CASTLES.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION--MALAHIDE--TRIM--MAYNOOTH--IRISH CASTELLATED
HOUSES--SCURLOUGHSTOWN--BULLOCK CASTLE--TOWN GATES AND
WALLS--BRIDGES.
The castles of Ireland are exceedingly numerous and vary from the
single keep-tower of the predatory chieftain to the defensive
fortresses erected under the Anglo-Norman barons and their successors.
All through the Middle Ages, strongholds, necessary in a land torn
by petty wars and successive rebellions, were built, and as occasion
required, strengthened and restored, so that some of the more important
features of the chief castles now remaining date from a much later
period than their original foundation. In a few, indeed, such as
Dublin, Kilkenny, and Lismore, much of the work is of modern date. Many
fine castellated mansions were built in the reigns of Elizabeth and
James I. by the new settlers on the confiscated lands in the North and
South.
The County of Wexford was sprinkled with castles, many of which were
built by the first Anglo-Norman settlers; and a ring of fortresses
surrounded the Pale at an early date. John de Courcy and Hugh de Lacy
were the chief builders of these strongholds to defend the lines of
their new possessions. In the North the remains of Dundrum Castle--a
fine example of the donjon keep--Greencastle, Kilclief, Carlingford,
and others testify to the defences necessary in those days to hold
the conquered lands. In the great territory of the princely Desmonds,
stretching from the Barrow to the Shannon mouth, the ruins of many
of their castles still exist, besides others of lesser clans. Clare
had numerous castles, the Macnamara clan alone being credited with
fifty-seven. Some fine examples still exist, such as Bunratty, which
was used as a residence down to comparatively recent times.
Though the castles of Ireland, in point of architectural magnificence,
are not to be compared with many of the more important structures
of a similar character in England, they are frequently of very
considerable extent. Placed as they often are upon the summit of
a lofty and precipitous rock, the base of which is usually washed
by the waters of a river or lake, or by the sea, encompassed with
walls and towers pierced with shot-holes, and only to be approached
through well-defended gateways, they must, before the introduction
of artillery, have been generally considered impregnable. Several of
the early keeps are circular; but they usually consist of a massive
quadrangular tower with smaller towers at the angles. The internal
arrangements are similar in character to those seen in the military
structures of the same period in England and elsewhere. The outworks
and other appendages to the majority of the most remarkable castles
in Ireland have been destroyed, not by the usual effects of time
and neglect, but by gunpowder, as the enormous masses of masonry
overthrown, and lying in confused heaps, sufficiently testify. The
cannon of the Cromwellian army left most of the strongholds of the
Irish and of the Anglo-Irish in ruins. Shortly after the Restoration
the necessity for castles ceased; and, with some exceptions, the few
that had escaped the violence of the, preceding period appear gradually
to have been deserted and suffered to decay.
* * * * *
[Illustration: Malahide Castle, Co. Dublin.]
_Malahide Castle._--The castle of Malahide, situated about nine miles
from Dublin, is perhaps the most perfectly preserved of the ancient
baronial residences now remaining in Ireland. It owes its foundation to
Richard Talbot, who, in the reign of King Henry II., received a grant
of the lordship of Malahide, and of whom the present lord is a lineal
descendant. The castle, upon the exterior, retains but little of its
ancient character; portions have been rebuilt; the old loop-holes have
given place to modern windows; the tower upon the south-east angle is
an addition of the last century; the formidable outworks have long
been removed, and a grassy hollow indicates the position of the ancient
moat; yet notwithstanding all these changes it is still an object of
much antiquarian interest. The entrance is through a low Gothic porch,
attached to which is an ancient oak door studded with huge nails, and
from which an antique knocker is suspended. The interior presents many
features unique in Ireland. The oak room is of particular interest with
its quaintly carved arabesques, black as ebony, its antique armour,
and the storied panels of the northern side. The banqueting-hall is a
room of fine proportions and retains its original oak roof and gallery.
The walls of the chief rooms are hung with pictures and portraits,
several of which are of much historical interest. Among the former
an altar-piece by Albert Durer is perhaps the most remarkable. It is
divided into compartments representing the Nativity, Adoration, and
Circumcision. This interesting picture, which is said to have belonged
to Mary Queen of Scots, was purchased by Charles II. for the sum of
£2000, and presented by him to the Duchess of Portland, by whom it was
given to Lady Talbot.
The chapel, popularly called the ‘Abbey’ of Malahide, lies a little
to the east of the castle. Though its architectural features are no
way remarkable, it is a picturesque building. The Perpendicular window
in the east end, however, should be noted, as also the tomb of Maud
Plunkett, lying in the nave. Of this lady it is recorded that she was
a maid, wife, and widow in one day, her husband having fallen when
resisting a sudden predatory attack made by a neighbouring clan during
the day of his marriage. The story forms the subject of a ballad from
the pen of Gerald Griffin.
