not to be accurately known, but the designation has been recorded as in
use during the reign of Henry III. The Knights of Glin, also called the
Black Knights, belong to the great Geraldine family, and owed a certain
allegiance to the Earls of Desmond, which is described as follows:
“Divers customs of meat and drink, together with rising of men at the
Earl’s calling to the number of 60 kearne.”
The housing and feeding of some of the Earl’s men were also included.
Glin is a small market town and seaport in the Barony of Shanid, in
the County Limerick, at the junction of a rivulet with the Shannon,
twenty-six miles west by south of Limerick City.
Of the ancient fortress situated in the town, nothing now remains but
the keep. It measures 38 feet by 35 externally, and the walls are 8
feet in thickness. It is at present about 40 feet in height, but was
at one time crowned by a turret in the eastern corner. The courtyard
walls were 102 feet in length and 92 in breadth. The chief entrance, to
the north, was defended by a semicircular outwork. The great hall was
situated on the western side of the courtyard, while the keep was in
the south-west corner. The two eastern angles were defended by small
towers. A moat surrounded the castle filled with water from the Shannon
tributary.
The Knight of Glin was a very important chieftain in Limerick,
maintaining an ordinary force of ten horsemen and a hundred and forty
foot soldiers. During the Desmond wars he shared the fortunes of the
Earl, and in 1569 both the Knight and the son were attainted, the
latter being executed.
The estates were, however, very shortly afterwards restored, and in the
rebellion of the Northern Earls and the “Sugan Earl” of Desmond, the
Knight of Glin was again amongst the disaffected.
In the summer of 1600 Sir George Carew started on an expedition to the
west to restore peace in that quarter. He had with him a force of one
thousand five hundred men, and was accompanied by the Earl of Thomond.
The army marched through Kerry to Askeaton, where there was a halt
for four days awaiting provisions, which had been sent by water from
Limerick. On the 4th of July they marched twelve miles to Ballintare,
the enemy moving in front within view. The next morning’s march brought
them before Glin Castle, the rebels still offering no opposition.
The Four Masters describe the route taken as having been from Limerick
along the northern bank of the Shannon through Clare, the troops
ferrying themselves across the river at Glin, but it is most likely
that Sir George Carew’s biographer gives the correct line of march.
Captain Gawin Harvey’s ship, with the ordnance on board, had been
anchored in the Shannon for fourteen days awaiting their arrival, and
the guns were at once unshipped upon the arrival of the troops.
That night the forces entrenched themselves between the castle and the
river, and the next day, under the guise of a parley, they managed to
plant the cannon without opposition.
The next day the Knight of Glin, who was not within the castle,
asked for a safe conduct to the English camp, which was granted. Upon
arrival he demanded to see the President, but was refused unless upon
an unconditional surrender. This he would not consent to, and was,
therefore, ordered to depart. Seeing his son in the camp, whom he had
delivered as a hostage some time previously, he seemed to hesitate,
but as he still held out for terms the Earl of Thomond broke off
the negotiations, and the Knight and his attendants retired to a
neighbouring hill to watch the attack.
Later the Constable of the fortress sent a message to the Earl of
Thomond begging an interview, which was granted. He began by stating
that the love he bore the Earl, being a Thomond man himself, had
induced him to warn the English to depart, as the Earl of Desmond with
three thousand Connaught men were only two miles off, and would most
likely attack the camp and drive them all into the river. The Earl
laughed at his forebodings, and told him to deliver the castle and so
save himself and the warders from death. This offer he refused, and the
President, hearing he had done so, sent a message to say that he hoped
to place his head on a stake in two days’ time.
One of the cannon becoming clogged, Sir George Carew ordered it to be
filled with a charge in inverted order and the fire put to the mouth,
so as to clear the touch-hole by the explosion. This was carried out
with great success, much to the relief of the besiegers.
A fire of small shot was kept up from the castle at the ordnance, and
the President, placing the Knight’s son on one of the cannon, sent a
message to the garrison to say he had given them a mark to aim at. The
Constable replied that the Knight of Glin might have more sons, and
that the child should not deter him from firing.
Sir George Carew, however, removed the child, and commenced the
battery. A breach was made into the cellar under the great hall, one
gunner only being killed.
