read that he made an appointment with Sir William Skeffington, the Lord Deputy, to meet him at Kilkea. He waited with his army for three days, but the Lord Deputy being ill, he did not arrive.

In 1537 the King appointed Lord (James) Butler to be Constable of the Castles of Catherlagh (Carlow) and Kilkea. Some years later a Walter Peppard, one of the gentlemen ushers of the King’s chamber, seems to have been in possession of the castle.

The 11th Earl lived largely at Kilkea after the restoration of his title and lands. In 1575, when apprehended on suspicion of treason, one of the charges was that he had interviewed and entertained rebels at Kilkea.

Elizabeth, widow of the 14th Earl of Kildare, was granted the Manors of Kilkea and Graney by the King, as she had no jointure. She was a daughter of Lord Delvin, and had married the Earl by dispensation of the Pope, she being a Roman Catholic. In 1618 she wrote a most touching letter from Kilkea to the Privy Council, beseeching them to allow her the guardianship of her little son Gerald, the 15th Earl--then just over six years old--until he should be older and stronger, urging that he was “the only son of his father.” The infant Earl died some two years later at Maynooth, being succeeded by his cousin George, known as the “Fairy Earl.”

In 1634 the Countess gave Kilkea to the Jesuits, who retained possession of the castle until 1646, in which year the Superior of the Order entertained the Pope’s Nuncio sumptuously at the castle.

During the civil war, which began in 1641, Kilkea was taken and re-taken several times; but on the restoration of peace, both the 16th and 17th Earls seem chiefly to have resided there.

In 1668 it was leased to Lord Brabazon, and afterwards, for nearly two centuries, the castle was inhabited by strangers, to whom it was let at different times.

In 1797 it passed into the hands of Thomas Reynolds, the ’98 informer through the influence of Lord Edward FitzGerald. He somewhat repaired and furnished the castle. His son gives a graphic description of the wanton destruction of property by the soldiers sent from Dublin to arrest his father. It appears they tore up floors and down wainscotting, in a search for Lord Edward, who it was thought was hidden in the castle.

Shortly after this it became a regular garrison and a refuge for the Loyalists. It was attacked by the insurgents without success.

The castle was leased once more, in 1799, before the family again took possession of their ancient home.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Lord Walter FitzGerald, “Kilkea Castle” (_Kildare Archæological Society’s Journal_). Marquis of Kildare, “The Earls of Kildare.” State Papers.

_KILKENNY CASTLE_

There seems to be a difference of opinion regarding the derivation of this name. The most popular belief is that it signifies the Church of St. Canice or Kenny. Again it is put forward that a settlement of the Gaels having been along the banks of the Nore, the high ground towards the present castle was wooded, and so called Coil or Kyleken-uï, “the wooded head” or “hill near the river,” and so it became Cillcannegh or Kilkenny.

The city is situated seventy-two miles south-west of Dublin, in the county of the same designation.

The fortress is said to occupy the site of the ancient Irish castellum of the kings of Ossory. It is built on high ground above the town, and the present entrance is through a handsome gate-house of Caen stone which was brought up the River Nore in boats. The 2nd Duke of Ormond, who succeeded in 1688, spent £1,500 on its erection, but the carving has only been completed in later years. A massive wooden door gives admittance from the Parade.

The castle seems formerly to have been a quadrangular building flanked by towers, having its entrance on the south side opposite the present gate-house. The building now forms three sides of a square, but in 1861 the foundations of the south curtain and the two bastions which protected the entrance were uncovered during alterations.

Thus up to the beginning of the eighteenth century the castle practically had its back to the town, and it is therefore

likely that the architects of the Norman stronghold followed the ground plan of the old Irish fort, where King Donnchadh held his court during the greater part of the tenth century, and which existed long before the English town was built.

In the northern side of the building is situated the hall, billiard room, ante-room, library, and drawing-room. The west wing is occupied by the private rooms of the family, while the picture gallery forms the eastern block. This wing was added by the 2nd Duke of Ormond. It is 120 feet long by 30 broad, and contains some valuable portraits by Vandyck, Holbein, Lely, Kneller, &c.

The dining-room is part of the original building, and its walls measure some 15 feet in thickness.

