MacDermot were both slain before the walls. Five years later the castle
was taken by the English and Hugh and Comac MacDonough imprisoned.
Almost immediately, however, the fortress was surprised by Tomaltach
and Duagal MacDonough.
Sir Richard Bingham recovered Ballymote in 1584 and placed his brother
George in charge with seven warders, while he also carried off
MacDonough as hostage. At this time sixteen quarters of the best land
were set aside for the castle’s maintenance, which seems to have given
rise to a great deal of jealousy regarding its custody. The year after
its capture Sir Richard applied to be made constable, with a lease of
the fortress for sixty years.
In 1587, writing to Mr. Treasurer Wallop, he states he is willing to
give up Ballymote if he is refunded the money he has laid out upon it.
The following year George Goodman and Thomas Wood seem to have been
constables.
The Irish burnt the town and drove the garrison back to the castle
in 1593, and two years later O’Conor Sligo petitioned the Government
for the fortress. The next year there was an unsuccessful attempt to
surprise it, and this year O’Conor Sligo occupied it upon his return
from England.
Bingham managed to victual the castle across the Curlew mountains in
1595, but with the loss of many of his best soldiers, and in 1598 it
was betrayed to the MacDonoughs by two men the constable trusted. The
captors immediately put the fortress up to auction. There seems to have
been sharp bidding between Sir Conyers Clifford and Red Hugh O’Donnell,
but it was finally purchased by the latter for £400 and 300 cows.
O’Donnell remained in it until Christmas, and he continued to occupy
it at different times until 1601, being six months in residence after
his victory of the Yellow Ford. It was from here he set out for his
disastrous march to Kinsale.
He left Owen O’Gallagher as Governor, who handed the keys to Roderick
O’Donnell in 1602.
Two years after it was granted to Sir James Fullerton by James I., and
when he left Ireland to be tutor to Duke Charles (afterwards Charles
I.), the castle passed to Sir William Taaffe.
It was surrendered to Sir Charles Coote upon articles in 1652, which
are still preserved.
The chief conditions were that the garrison was to march away with
bag and baggage, and twenty days were to be allowed for the removal
of goods, during which time Major-General Taaffe and his family might
remain at the castle. After this he was to have a free pass to the
Continent, and Lady Taaffe was to be allowed to live at Ballymote,
on condition she did not use it against the State, and that the
Parliamentary forces might garrison it at any time.
In 1689 the castle was held for King James by Captain M’Donough. A
party under Captain Cooper was sent to reconnoitre the district, and
pursued M’Donough’s men to the drawbridge of the fortress.
Two years later Lord Granard summoned the castle, but the governor,
named O’Conor, refused to surrender. Thereupon he despatched Baldearg
O’Donnell and a thousand men to lay siege to the place. They brought
with them one 12-pounder and two small field-pieces, and as soon as
O’Conor saw the guns he surrendered, upon condition the garrison might
march out with their belongings and proceed to Sligo.
After this period the castle was dismantled, and the land subsequently
passed to the Gore Booths. Of late there has been some talk of erecting
a modern institution within the old walls.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Wood-Martin, “History of Sligo.”
O’Rorke, “History of Sligo.”
State Papers.
Atkinson, “Book of Ballimote.”
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Bagwell, “Ireland under the Tudors.”
_BALLYSHANNON CASTLE_
The name used by the early annalists to denote Ballyshannon, was
Athseanaigh, which signified the “Ford of Seanach,” who was ancestor
of the Princes of Tirconnell. “Bel” stands for mouth, and the modern
designation is a corruption of the Celtic name meaning “the entrance to
Seanach’s ford.”
The town is situated on both sides of the river Erne, about eleven
miles south-south-west of the town of Donegal, to the extreme south of
the county.
The castle was on the north bank of the river, and commanded the
principal ford. For this reason its possession was of immense
strategical importance, it being the key to the province of Tirconnell.
Of the great fortress of the O’Donnells only a small portion of one of
the walls remains. This is on the north side of the market yard, part
of it being incorporated with a grain store and part with a butter
shed. It is 10 feet high and 5 feet thick.
The fortress originally occupied the whole of the market square, and it
is most likely that its stones were used in the erection of a cavalry
barracks, which subsequently occupied the present market enclosure, but
which has now been removed.
Round the castle stretched a beautiful park, the name being still
preserved in some old leases. This extended almost to the summit of the
hill on the north. Quantities of human bones have been found in the
neighbourhood.
