boom was eventually fixed and the remains of it could be seen at low
water so late as 1787.
The castle was next bombarded from the cathedral, but still the brave
defenders held out. Then mines were begun in three places, the roofs
being propped with dry timber smeared with tar. When completed this was
ignited and the cavern falling made a large breach in the wall of the
castle.
Seeing defence was no longer possible Captain Courtenay capitulated
on the 21st of June, obtaining honourable terms for himself and the
garrison. Lord Muskerry took possession the next day.
The captured cannon were used to reduce the neighbouring castles. It is
said that the great gun which was mounted on the platform next the town
took 35 yoke of oxen to draw it.
Ireton arrived at Limerick in 1651, and began to bombard the castle
from the foot of Thomond Bridge. As soon as a breach was effected
twenty dragoons, in complete armour, led by Captain Hackett, rushed
in, followed by infantry. The Irish fled across the bridge into the
further town, breaking two of the arches to prevent pursuit. Barrels of
gunpowder were found in the vaults of the castle with lighted matches
ready to ignite them.
It seems from the following inscription which was inserted in the
south-west tower near the platform that repairs were carried out
after these sieges: “Contrived by Lef. Vanderstam, General of their
Majesties’ Ordnance, Anno 1691-2.”
In 1787 infantry barracks for about four hundred men were erected
within the old walls.
The castle is now used as a Government ordnance store.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
M. Lenihan, “Limerick: Its History and Antiquities.”
J. Ferrar, “History of Limerick.”
J. Dowd, “Limerick and its Sieges.”
FitzGerald and M’Gregor, “History of Limerick.”
Proceedings of Kilkenny Archæological Society.
Joyce, “Irish Place Names.”
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
State Papers.
Carew MSS., with Book of Howth.
State Documents.
_LEA CASTLE_
This castle is situated on the banks of the Barrow in the north-east
corner of the Barony of Pornahinch, in the Queen’s County.
The name is sometimes spelt Ley or Leagh, and is said to signify “grey”
or “grey land,” though a legend traces its origin to the name of a
great chieftainess who lived, and was treacherously slain, on the plain
of Lea.
The fortress consisted of a three-storeyed rectangular building 60
feet by 46 feet, flanked by round towers and having walls varying in
thickness from 8 to 10 feet. The west side of the structure has been
blown up, but the remaining tower contains five rooms, one of them
having thicker walls than the rest, _i.e._, 13 feet instead of 12.
The centre of the castle was built on arches, and the projecting angles
of the towers were connected by a curtain wall nearly 8 feet thick.
The approach was by a causeway 100 feet in length. It was surrounded by
a ditch 25 feet wide, which could be filled by water from the Barrow.
From this it was called Port-na-hinch, or the “Castle of the Island,”
from which the barony takes its name. Inside the moat was a low wall,
which can still be traced. All the arches are round except one leading
from the causeway to the bawn, which is pointed.
Two drawbridges and two bastions defended the gate into the inner
ballium, which measured 140 feet by 130 feet. The remains of the
barbican can still be seen.
The outer ballium includes the bawn, and the inner one contained a
tennis court and tilt yard.
Some authorities state the castle was erected by Baron Offaly, while
again it is said to owe its origin in about 1260 to William de Vesey,
who had married the Earl of Derby’s daughter, whose mother was heiress
to William Mareschal, Lord Palatine of Lea. The daughter of O’More,
Prince of Leix, is also said to have built Lea Castle on the Barrow in
the marches of Inch, 1260.
[Illustration: LEA CASTLE (INTERIOR).]
It appears, however, to have been in existence in 1203, as there is an
order to the Justiciary of Ireland to have the castle delivered, as
well as other possessions, which had belonged to Gerald FitzMaurice,
and in 1257 William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, received a grant of the
wardship of Maurice, 2nd Baron of Offaly, and also his castles of Lea
and Geashill.
In 1264 a meeting was held at Castledermot to settle some dispute about
land in Connaught, but at it Maurice, Baron of Offaly, and his nephew,
John FitzThomas, seized Richard de Burgh, heir to the Earl of Ulster,
the Lord Justice Richard de Capella, Theobald Butler, and John Cogan,
and imprisoned them in Lea.
Thomas de Clare sold the wardship of Maurice Fitz-Gerald’s heirs and
the guardianship of Lea Castle to Sir William de Valence in 1270 for
3,500 marks. The wardship had been granted to De Clare by the King’s
eldest son. At this time, the Book of Howth states, it was the only
fortress held by the English in Offaly. In 1274, however, an order
was issued to restore the custody of FitzGerald’s heirs to Roger and
Matilda de Mortimer, who had, it seems, inherited the privilege, and De
Valence only having paid 2,300 marks was not held liable for the rest
of the money in consequence.
