Part 17

The whole fortress is built upon a rock, which on one side descends precipitously to the Blackwater, the base being clothed with trees.

The Earl of Cork employed “a free Mazon of Bristol” during his alterations. The modern improvements were principally designed by Sir Joseph Paxton.

The main door has an Ionic porch executed in Bath-stone, said to have been the work of Inigo Jones.

The hall is square, and is used as a billiard-room. A stone stairway ascends on the left side of the entrance. The present banqueting hall was originally a chapel, and has a Gothic roof of open woodwork. The drawing-room contains a large bay window overhanging the river, known as “King James’s Window.” During his stay in Ireland in 1689, he spent a night in the castle, and dining in this room, he approached the window, but started back when he saw the depth below.

The sword and mace of Youghal are exhibited in the hall, where is also the Pastoral Staff of Lismore, which was discovered built up in a doorway of the castle with a valuable Irish manuscript book, since called the “Book of Lismore.”

In 1181 Cullen O’Cullane, and O’Phelan, Prince of the Decies, attacked the fortress, which had been somewhat hastily constructed, and they killed fifty to eighty of the garrison and razed the stronghold.

Prince John, Earl of Morton, landing at Waterford in 1185, rebuilt the castle on a larger scale.

Nine years later the men of the Decies took the fortress by surprise and killed Robert Barry, brother of Giraldus Cambrensis. In the autumn of the same year (1189) the Irish, finding they could not hold the castle, decided to destroy it, but they afterwards surrendered it upon terms. From this time it appears to have been an episcopal residence for some four hundred years.

In 1218 the Bishop of Waterford wrote to Henry III. complaining that the castle of Lismore had been taken from him by Thomas FitzAnthony and Griffin FitzGriffin. The King ordered that it should be restored to the bishop.

When Robert de Bedford was elected Bishop of Lismore the fortress was transferred to him, but not without the Bishop of Waterford declaring it belonged to his see. Bishop de Bedford appealed to Rome, and after a dispute of twelve years it was finally confirmed to the see of Lismore.

In 1271 Lord Justice Audley came on a visit to the castle, and Roger de Mortimer, after he landed at Youghal as Lord Justice, was the guest of Bishop Fleming at Lismore in 1317.

Some time before his resignation in 1589, Meler Magrath, Bishop of Lismore and Archbishop of Cashel, granted the castle to Sir Walter Raleigh at a rent of £13 6s. 8d., and three years later Sir Walter sold it to Sir Richard Boyle, afterwards the first Earl of Cork, who restored and enlarged it.

His great son, the philosopher, was born in the castle in 1626.

The stronghold was besieged three times during the civil wars of 1641. It was first attacked by five thousand Irish troops under the command of Sir Richard Beling, and was successfully defended by Lord Broghill, the Earl’s third son.

The following year an unsuccessful attempt was made to burn it by the Irish.

In 1643 it was again besieged by Lieutenant-Colonel Purcell with seven thousand foot and nine hundred horse. This time Captain Hugh Croker commanded the garrison. The Earl records in his diary that the rebels demanded the surrender of the fortress, but “we retorned them defyance.” None of the defenders were killed, but their enemies lost about three hundred in killed and wounded. The following month cannon was brought to bear on the stronghold, and a breach was effected in the brewhouse, but it was quickly repaired with earth, and the fire from the castle was so great that the enemy did not dare to storm the opening. The guns were then shifted to the south-west, and the orchard was attacked, but the shots from the turrets protected the curtain wall.

After a siege of eight days, the Earl’s sons, Lords Dungarvan and Broghill, landed at Youghal and made a treaty with Lord Muskerry for a six days’ truce. Of the besiegers twenty were killed, while the defenders escaped injury.

The great Earl died in 1644. The following year the castle was again besieged, this time by troops under Lord Castlehaven. Major Bower, with a garrison of a hundred of the Earl’s tenants, managed to kill five hundred of the besiegers and to make terms before they surrendered.