The castle was erected in 1423 by Niall, son of Turlough O’Donnell. In
1435 Naghtan O’Donnell gave it to Brian Oge O’Neill for promising him
assistance against the O’Neill. Brian, however, went treacherously to
his chief without O’Donnell’s knowledge, leaving his warders in the
castle. O’Neill, not approving of such double dealing, took him and
his two sons prisoners, cutting off a hand and a foot from each, under
which treatment one of the sons died.
The fortress was taken from O’Donnell’s warders in 1496 by his son
Hugh. His brother Con, with the assistance of Maguire, laid siege
to the castle and dislodged him. O’Neill possessed himself of the
stronghold in 1522, and slew the warders. It seems to have remained in
his possession until Sir Henry Sidney came north in 1566 and had it
delivered to him, as well as the castles of Donegal, Beleek, Bundrowes,
and Castle Sligo. All these fortresses he placed in the hands of
O’Donnell and his allies, who were at this time in high favour with
England.
The next year Shane O’Neill liberated Con O’Donnell and his brother,
who were at the time his prisoners, and the castles of Ballyshannon and
Beleek were delivered to Con.
About this time the Government began to look with alarm on the growing
power and popularity of the O’Donnells, and the State Papers of
the period contain notes regarding the advisability of garrisoning
Ballyshannon and the other fortresses of Tirconnell.
The regular military force under O’Donnell consisted of 1,500 foot and
300 horse, out of which the garrison of Ballyshannon numbered 200 foot
soldiers and 40 mounted men.
In 1584, Lord Deputy Perrot recommended the erection of a castle
and bridge at Ballyshannon, no doubt to counteract the power of
the O’Donnells’ fortress, which could hold the main ford against
all comers. Four years later the Lord Deputy dates a letter from
Ballyshannon, and about this time young Hugh O’Donnell was kidnapped
and imprisoned in Dublin Castle.
In 1592, Mr. Ralph Lane applied to Burghley, asking for the
custodianship and fee-farm of the castle and lands of Ballyshannon,
&c. The successful escape of Red Hugh, however, from Dublin Castle
seems to have placed the possibility of the Government’s disposing of
his ancestral home quite out of the question, and in 1592 the greatest
of the O’Donnells received a most royal welcome from his father’s
dependents in the north.
Arriving at Ballyshannon, where the O’Donnell warders still guarded
the fortress, the whole country flocked to meet him and offer their
congratulations on his escape.
The neighbourhood was in the most fearful state, being entirely overrun
by freebooters, against whom even the English were powerless--the
castles of Ballyshannon and Donegal alone remaining in the hands of the
O’Donnells.
After a most successful campaign against the marauders, Hugh O’Donnell
returned to Ballyshannon to undergo medical treatment for his feet,
which had been fearfully injured by travelling from Dublin to
Glenmalure in his house-shoes over the mountains and in bitter cold. He
did not recover entirely until the end of the year, as both his great
toes had to be amputated.
In 1594 Sir Ralph Lane, writing to Burghley, mentions that Hugh Roe
O’Donnell would have broken down Ballyshannon but that his mother
dissuaded him from it, assuring him that it might be defended with his
own forces. Yet this very year it was evidently in the hands of the
O’Donnells, and remained so until its capture in 1602.
The State Papers of this period are full of letters requesting money
and forces sufficient to take it, alleging that the fortress was the
“key of the province,” and no peace could be hoped for in the north
until it was garrisoned by English.
In the meantime the O’Donnells lived in royal state, and with lavish
hospitality entertained the surrounding chiefs, while their flag
floated from the battlements.
Sir George Carew observes of the Prince of Tirconnell: “O’Donnell is
the best lorde of fishe in Ireland, and exchangeth fishe allwayes with
foreign merchants for wyne, by which his call in other countryes is the
kinge of fishe.”
It was during a great assemblage of chiefs at Ballyshannon to organise
a raid on the English border, that the great Shane O’Neill became madly
enamoured of O’Donnell’s lovely daughter, Helen. He went to her father
and demanded her hand, but was informed that the lady was already
betrothed to Maguire, the young chieftain of Fermanagh, who held his
lands under suzerainty of O’Donnell. This young man had been educated
at the Spanish court, and was all that a maiden could wish in a suitor.