The tapestry in the castle is very handsome. Some of it is supposed to have been manufactured in Kilkenny, where Piers, Earl of Ormond, and his wife, Margaret FitzGerald, started a tapestry industry, some of the records of which are still preserved. A set of panels representing the “History of Deceus” is the most valuable tapestry in the castle.

Of the three towers, that on the south being the largest is called “The Tower.” The small turret in the north-west angle is part of the oldest masonry in the castle, and is supposed to belong to the twelfth-century fortress.

The Evidence Chamber contains an immense number of valuable historic documents and family records, among which are some deeds executed by Strongbow.

The first Norman fortress is supposed to have been erected by Richard, Earl of Pembroke, better known as Strongbow, shortly after his arrival in Ireland. In 1173 Donald O’Brien, King of Thomond, descended and seized the castle, its garrison of Flemings retreating to Waterford. They returned when the Irish had withdrawn and occupied what remained of the stronghold until William, Earl Marshal, arrived with Isabel, his bride, in 1191. She was the daughter and heiress of Eva and Strongbow, and had been brought up at the English Court. They were married in 1189, and he began to rebuild the Castle of Kilkenny in 1192. Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond and favourite of Queen Elizabeth, repaired the castle. James, the 1st Duke of Ormond, remodelled the whole building after his return from exile with Charles II., in a style of architecture then common in France and Holland. Dr. Molyneux, writing in 1709, says: “There is not one handsome or noble apartment. The Rooms are Darke, and the stairs mighty ugly.”

It is at present in castellated Tudor style. In 1826 the change of architecture was entrusted to Mr. William Robertson, and during the minority of the present Marquess his mother carried out many improvements.

A passage is reported to exist from the castle to Dunmore cave.

In Earl Mareschal’s charter he granted the tenth part of the provisions in the castle to the Brotherhood of St. John. They were also to officiate in the castle chapel while the Earl was absent, but when at home his chaplain took their place.

The stronghold was inherited in succession by the Earl’s five sons, who all died without heirs, and Kilkenny passed to his third daughter Isabel, who married Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Clare, Hertford and Gloucester, and in 1290 we find him surrendering Kilkenny Castle to the King to hold at his pleasure.

In 1334 the 9th Earl of Clare died without issue, and was succeeded by his sister Eleanor de Clare, whose husband became Earl of Gloucester through her right. His grandson Spencer, Lord of Glamorgan and Kilkenny, sold the castle in 1391 to James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond.

Theobald Walter had been made Chief Butler of Ireland by Henry II., which appointment granted him a tun of wine out of every nine brought to Ireland, and this privilege remained in the family until 1810, when the Government purchased it from Walter, the 1st Marquess of Ormond.

The gilt key which was worn at the girdle when the Butlers attended the King is still preserved at the castle.

A few years after the fortress had changed hands, King Richard II. spent a fortnight at Kilkenny as the guest of the Earl of Ormond.

The Carew MSS. inform us that the Earl of Ormond made Kilkenny Castle his chief residence in 1596.

The 1st Duke of Ormond was born in 1610, and is generally known as the “Great Duke.” He was for many years Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

In 1642 the castle was taken by the “Council of Confederate Catholics,” and was held by them for some years.

Oliver Cromwell besieged both town and castle in March, 1650. On the 23rd he opened fire on the castle, and two days following a breach was made at noon, but the garrison twice beat off the besiegers and quickly repaired the damage.

Cromwell’s time being short for the work before him, he was about to retire when the mayor and the townspeople offered to give up the town, and he was shortly reinforced by Ireton.

Sir Walter Butler had received instructions from Lord Castlehaven to surrender, in case no help arrived before a given time, so considering the weakness of his garrison he made terms with the Parliamentarians which were of an honourable nature. As the garrison marched out Cromwell complimented them on their gallantry, saying he had lost more men in the storming of Kilkenny than in the taking of Drogheda.

The estate was restored to the Duke upon the Restoration. The Count de Lauzun had been commander for James II. at Kilkenny, and the castle had been carefully preserved by him.

The Duke died in 1688, and was succeeded by his son, who also was Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. William III. dined in the castle in August, 1690, as the Duke’s guest.