We have noticed the castle of Malahide first, not that it is supposed
to be the most characteristic example of an ancient fortress lying
within easy access from Dublin, but because it remains certainly the
finest structure of its age and purpose at present to be met with in
Ireland, still inhabited, and occupied by a descendant of the original
founder.
[Illustration: Castle of Trim, Co. Meath.]
King John’s Castle at Trim is of at least equal antiquity, and, though
in a state of utter ruin, will impress the visitor with a much more
correct idea of the ancient feudal stronghold. Trim stands upon the
borders of what was once considered the ‘English Pale,’ and lies at
an easy distance from Dublin. It is singularly rich in antiquarian
remains, and figured largely in the past history of the English rule in
Ireland.
The castle consists of a triangular walled enclosure, defended by
circular flanking towers, and a large and lofty donjon or keep in the
centre. The north-east side is 171 yards long, and is defended by
four towers, viz. two at the angles, and two intermediate. The west
side is 116 yards long, and was defended by flanking towers at the
angles, and a gateway tower in the centre. The portcullis groove is
very perfect; and it seems, from the projecting masonry, that there
had been a drawbridge and barbican to the gate. The third side sweeps
round at an easy curve to the Boyne; it is 192 yards long, defended by
six flanking towers, including those at the angles and at the gate.
The gate tower is circular and is in good preservation, as well as
are the arches over the ditch, and the barbican beyond it. The gate
had also its portcullis, the groove for which, and the recess for its
windlass, are perfect. The entire circuit of the castle wall, then, is
486 yards, defended by ten flanking towers, at nearly equal distances,
including those at the gates. The donjon is a rectangular building,
the plan of which may be thus described: on the middle of each side
of 64 feet rectangles are constructed, the sides perpendicular to the
square being 20 feet, and those parallel to it 24 feet: thus a figure
of twenty sides is constructed. The thickness of the walls of the large
tower is 12 feet, and of the smaller towers from 4 feet 6 inches to 6
feet. The walls were carried up 60 feet above the level of the ground,
but on each angle of the large tower, square turrets, 16 feet 6 inches
in height, are built. By this arrangement, a large shower of missiles
might have been projected in any direction.[129]
A castle, which there is every reason to believe occupied the site
of the present structure, was erected by Walter de Lacy in 1173, who
had obtained from Henry II. a grant of Meath. During the absence of
de Lacy, while the castle was in the custody of Hugh Tyrrell, it was
attacked and demolished by Roderick O’Conor, King of Connaught. In
Hanmer’s _Chronicle of Ireland_, the circumstances of its erection are
thus given: ‘Anno 1220. Meath was wonderfully afflicted and wasted by
reason of the private quarrels and civil warres between William, Earl
Marshall, Earle of Pembroke, &c., and Sir Hugh de Lacy, Earle of Ulster
and Lord of Connaught. Trimme was besieged and brought to a lamentable
plight, and when the rage and fury of these garboiles were somewhat
mitigated and appeased, after the shedding of much blood the same year,
to prevent afterclaps and subsequent calamities, the castle of Trim was
builded.’
* * * * *
_Maynooth Castle._--The once great castle of Maynooth, erected in 1176
by Maurice FitzGerald, who came over with Strongbow, can be easily
visited from Dublin. It is a fine example of the kind of structure
which combined the baronial residence with the military fortress.
The keep is of the original Norman work. The ground-floor, like that
of Athenry Castle, and others of the same period, is divided into
two large vaulted apartments, over which were state rooms of fine
proportions. Bedrooms of various sizes occupied the upper portion of
the tower. The servants and members of the household were accommodated
in buildings stretching between the barbican of the outworks and a
strong flanking tower which still remains. It is stated in Holinshed’s
account of the sack of this Geraldine stronghold by Sir William
Skeffington in 1553, as the result of Silken Thomas’ Rebellion, that
‘great and riche was the spoile, such store of beddes, so many goodly
hangings, so riche a wardrob, such brave furniture, as truly it was
accompted for householde stuffe and vtensils one of the richest Earle
his homes under the crowne of Englande.’ It was again restored, and
finally dismantled by the Irish troops of Owen Roe O’Neill in 1647.
It seems to have taken a considerable period to reconcile the native
Irish to the use of castles or tower houses as places of every-day
abode. The free-roving Celt could ill brook the confinement of narrow
vaults and stifling chambers. To him, as a chieftain actually declared,
‘a castle of bones was every way preferable to a castle of stones.’ By
this was meant that the head of a clan, surrounded by his following
of hardy kerns and gallowglasses, was safer and every way better off
than an effeminate sojourner between the four walls of a tower. A time
at length arrived when the native potentates, petty chieftains, and
gentlemen of lesser degree, followed the example of their invaders, and
erected stone dwellings, very similar to those of the strangers with
which they had become familiarised. These almost invariably consist
of a tall quadrangular tower, with or without outworks, but generally
furnished with a bawn or enclosure into which at night, or during
raiding times, the owner’s cattle were driven.