One evening the lovers left the castle together, for a stroll by the
river side, towards Belleek. Here, while Helen was singing to her harp,
O’Neill, who had followed them, broke in upon their happiness. Maguire
drew his sword to defend the lady, but he was no match for the great
chief from whom he quickly received his death wound. O’Neill placed the
fainting form of the fair Helen before him on his horse, and, with a
few followers, rode to Dungannon Castle. Her father at once called his
forces together, and followed to revenge the injury. The end of the
story has several variations, but the most probable seems to be that
O’Neill, finding the beautiful girl irreconcilable to the loss of her
handsome lover, returned her to her father. The world had, however,
lost its charm for her, and the rest of her short life was spent in
seclusion.
In 1597 the first determined attack was made on Ballyshannon. Sir
Conyers Clifford, Governor of Connaught, with four thousand men, foot
and horse, marched on the stronghold, accompanied by Donough, the
son of Connor, Murragh, Baron of Inchiquin, and other Irish nobles.
O’Donnell having all the fords guarded, they were obliged to cross the
river about half a mile west of Belleek. Here the Baron of Inchiquin
was shot through his armour, while his horse was standing in the deep
water below the ford, where he was encouraging the soldiers and saving
them from drowning.
The ordnance was landed by water and planted against the castle. The
siege lasted three days, but when the little garrison were thinking of
surrendering, help arrived from Tyrone, and the English were driven off
with great loss. The defenders of the castle numbered only eighty men,
and were commanded by a Scotchman named Owen Crawford.
During Red Hugh’s absence in Spain in 1602 the English took the
opportunity to again attack the fortress. The warders, seeing no hope
of relief, fled, after the walls had been battered by a big gun, and
Captain Digges took “that long desired place.”
Ballyshannon, with 1,000 acres, was reserved to the King in 1603, and
five years later Sir Henry Folliot was appointed Governor. In this year
the plot to seize the King’s castle of Ballyshannon was one of the
charges in the indictment against the Earls of Tyrone and Tirconnell.
In 1610 the castle, lands, and fishings were granted to Sir H. Folliot
for twenty-one years. He was raised to the peerage under the title of
Baron Folliot of Ballyshannon, 1619.
During the Jacobite troubles the castle was still used as a military
headquarters, and the town was for a time in the hands of the Royalists.
The land on which the ancient fortress stood is now part of the
Connolly estate, and was acquired by purchase from the Folliots.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Allingham, “Ballyshannon, its History and Antiquities.”
Donovan, “Annals of the Four Masters.”
Calendar of State Papers.
“The Donegal Highlands.”
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
_BALLYTEIGUE CASTLE_
This castle is situated in the townland of the same name upon the
shore of Ballyteigue Lough, in the County Wexford. The name signifies
“O’Teige’s town.”
The old fortress forms part of a modern dwelling-house, and the keep
has always been kept roofed and in good repair.
It was erected by Sir Walter de Whitty, one of the Norman settlers, the
name being spelt variously--Whythay, Whythey, Wytteye, Whittey, Wythay,
in old documents.
Sir Richard Whitty was summoned to Parliament as a baron by Edward
III., and his son Richard held three carucates of land in Ballyteigue
in 1335.
In 1408, as we learn from a MS. in the British Museum, the Castle
of Ballyteigue was burnt by Art M’Murrough Kavanagh on Tuesday, the
morning after the Feast of St. Barnabas.
Richard Whitty, of Ballyteigue, died in 1539, and his son Robert being
only fourteen at his father’s death, the custody of Ballyteigue was
granted to John Devereux during his minority. The estate contained 3
manors, 3 carucates, and 523 acres.
The manor and castle of Ballyteigue were in the possession of Richard
Whittie in 1624 and 1634.
The estate was forfeited in the time of the Commonwealth, and was
granted to Colonel Brett. It afterwards passed into the hands of the
Sweenys, and subsequently to the Colcloughs, a branch of the family of
Tintern Abbey.
In 1798 the castle was the residence of John Colclough, one of the
leaders of the Wexford insurgents. He was only twenty-nine when the
rebellion broke out.
As soon as Bagnal Harvey heard that Lord Kingsborough’s terms for the
surrender of Wexford would not be ratified, he hastened to Ballyteigue,
but Colclough and his wife and child had already fled to one of the
Saltee Islands, about ten leagues from Wexford. He followed them, but
the island was searched, and the fugitives taken in a cave. They were
conveyed to Wexford, and Harvey and Colclough were immediately tried
and hanged. Colclough’s head is buried in St. Patrick’s Cemetery,
Wexford.