Captain Flower then led the attack and entered the hall through the
breach, forcing the ward to retire. The flag of the besiegers was
hoisted from the turrets of the hall, and night coming on Captain
Slingsby was ordered to hold the position until the morning.
A dropping fire was kept up all night. The Constable, seeing that to
successfully hold the castle was impossible, tried to escape with some
of the warders, but he and others were killed in the attempt, one only
getting away. His head was placed upon a stake in the camp as the
President had said.
The rest of the garrison retired to the keep. In the morning the
attackers burned the heavy wooden door which guarded the stairway, but
they had to wait two hours for the smoke to clear away. As soon as it
had done so, one of the garrison appeared to ask for the lives of his
comrades if they surrendered, but it appears he gave himself up before
an answer was returned.
The officers and men then ascended the stairs in single file as the
width of the passage necessitated, but met with no opposition, the
garrison having retired to the battlements, which were protected only
by one door.
Here a terrible hand to hand encounter took place. Some of the warders
were killed, while the rest jumped from the parapet into the water
below, and were either drowned or killed by the guards stationed
beneath the tower.
The English lost ten soldiers and one ensign, while about twenty-one
men were wounded. Of the defenders of the castle about eighty men were
killed, while the Four Masters state that some women and children also
lost their lives. They remark that the place would not have been so
easily won had not the “Earl of Desmond’s people dispersed from him.”
The rebels had burned the town of Glin upon the approach of the Royal
troops.
During the rising the castle had been used as a storehouse for the
“Sugan Earl’s” forces, and a Limerick merchant called Anthony Arthurs
seems to have dispensed his goods from it.
Sir George Carew placed a guard of twenty-one soldiers in it under the
command of Captain Nicholas Mordant.
Edmund FitzGerald, Knight of the Valley, was restored to most of his
estates in 1603, and six years later he appealed to the Lords of the
Council against Patrick Crosby obtaining Glin Castle by the King’s
letter, on the pretext that it was kept from the Knight to prevent his
rebelling. Crosby had undertaken to repair and fortify the fortress at
his own cost. The Knight stated he had been pardoned by Lord Mountjoy,
that his lands had been restored, and shortly afterwards the castle as
well.
The next year Sir Arthur Chichester explains that the building was
occupied only by Anthony Arthur, who sold wines in it, and that he had
therefore given it to Crosby. He also stated that the Knight’s eldest
son was abroad.
In 1681 the castle was in the possession of Major FitzGerald.
The present Glin Castle, seat of Desmond FitzJohn Lloyd FitzGerald,
Knight of Glin, is situated about a mile west of the town. Over the
yard gate is an engraved stone bearing the following inscription:
“Edmond Gerrald, Knight of the Vally. Onnor Cartie, his wife. Fear God
always and remember the Poor. I.H.S. Anno Domoni, 1615.”
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Pacata Hibernia (Dublin reprint, 1810).
J. Dowd, “County of Limerick.”
Calendar of State Papers.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Carew MSS.
Donovan, “Annals of the Four Masters.”
Journal of Thomas Dineley (_Kilkenny Archæological Society’s Journal_).
_GREENCASTLE, COUNTY DONEGAL_
This castle is situated on the west side of the entrance to Lough
Foyle, two and a half miles north-east of Moville, in the Barony of
Innishowen.
It was erected upon a rock and defended by two towers which contained
the chief apartments, while a third tower defended the northern end.
It is built of green fire stone, from which its present name may have
been derived.
In Macator’s map, which was published in 1629, it is marked as “New
Castle,” and it is still known in Irish by that name.
Hanmer’s “Chronicle” and Grace’s “Annals” state that Arx Viridis in
Ultonia was thrown down in 1260, so that it is likely that the present
building, which was erected by Richard de Burgo, the Red Earl of
Ulster, in 1305, replaced a former fortress.
In 1332 William de Burgo, or the “Dun Earl,” owned the fortress, which
he had inherited from his father, and having taken prisoner Walter,
son of Sir Walter de Burgo, he starved him to death in the castle. Sir
Arthur Chichester excavated one of the pillars of the dungeon in which
it is supposed he was confined, and a mark was discovered that most
likely had held a ring to which the prisoner was chained. The “dreary
and dismal” prisons are still to be seen.