The 4th Earl of Cork died without male heirs in 1753, and Lismore Castle passed to his eldest daughter, Lady Charlotte Boyle, who had married the 4th Duke of Devonshire in 1748. It thus passed to its present owner, the 8th Duke of Devonshire, who entertained King Edward VII. and Oueen Alexandra at the castle in 1904.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Boyle, “Lismore Papers.” C. Smith, “State of Waterford.” R. Ryland, “History of Waterford.” Egan, “Waterford Guide.” Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Parliamentary Gazetteer. W. Flood, “Lismore” (_Journal of Waterford Archæological Society_). Windele Manuscript (_Cork Archæological Society’s Journal_). MacMahon, “Lismore Castle” (Historic Houses).

_LOHORT CASTLE_

This fortress is situated in the Barony of Duhallow, four miles and a half east-south-east of Kanturk, County Cork.

The name was sometimes spelt Loghort, and means literally “herb-plot” or “garden,” from _luibh_, “herb,” and _gort_, “an enclosed field.”

The central tower is circular, and measures about 80 feet in height. It was strongly machicolated, and had only a few apertures for light and air. The walls are about 10 feet thick at the base, diminishing to 6 feet.

The castle was formerly surrounded by a moat, which was crossed by a drawbridge, but this has been removed.

Richard Sainthill, writing in 1831, describes the castle thus:--

“Six miles from Liscarroll is Loghort Castle, the residence of Lord Arden when he visits his Irish estates. It is a square keep about 90 feet in height. The ground floor is now the kitchen. The first floor was the armoury, and contained arms for 100 soldiers, which were removed and lost in the year 1798. This is now the dining-parlour; above this is the drawing-room. We then rise to the state bedroom, beside which there are six others. From the battlements an extensive prospect is commanded.”

The castle also contained a good library. In the armoury was preserved the sword of Sir Alex. MacDonald, who commanded the Highlanders at the battle of Knockninoss in 1647, and was treacherously killed by a soldier after the encounter.

The fortress dates from the reign of King John, and was a former stronghold of the MacCarthys.

In 1641 Sir Philip Perceval garrisoned it with a hundred and fifty men during the rebellion. Nevertheless the Irish gained possession of the stronghold by treachery, and held it until May, 1650, when Sir Hardress Waller reduced it with a battery of cannon.

In his letter to the Parliament he writes of it as a place of great strength.

After this it seems to have remained in a state of dilapidation until the middle of the eighteenth century, when Sir Philip Perceval’s descendant, the Earl of Egmont, put it into a state of repair.

The agents of the estate resided in the castle during many years of the last century, and it is now the residence of Sir Timothy O’Brien, Bart.

There are many legends relating to the old fortress.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

C. Smith, “County of Cork,” with “Historical Notes from Croker and Caulfield MSS.” Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.” Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” Gibson, “History of Cork.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Lewis, “Irish Topographical Dictionary.”

_LOUGH CUTRA CASTLE_

In the Barony of Kitartan, County Galway, about three miles south-by-east of Gort, is situated Lough Cutra Castle, the beautiful mansion of Viscount Gough.

The demesne extends along the west and south shores of the lake, and the gardens slope to the water’s edge in terraces.

Mr. Blake Foster, in “The Irish Chieftains,” says that the name was derived from a leader of the Belgic tribe, called Cutra, who owned the district before the arrival of the Milesians.

The mansion is a castellated building of Tudor style. It has massive walls of finely-cut limestone, and was erected during the last century at a cost of over £50,000.

Mr. Paine was the architect, but he died before the building was finished, and the lodges, &c., were carried out in the same style by Mr. Nash, while the gardens and grounds were exquisitely laid out by Mr. Sutherland.

It is considered one of the show places of the west.

John Prendergast Smith was created Viscount Gort in 1816. He had inherited the O’Shaughnessy estate through his uncle, and he began to build the present mansion.

The story goes that being enchanted with East Cowes Castle, in the Isle of Wight, which belonged to, and had been designed by, Mr. Nash, Lord Gort decided to erect a similar building on the shores of his beautiful lake. It is strange that the present Lord Gort now lives in East Cowes Castle, from which the design of his ancestor’s castle in Ireland was borrowed.

The first Viscount Gort adopted his nephew, Colonel Vereker, as his heir.

This soldier so distinguished himself at the battle of Coloony that he and his heirs were granted supporters to the family arms and allowed to adopt “Coloony” as their motto.