His little daughter and only child inherited Ballyteigue. She
afterwards married Captain Young, and both lived in the castle until
their death. Their only daughter sold the house to Mr. Edward Meadows,
from whom it passed to Mr. Thomas Grant.
A legendary tale of “Sir Walter Whitty and his cat,” published some
years ago by the late M. J. Whitty, editor of the _Liverpool Post_, may
have originated from the lion which is represented in the Whitty arms.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
MS. Ordnance Survey.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Book of Inquisitions of Leinster.
R. Madden, “United Irishmen.”
“Balliteigue Castle,” in _The People_.
Joyce, “Irish Place Names.”
_BARBERSTOWN CASTLE_
This castle is situated in the parish of Straffan, County Kildare, in
the barony of North Salt, about a mile north of the village of Straffan.
The name is spelt variously Barberstowne, Barbeston, Barbieston,
Barbiestowne, Barbiston, Barbitstowne, Barbyeston.
The present building consists of a battlemented rectangular keep
considered by experts to be of thirteenth-century construction, and
measuring at its greatest height 52 feet. It is divided into three
floors. The lower room, which is vaulted to the height of 17 feet, is
18 feet long by 15½ feet wide, and the walls are 4½ feet in thickness.
The entrance is situated at the north-west angle, above which are two
grooves of sufficient width to stand in, and evidently intended for the
protection of the doorway.
The room above the vault is of slightly greater proportions than that
below, owing to the walls being of less thickness.
Two small rectangular towers are joined to the main building on
the south side’s western angle, and west side’s northern angle
respectively. The latter contains a winding stone stair of fifty-three
steps leading to the now slated roof. The original crenelated loops for
musketry have here and there been enlarged to admit more light. The
summit of the watch tower is reached from the roof by a short flight of
nine steps.
A man is said to be interred between the top of the main stair and the
roof of the tower. His family having held the castle by a lease which
expired when he was put underground, determined to evade relinquishing
their hold on the property by keeping him always above the earth.
The southern tower consists of three storeys corresponding with those
in the keep, and had formerly doors opening from the main rooms. Next
the southern wall is a curious slit in each floor just wide enough to
permit of a ladder giving access to the apartment above or below. The
ground floor in this tower is of very small dimensions, being about 3
feet square.
The walls of the keep slope considerably at the outside base so as
to prevent an enemy getting out of gun shot by closing up to the
building. Large modern windows now light each floor, and the whole is
in excellent preservation.
A flue runs in the thickness of the wall on the north side, which
is crowned by a handsome brick chimney, evidently added when the
Elizabethan dwelling-house which adjoins the castle was erected. A
still more modern house has been added to the north of this building,
so that at present three distinct periods are represented by the castle
and houses, which are all joined together.
The remains of an old wall near the fortress points to its having once
been of larger dimensions. Tradition states that an underground passage
leads from the castle to a lodge near the roadway. Some fine old yews
of great age adorn the lawn, similar to those which are to be seen near
Maynooth Castle.
Locally it is believed that Barberstown was once the residence of the
King of Leinster, but its architecture does not bear out the tradition.
In 1622 William Sutton, of Barberstown, is mentioned in an inquisition,
and in 1630 it is stated that he held it as tenant of the Earl of
Kildare.
Nicholas Sutton was in possession of the castle in 1641, and at a
subsequent date it must have passed to the Crown, who granted it in
1666 to John King, first Lord Kingston.
His son Robert, the second Baron, was exempted from mercy by
Tyrconnell’s proclamation, and his estate sequestered in 1689.
Richard, Earl of Tyrconnell, then became possessed of the fortress,
and, strange to say, that although he could only have retained it until
he was attainted in 1692, yet it was known for many years as Tyrconnell
Castle. Lady Tyrconnell retained some of her husband’s lands in the
neighbourhood to a much later date.
Bartholomew Vanhomrigh, Esq., of Dublin, father of the famous Vanessa,
bought Barberstown from the Crown in 1703 for £1,300. James Young was
the tenant at the time, and the property is thus described: “In the
parish of Straffan, distant from Dublin ten miles, Naas 5, and Manooth
3; is Arable Medow and Pasture, on it 1 Castle in repair, with a large
stone House adjoyning, and Orchard, also 8 Cabbins, with Gardens.”