The castle was burnt by the O’Dempseys, O’Dunnes, and O’Carrols in
1284, and Theobald Verdon going to avenge the outrage was entirely
routed. It was shortly afterwards restored by De Vesey, the Lord
Justice of Ireland.
Here, with the assistance of Baron Offaly, he imprisoned the Red
Earl of Ulster and his brother in 1294, but they were liberated the
following year by order of the Parliament at Kilkenny, and the Pearl’s
sons were surrendered as hostages instead. It is said De Vesey then
quarrelled with John FitzThomas FitzGerald, Baron Offaly, and fled to
France to avoid meeting him in single combat, and by this means Lea
Castle lapsed again to the Geraldines.
John FitzThomas was ordered to repair to the King abroad in 1297, and
£40 was granted to him to fortify his Castle of Ley.
The castle was besieged and the town burnt in 1307 by the “tories” of
Offaly, but the former was relieved by John FitzThomas and Sir Edmund
Butler, afterwards Earl of Carrick.
Baron Offaly restored the fortress and erected a church with steeple
and bells, but in 1316 Robert Bruce burnt the castle and town, and
carried off the bells.
Sir Walter Eustis is said to have been stabbed to death in the castle
by his wife’s sister, daughter of the O’More, who had formerly rejected
his addresses, but upon the birth of her sister’s child, she murdered
Sir Walter in a fit of jealousy, and retired to the convent at Kildare,
where she confessed her crime and died penitent.
The O’Dempseys’ seized the fortress in 1329, but the next year it was
surrendered to Sir John Darcy, Lord Justice, who restored it to the
Earl of Kildare to keep for the King. The O’Dempseys again laid siege
to the castle in 1339, but were driven off by the Earl.
O’More, Chief of Leix, burnt Lea in the spring of 1346, but in the
following November he was defeated by the Earl of Kildare, who rebuilt
the town, castle, and church, but not the steeple.
The fortress was again taken by O’More and O’Dempsey in 1414. Seven
years later they were defeated near Kilkea Castle by the 6th Earl of
Kildare, nicknamed “Shaun Cam,” or Hump-backed John.
Lea Castle was restored to the Earl after the battle of the Red-bog of
Athy.
The Four Masters mention the castle in 1452.
In 1533 the Earl of Kildare furnished the stronghold with guns and
ammunition out of the King’s store, and in direct opposition to his
commands, which the Master of the Rolls pointed out to him in the
presence of the Bishop of Meath.
The following year it is reported to have been one of the six best
castles of the Geraldines, and it was the chief stronghold of Lord
Offaly, the “Silken Thomas,” during his rebellion, after the fall of
Maynooth.
There is a letter from the former constable of this latter fortress,
written in 1535, to Cromwell, saying that Lord Thomas had removed the
Countess’s apparel to Ley, as well as other valuables, and that he,
Boyce, had resigned his office in consequence of the insurrection.
The Carew MSS. record the Castle of Ley was of “no value” in 1537, and
state it was granted to James FitzGerald after the attainting of the
Earl. In 1548 he required two gunners at the King’s charge, and powder
and shot.
Thomas Scotte petitioned to lease it in 1549.
In 1554 the Lord Deputy, Thomas Earl of Sussex, is said to have taken
it from Patrick O’More, but it was regained by Anthony O’More in 1598,
after which he defeated Essex at the Pass of Ballybrittas, called the
“Pass of Plumes” from those worn by the gay English soldiers.
Lea was held by the Irish in 1641 upon the breaking out of the
rebellion, but afterwards the loyalists took possession under the
command of Lord Lisle. They planted an ash-tree to commemorate the
event which lived 170 years, and had a girth of from 29 to 33 feet,
while its shade had a diameter of 60 feet.
In 1642 Lord Castlehaven retook Lea, and at this time some of the brass
money known as St. Patrick’s halfpennies was struck here. These coins
have the letter L on them and are very rare.
O’Neill is said to have lodged in the castle.
The Parliamentary Colonels, Hudson and Reynolds, took and dismantled
the fortress in 1650.
It was repaired and held by lease under the Crown by an O’Dempsey until
confiscated after the fall of the Stuarts. In 1695 it was granted to
the Earl of Meath as part of Sir Patrick Trant’s estate.