In 1715 he was accused falsely of conspiring against the Crown, and in anger at the charge he crossed to France, and joined the Stuarts.

His estates, valued at £80,000 a year, were forfeited and he died at Avignon, supported by a pension from the Court of Spain.

The Irish House of Lords restored part of the estates and the Irish Earldom to another branch of the Ormonds, and John Butler became 17th Earl of Ormond.

Walter, the 18th Earl, was created Marquess in 1816, and from him the present representative is descended, who in 1904 entertained King Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra at the castle.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

J. Hogan, “Kilkenny.” Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” J. Robertson, “Antiquities and Scenery of Kilkenny.” P. Egan, “Kilkenny Guide.” E. Ledwidge, “History of Irishtown and Kilkenny” in “Collectanea de Rebus Hibernices.” J. Graves, “Journey to Kilkenny, 1799” (_Journal of Kilkenny Archæological Society_). MacMahon, “Kilkenny Castle” in “Historic Houses.” Calendar of State Documents. Calendar of Carew MSS.

_KILLIANE CASTLE_

This fortress is situated in a parish of the same name in the Barony of Forth, about three miles south-east of Wexford. The name, which is written Killyan in the _Liber Regalis_ visitations, signifies “The Church of St. Liedania.”

The building consists of a castellated rectangular keep, to which a modern house has been attached. There is also an enclosed bawn with most excellently preserved walls. Near the castle stand the ruins of its chapel.

In the notes attached to the Down Survey Maps, dating from about 1657, it is stated that at Great Killiane is “a Castle with a slate house adjoining, a decayed windmill, and seven cabbins.”

The castle is supposed to have been erected by the family of Hay, whose first representative in Ireland was Richard de Hay, Lord of Hay in Wales, who crossed with the Normans in 1196. From this family Killiane passed to a younger branch of the house of Chevers, of Ballyhally, early in the sixteenth century. Hamond Chevers, of Killiane, was one of the jurators to hold an inquisition on Tintern Abbey in 1543. He held his castle and lands from the Mayor of Wexford.

In 1627 Killiane was still in possession of a Hamond Chevers, and his son George held it with 237 acres when the rebellion broke out in 1641. He was present at the siege of Duncannon Fort in 1645, when it was defended against the Confederate Catholics by Laurence, Lord Esmond, and in consequence of the part he took in the insurrection Killiane was confiscated. In 1666 it was granted to Francis Hervey, Esq., with 220 acres, and it has remained in this family’s possession ever since.

One of the daughters of the house, who married the Very Rev. Samuel Adams, D.D., Dean of Cashel, in 1809, was so famous for her beauty that she was called “The Rose of Killiane.” The family has not lived in the castle for some years, and it is let by the present owner, Arthur Hervey, Esq.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

MSS. Ordnance Survey. Down Survey Maps. Inquisitions of Leinster. Hore, “History of Wexford.” Lewis, “Typographical Dictionary of Ireland.” B. Adams and M. Adams, “History of the Adams Family.” Proceedings Royal Society of Antiquaries, Ireland. Chancery Patent Rolls, Act of Settlement.

_KILLYLEAGH CASTLE_

“Downpatrick too may boast Of the great fort by its side, Where a monarch may have lived, And have rul’d in savage pride; But what is Patrick’s grave, Or cathedral old and grey, To the proud baronial castle That adorns Killileagh?”

This castle stands on rising ground above the town of Killyleagh, five miles north-east of Downpatrick, in the County of Down. It was the principal fortress of seven which formerly guarded the shores of Strangford Lough.

About a mile distant is _Loch Cleath_, or “The Lake of the Hurdles,” so it is probable that Killyleagh signifies “the Church of the Hurdles.”

The gate tower of the castle is entered under a Gothic arch of Glasgow stone from the main street of the town. It is 59 feet in height, and crowned with turrets. Curtain walls on each side connect it with flanking towers, which are again joined by other castellated walls to the castle itself, thus enclosing a rectangular courtyard, which is laid out in grass and flower-beds.