At the beginning of the next century it was occupied by a family named
Douglas, and it was purchased by the Bartons, of Straffan, in 1826.
They restored and re-castellated it, and it still remains in their
possession.
Subsequently it was occupied by Admiral Robinson, and the present
tenant is S. F. Symes, Esq.
A most extensive view is obtained from the summit.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
A Book of Postings and Sale of the Forfeited and other Estates, &c.
Book of Survey and Distributions.
Book of Inquisitions, Province of Leinster.
S. Lee, “Dictionary of National Biography.”
_BARGY CASTLE_
This castle takes its name from the Barony of Bargy, County Wexford, on
the borders of which it is situated, about eight miles south-west of
the town of Wexford, on the margin of Lake Tucumshane.
The fortress is in excellent preservation, having been several times
restored. It consists of a square keep, to which two wings have been
added at more recent dates, probably in the fifteenth and seventeenth
centuries.
The chief entrance to the Castle was formerly by the central tower,
where a stained-glass window bearing the Harvey Arms is now to be seen.
On the outside of the embrasure is a stone carved with figures supposed
to represent Queen Elizabeth and her court, and far above this slab may
be seen a large machicolation, once used for hurling missiles for the
defence of the door. The tower is ascended by a winding stone stair,
off which are openings commonly known as “murdering holes.” The keep,
in which are several rooms, is separated from the rest of the mansion
by a large door at the foot of the stairway. A beautiful view can be
had from the battlements.
In the north wing of the castle is a small panelled room, and not far
from it a carved oak partition bears with a cross and shamrock the
following on the reverse side: “I.H.S. 1591. R.R. M.S.”
A beautiful oak staircase leads from the chief apartments.
The castle grounds were formerly entered from the south, where the old
piers and gateway still remain. At the back of the castle is part of
the old moat or fosse, which now contains large cellars.
The fortress is usually supposed to have been erected by the Rossiter
family at the beginning of the fifteenth century, though some
authorities state it owes its origin to Hervey de Montmorency, one of
the first Norman invaders.
William Rowcester, of Bridge of Bargie (Bargie Castle), was pardoned
for felony in 1540. He is described as a “horseman,” which, according
to Hollinshead was a position next to that of captain or lord. About
1553 Nicholas Roche was granted the wardship and marriage of his son
Richard.
The Most Rev. Michael Rossiter, Bishop of Ferns, is supposed by some to
have been born in Bargy Castle, in 1648, but the Down Survey maps of
1657 describe the castle as being in ruins.
The last Rossiter to own Bargy was William Rossiter, who took part in
the defence of Wexford against Cromwell. His lands were confiscated in
1667, and Bargy Castle was granted to William Ivory, Esq.
After this it passed to the Harvey family, and here Beauchamp Bagnal
Harvey was born, who commanded the Wexford insurgents in 1798.
Bargy was confiscated to the Crown, after the suppression of the
rebellion; and Bagnal Harvey, who owned the castle, and Colclough were
captured on the Saltee Islands and executed at Wexford.
Troops were quartered at Bargy from 1798 to 1808, when the property was
restored to James Harvey, brother of the late owner.
It is said that when a detachment of soldiers was sent to take
possession of the fortress in 1798 they indulged so freely in the
contents of the great wine cellars, that some of them injudiciously
disturbed the hives in the garden, whereupon the bees attacked their
tormentors with such force that some of the soldiers died from the
effects, and others were pursued by the irate insects to the very town
of Wexford.
Mr. Harvey lived in London, and the castle gradually fell into
dilapidation until his death, when it passed to Councillor John Harvey,
who restored it. Major Harvey, who died in 1880, is entombed in a
mausoleum before the hall door. The castle was afterwards let to Mr.
Leared, who re-roofed and improved it.
Ghostly tappings are reported to be heard on the castle windows between
10 and 11 p.m., while a phantom carriage is said to be sometimes
audible driving up the disused avenue, when the horses’ hoofs cease
before the old entrance in the keep, and a minute or two later the
coach is again heard returning by the old drive.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Act of Settlement.
Down Survey Maps.
Fiants of Edward VI.
Doyle, “Notes and Gleanings of Co. Wexford.”
Madden, “The United Irishmen.”
Article and letter in _The People_.
_BARRYSCOURT CASTLE_
The fine ruins of this fortress are situated about half a mile south of
Carrigtohill, in the County Cork.