A horse stealer called O’Dempsey and nicknamed “Shamas a Coppuil,” or
“James the Horse,” inhabited it at the beginning of the eighteenth
century until the Government interfered.
Hampden Evans owned it in 1791, and it afterwards passed to Viscount
Carlow.
The following legend was related by Widow Gorman in 1818 to Miss
French of Glenmolire, and noted by her:--
Redmond M’Comon O’Byrne, chief of Donamace and Leagh, had two gigantic
sons named Roderick and Maurice. The latter was married to a daughter
of The O’Neill and had one son called Connell.
Upon the death of the old chieftain O’Byrne, he divided his territory
between his sons, leaving Donamace to the elder, Roderick, and Leagh to
the younger, Maurice.
Roderick, believing he should have inherited all his father’s
possessions, determined to murder his brother.
[Illustration: LEA CASTLE (EXTERIOR).]
One stormy night he set out alone from Donamace, and having tied his
horse beneath a grove of ash-trees near the castle of Lea, he let
himself in by the postern, with the key of which his unsuspecting
brother had entrusted him.
Reaching Maurice’s chamber he murdered him in cold blood, but not
before his victim had cried out to his son to revenge his death by a
brother’s hand.
Roderick seized the body and, carrying it to where he had left his
horse, put it into a leather bag that he had brought with him. Arriving
at Dunamace he threw the body into a very deep well, thinking it would
never be discovered.
Maurice’s son, Connell, had heard his father’s cry for vengeance in
his dreams, but upon awaking and finding his father gone, with blood
stains on the floor and stairs, he knew he had actually heard his voice.
The young chieftain, armed with two great sabres of equal size,
proceeded to his uncle’s stronghold, and presenting himself before him,
demanded satisfaction. In the duel which followed both combatants were
killed, and it is said no grass grows in their footsteps on the rock
until this day.
The old well is still shown, and if two friends visit it together one
is said to die within the year.
There seems to be no historical record of the fortress ever having been
in possession of the O’Byrnes.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Grose, “Antiquities of Ireland.”
O’Byrne, “History of the Queen’s County.”
MS. Ordnance Survey.
Comerford, “Kildare and Leighlin.”
Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.”
Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.”
State Documents.
State Papers.
Carew MSS.
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
“Lea Castle, Queen’s Co.,” in _Dublin Penny Journal_.
Lord Walter FitzGerald, “Kilkea Castle,”
in _Journal of Kildare Archæological Society_.
Miss French, MS.
_LEAP CASTLE_
The ancient stronghold of the O’Carrolls, of Ely-O’Carrol, is situated
in the parish of Aghancon, in the Barony of Ballybritt, King’s County,
about five miles south-east of Birr.
Its former name of Leim-Ui-Bhanain denoted “The Leap of O’Banan,” and
it is still known as “The Leap” in the district.
There are several legends to account for its designation. One is that
two brothers came to the rock on which the castle is built, and they
decided that whichever of them survived, after leaping to the ground
below, should erect the stronghold. One of the two was killed by the
jump.
Another story of a leap is told of a period long after the castle was
built. Sometime during the sixteenth century the O’Carrolls’ fortress
was besieged by the English forces, and in a sortie the garrison took
prisoner a young Captain Darby, who was with the attacking party. The
room where he was imprisoned in the castle is still shown. The daughter
of the chief was deputed to carry him his food, which was delivered
through a hole in the wall. But the young Englishman made good use of
his slender opportunities by winning the heart of the Irish maid, so
that she connived at his escape by unbarring his prison. When running
down the stone stairs which led to the cell in which he had been
confined, he met her brother coming up, who raised the alarm regarding
the escaping captive. Nothing daunted, young Darby turned and
[Illustration: LEAP CASTLE.]
ascended to the battlements, where, it is said, he leaped from the
castle roof into a large yew-tree, the roots of which have only lately
been removed. That the young couple were eventually married is a
satisfactory ending to the romance, and certain it is that Leap Castle
passed to the Darby family as the marriage portion of an O’Carroll’s
daughter who married a Darby, son of an English knight.
The castle is supposed to have been built by the Danes prior to the
English invasion, during their conflicts in these parts with the more
recently landed Norwegians. The structure resembles their form of
defence, being of pyramidical shape, and built in the rubble masonry
of that period, with pre-Norman arches and small loopholes for the
discharge of arrows and javelins. The walls vary from 15 to 25 feet in
width. There are several stone stairways in the thickness of the walls,
and parts of them are brightly polished from constant use. The keep is
the oldest construction, and it forms the hall of the present edifice.