The Dun Earl was stabbed to death the next year in revenge for the
murder.
The following legend is told regarding Walter de Burgo’s death. The
Earl had a beautiful daughter who one day, in
[Illustration: GREENCASTLE, COUNTY DONEGAL.]
crossing the sands on the shore under Benevenagh, became engulfed in
quicksands, and was nearly losing her life when Sir Walter Burk’s son,
who was serving in the army of O’Neill and O’Donnell, seeing her danger
from the heights above rushed down and saved her from the peril.
The same year this young man was taken prisoner by the girl’s father in
his war with the O’Donnells and starved to death at Greencastle. The
Earl one day, during his unfortunate victim’s captivity, discovered his
daughter carrying food to the prisoner, and seizing her by the hair,
dragged her to the battlements and hurled her over on to the rocks
below.
The fortress was for many years in possession of the O’Dohertys.
In 1555 Calvagh O’Donnell went to Scotland to raise forces with the
help of Mac Calin (Gillaspick Don), and returning with them and a
cannon called _gonna cam_, or “crooked gun,” he set to work and
demolished the New Castle.
It was, however, reported as wardable in 1586. The last of the
O’Dohertys to hold the fortress was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, but
shortly afterwards he went into rebellion, and his estate was forfeited.
In 1610 it was granted with other property to Sir Arthur Chichester
with an allowance to maintain the garrison. Two years later he asked
to be allowed for horsemen at Greencastle instead of the ten warders,
and in 1615 Lord Chichester was granted Greencastle for three lives by
letters patent.
In 1752 it was on the Earl of Donegal’s estate.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
O’Donovan, “Annals of the Four Masters.”
MS. Ordnance Survey.
Stokes, “Pococke’s Tour in Ireland in 1752.”
State Papers.
Carew MSS.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Blackley, “A Tour through Innishowen.”
_GREENCASTLE, COUNTY DOWN_
Upon the northern shore of Carlingford Lough, in the Barony of Mourne,
four and a half miles south-west of Kilteel, County Down, are situated
the ruins of this castle. It is a very fine specimen of Norman
architecture, and was erected soon after the landing of the first
English settlers so as to secure communication between the Pale and
the outlying district of Lecale, as well as to command the entrance to
Carlingford Lough.
At present the remains chiefly consist of the keep, which was a high
rectangular building, with square towers at the angles. A winding stair
in the south-west turret leads to the top. The stone floor of the great
hall, measuring 70 feet by 40, is supported by arches which form vaults
in the basement. The upper floors have disappeared, and were probably
of wood.
The traces of extensive outworks can be seen round the building. On the
west side stands a house which is at present inhabited by a farmer, but
which for many years formed the chief residence of the Bagnall family
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The castle belonged to the Du Burgos or Burkes, Earls of Ulster, and
in 1312 Sir Maurice, the son of Thomas, married Catherine, daughter of
the “Red Earl” of Ulster, and the next day, being the 16th of August,
Thomas, the 2nd Earl of Kildare, “a prudent and wise man,” married her
sister, Lady Joan de Burgh, also in the castle. The Lady Joan had two
other married sisters, one being the
[Illustration: GREENCASTLE, COUNTY DOWN.]
wife of King Robert Bruce, and the other Countess of Desmond.
In 1335 there was an order to send six “balistas” to furnish “Viride
Castrum,” or the Greencastle. The same year William de Logan was
ordered to pay Henry de Maunderville 20 marks out of the rents of the
late Earl of Ulster, which were in the King’s hands, on account of
the minority of the heir. This reward was for De Maunderville having
twice relieved the castle of Greencastle with men-at-arms when it was
besieged by the “felons” of Ulster.
It was again attacked by the Irish in 1343, and this time it was
carried by storm and dilapidated, but was shortly afterwards restored.
The late Constable, William de Doun, received pardon in 1356 for having
seized and imprisoned Rosea, daughter of Richard Foy.
During Henry IV.’s reign there was only one constable between the
castles of Carlingford and Greencastle. It is reported that Stephen
Geron received £20 a year for the guardianship of Greencastle and £5
for Carlingford.
In 1403 John Moore, who was then constable, petitioned for a rise
of salary, and he was granted £40 a year on condition he spent 10
marks of it on repairs. The amount was to be paid out of the rents of
Carlingford, Cooley, and “le Mourne.”