The mansion has an imposing frontage, flanked at both sides by circular towers. One of these dates from the castle’s erection, and the other, which is a copy, from the year 1666. The centre block of masonry was entirely restored in the middle of the nineteenth century. Some of the walls, which were removed at that time, were 15 feet thick, being composed of rubble and excellent mortar.

The old carved stone over the door was copied in Caen stone. The Royal Arms are surmounted by a figure of Charles I., while below are the family arms. The original stone, which was much weather worn, has been placed over a small door at the side.

Most of the stone used at the restoration was quarried on the estate, but the facing stones were brought from Scotland.

One of the special attractions of this charming residence is the beautiful terraced gardens lying to the south. They consist of three tiers of cultivation beginning with the “Box Garden” of trim flower-beds, from which you descend by a flight of rustic steps to “the Rockery Garden” abounding in Alpine plants. Here some beautiful and extremely ancient yew-trees are to be seen, their branches being 120 feet in circumference, while below a small lake in the centre of rose-beds leaves nothing to be desired in its delightful effect.

The castle was erected by Sir John de Courcy shortly after his conquest of Ulster, and in 1356 Edward III. appointed John de Mandeville warden.

After this it fell into the hands of the O’Neills, who retained it up to 1561, when Queen Elizabeth granted the territory to Hugo White. He rebuilt the castle and removed the ward from Dufferin Castle near, to garrison it. After this it was known as “White’s Castle” for many years.

In 1567 the fortress was gallantly defended against a fierce attack made by the great Shane O’Neill, and he was successfully repulsed. The strength of the White family gradually decreased, and in 1590 they could only muster a hundred and twenty foot soldiers and twenty horsemen to defend their lands, while eight years later twenty footmen was the total of their fighting strength.

The M’Artans and O’Neills joined together and dispossessed them, the former family taking possession of Killyleagh. Their estates were, however, forfeited at the close of the sixteenth century for the part they took in the rebellion of the Northern Earls, and some time after this the lands were granted to the Hamiltons.

General Monk partly demolished the castle in 1649, and the Hamiltons began to rebuild it in 1666.

James I. had created the head of the family Earl of Clanbrassil and Viscount Clandeboye, but the last to hold the title died in 1676. It is said he was poisoned by his wife, Lady Alice of Clanbrassil, a daughter of the Earl of Drogheda, who was a beautiful and vicious woman, and after plunging the estate into debt desired to contract a wealthy marriage.

At this time the Earl’s mother, Lady Anne, resided at Killyleagh Castle in accordance with the wishes of her husband’s will.

As Earl Henry left no children the estate was divided amongst his cousins, Killyleagh falling to the lot of James Hamilton. When James died in 1683 his lands were divided between his brother Gawin, ancestor of the present Colonel Rowan-Hamilton, D.L., of Killyleagh Castle, and his daughter Anne, whose granddaughter, Dorcas, married Sir John Blackwood, and was created Baroness Dufferin and Clandeboye.

The division of the estate was accurately made and decided by lot, which had the effect of putting one branch of the family in possession of the half of the courtyard of the castle which lay nearest the town, while the other part was attached to the castle.

This division caused a family feud of some two hundred years in duration. A house was built on the disputed land between the town and castle, and it was only upon the coming of age of the late Marquis of Dufferin, who said it should never be said of him that he kept any man out of his own hall-door, that the contention ended.

The young nobleman presented the land to his kinsman of the castle, to be held by the tenure of the annual tribute of a red rose to the lady of Clandeboye, or should there be no such person, a pair of gilt spurs to the Lord Dufferin of the time. He added to his gift a castellated gate-house, which was erected from designs by Mr. Ferrers.

The last stone was laid by Lord Dufferin upon the morning of his marriage with Miss Rowan Hamilton on the 23rd of October, 1862.

It bears an inscription to that effect, as well as the name of its sculptor, Mr. Samuel Hastings, of Downpatrick.

In 1688-89 Sir Robert Maxwell resided in the castle, having married the widow of the Earl of Clanbrissal. Captain Savage asked to be allowed to garrison the gate-tower so as to be some check upon the disturbances the Protestant party were making in the North. Sir Robert took two days to consider the matter, but in the meantime the soldiers were attacked by Hunter, and the captain and lieutenant taken prisoners.