When the 3rd Viscount Gort succeeded to the estates they were heavily encumbered, and the famine of 1848 completed the ruin of the family.

The castle was sold for £17,000 to Mrs. Ball, Superioress of the Religious Order of Loretto, Dublin. She turned it into a novitiate house and opened a school. After a few years the community was recalled, and the castle was again put up for sale. This time it was purchased for £24,000 by the first Lord Gough.

Two pieces of ordnance which he captured in India are mounted at the entrance.

The present Viscount Gough is Resident British Minister at Dresden.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Fahey, “History and Antiquities of Diocese of Kilmacduagh.” Blake Foster, “The Irish Chieftains.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Ward’s Guide to Limerick, Clare Coast, and Lower Shannon.

_MACROOM CASTLE_

This fortress is situated in West Muskerry, County Cork, about twenty miles from Cork City, on the bank of the River Sullane, the ford of which it was evidently built to command.

Various derivations are given of the old name Macromp. Some authorities state that it signifies the “Plain of Crom,” the supreme deity of the ancient inhabitants of Ireland. Smith says the name came from a crooked oak under which travellers used to pass, but it seems more probable that it simply meant “a crooked plain,” and referred to the undulating country round.

In Smith’s History of Cork he describes the building as consisting of two square towers about 60 feet high connected by a large modern building. Windele, however, says that the present residence is a huge square mass of masonry which formed the keep of the original castle.

It has a handsome gallery and other good apartments, and is now covered with ivy. At the beginning of the last century Gothic windows were introduced and part of it weather-slated, which, being entirely out of keeping with the style of architecture, has not added to its picturesqueness.

It occupies a slight rise on the east bank of the Sullane River, which flows through the demesne. The gardens lie to the south.

The castle appears to have been erected in the twelfth century, and its building has been variously attributed to the Carews and Daltons, while its Irish name of Caislean-i-Fhlionn, signifying “O’Flyn’s Castle,” seems to indicate that it owes its origin to this family, who formerly owned territory in Muskerry and Carberry. It afterwards came into the possession of the MacCarthys, and Tiege MacCarty, father of the famous Lord Muskerry, died in the castle in 1565, having restored and enlarged it.

In 1602 its owner, Cormac MacDermot Carthy, Lord Muskerry, was suspected of hostile intrigues and imprisoned in Cork, while Captain Flower and then Sir Charles Wilmot were sent to lay siege to the castle. Lord Muskerry, however, escaped, and the Lord President fearing he might cut off Sir Charles’s retreat, ordered him to return to Cork.

The night before the intended march the garrison killed a pig, but water being too scarce to scald it they decided to singe it instead with fern and straw. This they did in the castle bawn, but some sparks lighting on the thatched roof of a cabin flamed up and set fire to some tallow through one of the windows of the castle.

The flames quickly spread through the building and the garrison was obliged to take speedy refuge in the bawn. From thence they made a sally to the woods, about fifty being slain in their attempt to escape.

The besiegers entered the castle and extinguished the fire. After making some necessary repairs Sir Charles left a garrison there and marched to Cork.

Upon the breaking out of the rebellion of 1641 it was again in Lord Muskerry’s possession, and when the Papal Nunzio landed in the south of Ireland he visited many places and amongst them Macroom Castle. He was received at the great gate of the fortress by Lady Helena Butler, sister of Lord Ormond, and the wife of Donough, Lord Muskerry. The Nunzio stayed at Macroom for four days.

In 1650 the Bishop of Ross assembled an army in the park. Upon the approach of Lord Broghill with a body of horse, the garrison in the castle set fire to it and joined the main body encamped outside. Then followed the battle of Macroom, in which about seven hundred of the Irish troops were slain. The Bishop and the High Sheriff of Kerry were taken prisoners. The latter was shot, but the bishop was promised freedom if he induced the garrison of Carrigadrohid Castle to surrender. When brought to that fortress he, however, exhorted the besieged to hold out, and he was at once hanged with the reins of his own horse.

Later in the war General Ireton is said to have burned both the town and castle of Macroom.

During the Commonwealth the castle was granted to Admiral Sir William Penn, father of the founder of Pennsylvania.