The apartment on the ground-floor was almost invariably covered with a
vault of stone, evidently a precaution against fire. In some instances
all the flooring was supported on pointed or barrel arches of stone;
but, generally, the upper storeys were provided with floors of timber.
A staircase of stone usually led to the upper apartments; sometimes it
ran straight through the thickness of the wall from floor to floor,
access to the various apartments being provided by narrow doorways,
with pointed, flat, or semicircular heads. These three forms are not
unfrequently found in the one building. Sometimes the staircase is
enclosed in a projecting tower, and rises spiral fashion, with doorways
at one side like those already referred to. A second staircase leading
to small apartments, which may have been used as bedrooms, is often to
be noticed.
‘The entrance to an Irish house, castle, or tower,’ writes the late
J. H. Parker, ‘is usually protected in a manner unknown in England--at
least not commonly known--for there are a few instances of a similar
arrangement in England. There is no external porch, but the doorway
opens into a small space, about 6 feet square and about 8 or 10 feet
high; in front is the door to the cellar; on the right is the door to
a small guard-chamber; on the left the door to the staircase; each
of these doors is barred on the other side, so that the visitor can
proceed no further without permission, and immediately over his head is
a small square or round hole, emphatically called a “murthering hole”;
this opens into a small chamber in which a pile of paving stones was
kept ready for use, so that if an enemy had forced the outer door, he
would not be much the forwarder. These precautions were evidently taken
to guard against any sudden surprise.’ But in the Irish tower-houses
there was another provision for security. The outer doorway was
frequently furnished with a portcullis, so that an unwelcome visitor
upon entering the space referred to by the great authority on the
domestic architecture of the Middle Ages, with the doors in front and
at the sides fastened, the ‘murthering hole’ above his head, and the
portcullis grate dropped behind him, would be securely entrapped.
A small projecting bartizan or machicolation set in the top of the
tower, is usually found surmounting the doorway on the exterior.
Similar turrets occasionally protect angles of the building, by means
of which any foe attempting to dislodge the coign stones might be
easily crushed. A large, and often handsomely-constructed, fireplace
is generally found in the principal apartment. The chimney-shafts, as
a rule, are quadrangular. Curiously enough, the kitchen is usually
placed outside the building. In a good many examples well-constructed
‘garderobes,’ or closets, occur.
The windows, which, it should be observed, are commonly very small,
splay internally, and are usually placed slightly above the level of
the floor, from which they are approached by a few steps. There is
generally a stone seat within the splay, upon each side of the light.
This remark, of course, only refers to the principal windows.
[Illustration: Scurloughstown Castle.]
The castle of Scurloughstown, which stood in the immediate vicinity of
Trim, was probably as good an example as any which have remained to our
own day of the lesser keep, usually found in those districts wherein
the earlier colonies of the English or Anglo-Normans obtained footing.
It no longer exists. The above sketch was made a few years before the
tower, which upon one of its sides exhibited a crack extending from
summit to foundation, fell to the ground.
The castle of Bullock, standing immediately above the little harbour of
the same name, not far from the Dalkey station of the Dublin, Wicklow,
and Wexford Railway, is worth a visit. It has been very carefully
restored, and is now used as a residence. The castle of Dalkey is used
as a town hall.
[Illustration: Bullock Castle, near Kingstown, Co. Dublin.]
Of the origin of these very interesting structures, no notice, as
far as we could ascertain, has been preserved. It is extremely
probable that they were erected by English settlers, not long after
the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland--their architectural features
indicating an early period; and similar buildings, connected together
by a wall enclosing a very considerable space, occur in several
localities known to have been occupied by the early English.
We may here also mention the picturesque and well-preserved castle of
Drimnagh, lying at a distance of about four miles from Dublin, on the
road to Crumlin. Its bawn is still perfect, and the ancient fosse, by
which the whole was enclosed, remains in fine preservation, and is
still deep. Drimnagh was considered a place of considerable strength
during the rising of 1641, and it appears to have been strengthened,
and in a great measure re-edified, about that unhappy period of
Ireland’s history.
In Swords are the dilapidated remains of what was once a fine mediæval
castle and bawn, which belonged to the Archbishops of Dublin. There are
the remains of other castles, small keeps, and castellated mansions in
the neighbourhood of Dublin, particularly in the south, which lay open
to the predatory incursions of the lawless tribes that once inhabited
the Wicklow Mountains.