The wings, one at each side, were built at the end of the sixteenth or
beginning of the seventeenth century. That on the north-west connects
what is known as the “Priest’s House” with the main building. This
dwelling is of fourteenth-century masonry, and was used as the chief
residence of the family in times of peace.
In the top of the keep is situated what is known as “The Bloody
Chapel,” having been desecrated by one Teige O’Carroll, who murdered
his brother before the altar. It was formerly covered with a stone
roof, but this gave way last century. A curious old stone-fastening
remains that formerly received the bar of the door.
Off the chapel is the oubliette, formerly supplied with a spring
death-trap. Not so very long ago three cart-loads of bones were removed
from it and buried in consecrated ground. Bits of several old watches
were found among the remains.
Large dungeons are situated below the keep, and there are many
bricked-up passages and secret chambers. One of the former is said to
lead to a neighbouring rath. The guard-room on the south-east side is
hewn out of the rock. Numerous bones have been found in different parts
of the building.
The site of the castle was evidently chosen to guard the river ford and
the pass of the Slieve Bloom Mountains into Tipperary. Many bones have
been found in a field near the river. A village once surrounded the
castle, but only the ruins of the houses now remain.
The O’Carrolls, whose chief stronghold the castle was, are supposed to
have wrested it from its original builders, the Danes.
In 1154 Henry II. granted Ely O’Carroll to Theobald de Walter, but he
was entirely unable to take possession of any but the lower portion of
the kingdom.
In 1489 John O’Carroll died of plague at Leap. The visitation was at
this time so bad that hundreds of bodies lay unburied.
Gerald Fitz-Gerald, 8th Earl of Kildare and Lord Deputy of Ireland, set
out for Leamyvannan in 1513 to put down a rising of the O’Carrolls.
He failed to take the castle, “as was seldom the case with him,” and
retreated to collect fresh forces.
Returning with a splendid company he was shot by an O’More while
watering his horse at the River Greese, near Kilkea, and he died a few
days later at Kildare.
Three years afterwards his son attacked Leap, and took the stronghold,
of which it is recorded, “there was scarcely any castle at that period
better fortified and defended than this, until it was demolished upon
its warders.”
In 1522 the Earl of Kildare made it a charge against his rival, Sir
Piers Butler, Lord Deputy, that he had lent O’Carroll cannon to defend
Leap against him in 1516. The charge was hardly denied, but the
defence was put forward that the attack on O’Carroll was unwarranted.
Mulrony O’Carroll died at Leap in 1532. It is recorded that he was “a
triumphant traverser of tribes; a jocund and majestic Munster champion,
a precious stone, a carbuncle gem, the anvil of the solidity, and the
golden pillar of the Elyans.”
He was succeeded in the chieftainship by his son, Ferganainm, but the
succession was disputed by a senior branch of the family who were in
possession of Birr. Ferganainm enlisted the aid of his father-in-law,
the Earl of Kildare, who received a wound during the dispute which
hurried his end.
It was, no doubt, at this time that a terrible massacre took place at
Leap Castle upon the rival branch of the sept, who had been invited
to the stronghold under the guise of friendship. Lord Deputy Grey may
have had this act of treachery in his mind when writing of O’Carroll,
Baron of Ely, in Edward VI.’s reign, he speaks of him as “false.” It is
stated that this O’Carroll made submission to Lord Leonard Grey in 1537.
Twenty years later (1557) the Earl of Sussex, Lord Justice, made a
hosting into Fircall, penetrating into Ely, where he took Leap Castle.
But this expedition seems, mainly, to have been directed against the
O’Connors, who had taken refuge there after their escape from Meelick
Castle, and “the goodness of his steed” is said to have saved O’Connor
from his pursuers, who took the Leap without opposition. O’Carroll
became re-possessed of the stronghold shortly afterwards.
There was a Jonathan Darby, Captain of Sussex Horse, in 1553, and
perhaps it was during this expedition that the romance before related
took place. A tomb in the neighbouring graveyard records the death of a
Jonathan Darby in 1601.
It is said an inquisition was called at Lemyvanane in 1568 for the
preparation of a deed by which Ely O’Carroll was surrendered to the
king by “Sir William O’Kerroll,” to whom it was restored by letters
patent, but there is some confusion about the dates and conditions of
the several transfers.
In 1604 Ely O’Carroll was annexed to the King’s County.