None but Englishmen were permitted to hold the appointment in 1495.
Notwithstanding this, when M’Donell made his submission in 1542 he
requested to be granted Greencastle, and the lands lying waste around
it, for which favour he promised military service.
The Government did not evidently see their way to accede to his
request, and seven years later it is reported that the fortress was in
a “wretched condition.”
In 1552 it was granted to Sir Nicholas Bagnall, in whose family’s
possession it remained for many years.
Sir Arthur Chichester was granted means to provide ten warders for
Greencastle in 1612, but this does not seem to have interfered with
the Bagnall possession, as in 1620 Arthur Bagnall held the manors and
lordships of Greencastle and Mourne.
Three years later it is recommended that the ward be moved from Culmore
to Greencastle, and the stronghold was garrisoned during the rebellion
of 1641.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
J. O’Laverty, “Diocese of Down and Connor.”
W. Harris, “County of Down.”
R. Praeger, “Official Guide to County Down.”
State Papers.
Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.”
Carew MSS.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
[Illustration: HOWTH CASTLE.]
_HOWTH CASTLE_
About seven miles east-north-east of Dublin, in the Barony of Coolock,
is situated the village of Howth, on the promontory of the same name.
A short way from the town, nestling under the lee of the hill is the
castle, the seat of the Earls of Howth.
It is a long battlemented building, with square towers at each end.
A large flight of steps gives admission to the hall, which extends
along the whole length of the building. Here is preserved the
two-handed sword of Sir Amoricus Tristram (the founder of the St.
Laurence family in Ireland) with which he is said to have fought his
first Irish battle. Also three inscribed bells, which were removed from
the Abbey, are preserved in the castle.
The fortress seems to have undergone much alteration since its first
erection, and the great gateway tower, which now flanks the main
building on one side, appears to be of sixteenth-century architecture
and is no doubt part of the original building.
The stronghold was erected in 1564 by Christopher, the twentieth baron,
but whether it was built on the site of an older castle or whether Corr
Castle, also situated on the peninsular, was the ancient fortress of
the St. Laurence family, does not seem to be known.
The mortar of the early building, like the Tower of London, is reported
to have been mixed with blood. Until far into the nineteenth century
the castle was surrounded by a fosse.
There are several inscribed and figured stones over the entrance to the
stable-yard, and also one built into the wall near the garden gate.
Sir John de Courcy and his sister’s husband, Sir Amoricus Tristram,
arrived at Howth in 1177. Their companionship in arms is said to have
been the outcome of a compact to share each other’s fortunes made in
the Church of St. Mary at Rouen.
Upon the arrival of the ship at Howth, De Courcy, being ill, remained
on board, while Sir Amoricus took command of their forces in the first
engagement with the Danes, who fiercely opposed their landing.
After a great battle, in which Sir Amoricus lost seven blood relations,
the enemy were completely defeated at the bridge of the Evora, and the
lands of Howth were granted to the victor as a reward of prowess.
He then accompanied Sir John de Courcy to Down, where he also gained
possessions and did great deeds of valour. A story is told that after
the first battle in the north Sir Amoricus was found leaning on his
shield under a hedge, bleeding from three large wounds, and having
sustained himself by eating the wild roses and honeysuckle which grew
within his reach. His life was despaired of for nine days, but he
eventually recovered, and lived to die heroically among a group of
outnumbered infantry, having slain his horse so that he could not save
himself by flight.
The St. Laurence coat of arms is a shield with cross swords and roses
in a bloody field, which may have originated from the wild flowers Sir
Amoricus gathered.
An early chronicler says of him that he might “be chosen from amongst a
thousand knights for beauty and heroic courage, as well as for humility
and courtesy to his inferiors, yielding to none but in the way of
gentleness.”
After his death his sons gradually lost his northern possessions, and
King John confirmed the grant of the lands of Howth to the third baron
by charter. It may have been at this time that the family name was
changed from Tristram to St. Laurence. There seems to be no historical
evidence for the tradition that the name was altered to commemorate a
victory gained upon St. Laurence’s Day.