Upon the restoration of Charles II. the stronghold was restored to the MacCarthys, and was enlarged and modernised by the Earl of Clancarty.

In 1691 it again fell into the hands of an English garrison. They were hard pressed by James’s troops, until the approach of Major Kirk and three hundred dragoons raised the siege.

The estate of the 4th Earl of Clancarty was confiscated for his allegiance to King James, and the castle was sold by auction in 1703. It was bought by the Hollow Sword Blade Co., who resold it to Judge Bernard, ancestor to Lord Bandon.

After this it was occupied by the Hedges Eyre family, the Hon. Robert Hedges Eyre dying 1840.

Colonel White Hedges, brother of Lord Bantry, owned the castle in 1861, and it is now in the possession of Lord Ardilaun, whose wife is one of the Bantry family.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

Smith, “State of County and City of Cork.” Bennett, “History of Bandon.” J. Windele, “Notices of the City of Cork,” &c. C. Gibson, “History of the County and City of Cork.” Meehan, “Confederation of Kilkenny.” Murphy, “Cromwell in Ireland.” Parliamentary Gazetteer.

_MALAHIDE CASTLE_

The town of Malahide is situated in the Barony of Coolock, about seven miles north-north-east of the City of Dublin, and about half a mile distant stands the ancient seat of the Talbot family.

A number of suggestions have been put forward as to the derivation of the name Malahide, perhaps the most probable being that it comes from Baile-atha-id, signifying the “town of Id’s ford.”

The present castle is almost square in form, with a Gothic entrance on the south-east. This side of the fortress is flanked at each angle by a round tower, one of them at least having been added during the last century. The whole effect is much enhanced by the building being largely covered with ivy.

During the early part of the eighteenth century the stronghold was enlarged and modernised by its owner, Colonel Talbot. It had at that time lost its castellated character, which was restored, while the moat that surrounded it was filled in and planted.

The former entrance was by drawbridge, protected by a portcullis and barbican. The old tower of the barbican now gives entrance to the stable yard.

The hall is flagged and vaulted, and the walls are hung with interesting martial relics, while a handsomely-carved chair is said to have belonged to King Robert Bruce.

A circular flight of stairs leads to the next floor, which contains the famous “Oak Room.” The timber for its ornamentation is said to have been brought from the “faire greene commune of Ostomanstoune,” which was not so far away, and from which King William Rufus is said to have obtained the oak to roof Westminster Hall. The panels in Malahide Castle are of an ebony black, and are richly carved in relief with scriptural subjects. The ceiling is cross-beamed with oak, and a wide mullioned window gives light to this beautiful apartment. It is said to have once been the castle chapel, and that behind a double panel, carved with scenes from the Garden of Eden, is a recess still occupied by the altar.

Here amongst other interesting objects is the suit of armour traditionally supposed to have been worn by Sir Walter Hussey, who was the first husband of the Hon. Maud Plunkett, and was killed on his wedding day.

The dining hall is said to date from the Tudor period, and it has a pointed ceiling of stained wood with a gallery at one end. In this room is displayed a very fine collection of historical and family portraits by many celebrated artists, amongst whom are Lely, Titian, Reynolds, Kneller, and others.

The portraits include those of “Handsome Dick Talbot,” Duke of Tyrconnel, favourite of Charles II. and James I., the Duchess of Portsmouth and her son the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of Lucan, Ireton, Myles Corbet, and several royal personages.

The “saloon” has also some art treasures, the chief being an altar-piece by Albert Durer, which once belonged to Mary Oueen of Scots, and was purchased by Charles II. for the Duchess of Portsmouth for the then enormous sum of £2,000.

The lands of Malahide were granted to the Talbot family in 1174 by Henry II., in whose train was Chevalier Richard Talbot, when the king came to Ireland in 1172. This grant was confirmed to Sir Richard Talbot by Edward IV. in 1475.

The foundations of the castle were laid by the first Richard Talbot in Henry II.’s reign upon the gentle elevation of limestone rock where it stands to-day. It was enlarged during Edward IV.’s reign.

Sir Richard Edgecomb landed at Malahide in 1488 as Lord Justice, and writes that “there a gentlewoman called Talbot received and made me right good cheer,” until the Bishop of Meath and others came later in the day to escort him to Dublin.