During the Parliamentary wars, Mr. Darby, of Leap, espoused the King’s
cause, and tradition avers that Cromwell appeared before the castle
saying that if they did not surrender in twenty-four hours he would
blow them out with a pump-stick. The fortress was not tenable in the
event of cannon being used, as it is commanded from many points.
A weird story is told of the Jonathan Darby of the time, usually known
as “the wild Captain.” It is said before he surrendered the castle he
collected all his money and treasure and with the aid of two servants
hid it somewhere in the walls of the fortress. He then sent one of them
for his sword and in the meantime threw the other over the battlements.
Upon the messenger returning he slew him with the weapon he brought,
evidently thinking “a secret is only safe with three when two are
dead.” Later he was arrested on a charge of high treason and imprisoned
in Birr. He was several times reprieved, and at last liberated, his
legs having mortified. Upon his return he was only capable of murmuring
“My money, my money,” but was quite unable to say where it was
concealed.
In 1691 a Captain Darby, of the Leap, is alleged to have committed
many deeds of daring against rapparees. It would appear that the
estate was mortgaged for a nominal sum to one John Holland for fear of
confiscation, for Charles II. re-granted the land to this Holland as
mortgagee.
Admiral Darby, who commanded the _Bellerophon_ at the battle of the
Nile, 1798, was one of the Darbys of Leap.
The present owner is Jonathan Charles Darby, Esq., D.L., who resides in
the castle.
AUTHORITIES CONSULTED.
Donovan, “Annals of the Four Masters.”
Cooke, “History of Birr.”
Cooke, “Picture of Parsonstown.”
G. Story, “Impartial History of Ireland.”
R. Bagwell, “Ireland Under the Tudors.”
J. Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.”
Parliamentary Gazetteer.
Lord Walter Fitzgerald, “Kilkea Castle”
(_Kildare Archæological Society’s Journal_).
_LEIXLIP CASTLE_
The castle is situated in the portion of Leixlip which extends into
North Salt Barony in the County Kildare. The fortress occupies a
commanding position at the juncture of the Rivers Rye-water and Liffey,
above the famous Salmon Leap from which the designation Leixlip is
derived, being a Danish name from the old Norse word “Lax-hlaup,”
_i.e._, Salmon Leap. From the word “Saltus,” a leap, the baronies of
Salt have also taken their name.
The castle is generally supposed to have been erected by the De
Hereford family towards the close of the twelfth century. The present
building consists of two blocks at right angles, facing east and south.
The east wing probably incorporates part of the twelfth-century keep,
and with the north-east circular tower represents the oldest portion of
the structure, although it has been pierced by modern windows.
In this part a room is still shown in which tradition states that King
John slept during his stay in Ireland.
The square south-east tower is not so old, and its erection is
generally ascribed to the Geraldines.
The lands of Leixlip were granted to Adam de Hereford by Strongbow
shortly after the Normans arrived in 1170. At the close of the
thirteenth century the castle and lands had passed to the Pypards. In
1302 Ralph Pypard surrendered all his castles, &c., to the Crown, and
in consequence Richard de Bakeputz, who was constable of Leixlip, was
ordered to deliver it up to the King.
[Illustration: LEIXLIP CASTLE.]
Leixlip Castle was included in the list of those fortresses that were
only to have Englishmen as constables by the statute passed in 1494.
Henry VII. granted the castle and lands to Gerald, 8th Earl of Kildare,
upon his marriage with Dame Elizabeth Saint John, between the years
1485 and 1509, and they remained in the possession of the FitzGeralds
until the rebellion of “The Silken Thomas” in 1534, in which the owner,
Sir James “Meirgach” (_i.e._, the winkled) FitzGerald was concerned.
In 1536 an Act was passed by which the Crown became possessed of the
castle and manor.
Two years after Mathew King, of Dublin, surrendered the castle, which
appears to have been granted to him for twenty-one years. In 1568
William Vernon, gentleman, was leased the manor of Leixlip, containing
castles, &c., by the Crown. Nine years later Sir Nicholas Whyte, Master
of the Rolls, came into possession. He was a son of James Whyte, of the
County Waterford.
In 1570 he was granted the manor of Leixlip, two castles, a water-mill,
a salmon-weir, two fishing-places called the Salmon Leap, on the River
Anna Liffey, Priortown Meade, and other demesne lands. Two years later
he was made Master of the Rolls.
Sir Nicholas Whyte was succeeded by his son Andrew, whose son was again
Sir Nicholas Whyte, Knt.