In 1575, as Grace O’Mailley was returning from her famous visit to
Queen Elizabeth she landed at Howth, but found the castle gates closed,
the reason assigned being that it was the dinner hour. Shocked at such
want of Irish hospitality she seized the young heir, who was playing on
the strand, and carried him off to her castle in Mayo. She refused to
restore him until she received a promise that the gates of Howth Castle
should never again be closed at dinner hour. This child was Nicholas,
afterwards twenty-first baron. A picture at the castle is supposed to
represent the incident.
Lord Mountjoy, as Lord Deputy, and Sir George Carew, as Lord President
of Munster, landed at Howth in 1599, and spent a night at the castle
before proceeding to Dublin.
In 1607 the State Papers report that the old Countess of Kildare
and Lady Dowager of Delvin and her children were at Howth in Sir
Christopher St. Laurence’s house, and the following year it is
mentioned that Sir John Talbot’s house is near the castle of Howth.
King William slept a night in the castle in 1690, and his room was kept
unaltered from the time he had used it.
Dean Swift was a constant visitor at Howth, and an original portrait of
him, painted by Bindon in 1735, hangs in the castle.
Near the garden stands the old elm known as “The Tristram Tree,” which
has been carefully propped and preserved in every way on account of the
tradition attaching to it. It is said that as long as this tree lives
there will be an heir to the noble house which was founded by Sir
Amoricus Tristram.
To “follow as closely as Lord Howth’s Rat” was at one time a common
simile for any faithful or attached animal, and the legend which gave
rise to the saying is the following:--
One of the former Lords of Howth had retired to his castle to retrench
a somewhat diminished heritage, and one night while living thus in
solitary state there was a fearful storm.
Word was brought to the fortress that a ship was being wrecked under
the cliffs near the Abbey, and every one rushed off to the spot to
render what assistance was possible, and amongst them Lord Howth.
Every effort was, however, unavailing, and the ship went down
apparently with all hands. But as morning broke the eager watchers
espied a frail, roughly-put-together raft floating towards them, and on
this was a beautiful woman, with a wooden chest beside her.
As soon as she landed Lord Howth courteously offered her the
hospitality of the castle, and ordered his servants to carry the heavy
coffer thither.
She continued to live at Howth Castle, and her host became passionately
enamoured of her, and wished to marry her, but she persistently refused
his offers, and urged him daily to seek another bride.
At last he gave way to her entreaties, and became affianced to the
daughter of a neighbouring nobleman.
As the time for the marriage drew near the fair stranger presented Lord
Howth with a ribbon wrought with strange characters, which she told him
to wear on his wrist and guard as his luck. Then she left the castle
and was heard of no more.
In due course Lord Howth brought home his bride, and with true womanly
curiosity she wanted to know why he never removed the ribbon from his
arm.
One night, while he was asleep, she untied it, and took it over to the
fire to decipher the inscription, but it accidentally ignited, and was
burnt to ashes.
Lord Howth was terribly distressed at its loss, declaring that his good
fortune would now forsake him.
Shortly after this there was a great feast in the castle. In the midst
of the festivities the dogs in the courtyard began to give tongue,
as if in pursuit of game, and in a minute a terrified rat had jumped
on the banqueting table, and, pausing before Lord Howth, looked up
piteously in his face for protection.
He ordered the dogs to be called off, and from that hour the rat never
left him.
His wife and family did not approve of his faithful attendant, and his
brother persuaded him to go to the Continent, and by thus crossing the
sea rid himself of the animal. However, the morning after his arrival
in France the rat was found sleeping on his bed. He then pushed on to
Marseilles, but not long after his arrival the rat entered his room wet
and draggled from its long journey.
The animal approached the fire to dry itself, when the nobleman’s
brother took up the poker in a rage and killed it with one blow.
“You have murdered me,” cried the Earl, and, falling back, he died.
The rat is sometimes said to have been white, and to reappear when evil
is about to befall the house of St. Laurence.
The present Lord Howth is the fourth earl.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
D’Alton, “History of Co. Dublin.”
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland.
Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.”
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Calendar of State Papers.
R. A., “The Abbey of Howth,” in _Dublin Penny Journal_.
_KILBARRON CASTLE_
“Broad, blue, and deep the Bay of Donegal
Spreads north and south, and far a-west before
The beetling cliffs, sublime and shattered wall,
Where the O’Cleary’s name is heard no more.”
T. D. MCGEE.