During the rebellion of Lord Offaly or the “Silken Thomas,” the O’Tooles and O’Byrnes ravished the country north of Dublin, and having plundered Howth, they “went to Malahyde and burst open the gates till they came to the hall-doors, when as they were resisted with great difficulty,” they returned homeward.

After the rising had been suppressed, the unfortunate young leader executed, and his family attainted, Gerald, afterwards 12th Earl of Kildare, only escaped from the English Government through the assistance of his aunt, the Lady “Aleanora” FitzGerald, and for the protection she had afforded her nephew she was detained at Malahide Castle awaiting the King’s pleasure. From here, in 1545, was dated her petition for pardon to Henry VIII., which he granted.

Lord Strafford tried to gain some of the Talbot possessions and privileges in 1639, but without success.

John Talbot was banished to Connaught for taking part in the rebellion of 1641, and his castle and 500 acres were granted on a seven-year lease in 1653 to Miles Corbet, who was Chief Baron. His house in Dublin had been visited by plague, and he took up residence at Malahide about Christmas time. Here he lived until obliged to fly for his life, and he was afterwards executed as a regicide.

There is a tradition that Cromwell was his guest at Malahide during his tenancy.

A picture appearing on the Down Survey Map (1655-56) represents the castle as having a large tower at one end, and the notes describe it as “a good stone house therein, with orchards and gardens and many ash-trees, with other outhouses in good repair.”

Upon the Restoration the Talbot family came again into possession.

Close to the castle are the ruins of a church which was erected and endowed by the Talbot family, and where they were buried for many years. Here is the altar tomb of Maud Plunkett, “The Bride of Malahide,” who was “maid, wife, and widow on one and the same day.” Her third husband was Sir Richard Talbot. The tomb is particularly remarkable because of the effigy which represents Lady Talbot as wearing the “horned coif” of 1412, and it is the only representation of this fashion in Ireland.

It is said the church was unroofed by Corbet, either to make bullets of the lead or to cover a barn with the other material.

The history of the castle would be hardly complete without mention of the famous ghost “Puck,” who has a fancy for roaming the grounds in the costume he wore when he was an inhabitant of the castle. There are many stories regarding his appearances, amongst which is the following authenticated account: Not so many years ago a naval officer who had just been appointed to the Coast Guard Station at Malahide received an invitation to dine at the castle. On his way up the avenue he met a strange figure in a fantastic costume whom he thought was some one masquerading. Not liking to be made the subject of a joke, he threatened to knock him down unless he told him what he wanted, and upon getting no reply he endeavoured to carry out his threat, but his arm passed through his adversary, and he thought it advisable to hasten his steps to the castle. It was not likely to improve his appetite, however, to find the portrait of the strange figure looking down upon him from the dining-room wall.

Richard Talbot was created Lord Talbot de Malahide in 1831, and the present peer is 5th Baron.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.

D’Alton, “History of County of Dublin.” Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries. Carew MSS., Book of Howth. Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” Burke, “Visitation of Seats and Arms.” M’Mahon, “Malahide Castle” in “Historic Houses.” Burke’s Peerage. Parliamentary Gazetteer. P., “Malahide Castle,” in _Dublin Penny Journal_. Prendergast, “The Plantation of the Barony of Rhone,” in _Journal of Kilkenny Archæological Society_.

_MALLOW CASTLE_

The town of Mallow is situated on the River Blackwater, seventeen miles north-north-west of Cork, in the Barony of Fermoy.

The ruins of the castle are to the south of the town upon rising ground commanding the river. They consist of a great rectangular building running north and south, and measuring about 80 feet in length and 30 in breadth on the inside. It has thirty-one Tudor windows, which are generally large and square, having two series of oblong lights, three or five in number, and a window on the north contains as many as eight.

The structure is unroofed, and the floors being of wood have almost entirely disappeared. It was defended by three towers on the western side. The round tower at the north-west angle contained a clock until the middle of the last century. The centre tower measures about 12 feet by 15, and its door-head is depressed. The south-west tower has a five-sided exterior, and inside the upper part is circular, and the lower portion pentagonal.