The
demise of the FitzGerald empire had many elements in common with
the fate of the lordship of The Isles. Pride, arrogance and the
corruption brought on by excessive power certainly played a
part in both, as did the greed, fear and jealousy of the
ambitious who sought to replace them. They were victims of the
same English policy, at about the same time. But the noblest values of
the Geraldines may have, in the end, proved their undoing. Their
power grew so long as they facilitated the greed and quests for
power of the Plantagenets and Tudors. They were destroyed when
they took up the causes of their own oppressed Irish neighbors after
the fall of the House of York.
Thomas FitzJames, 8th Earl of
Desmond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, had exerted himself in
every way that he could for the benefit of his country. He
founded a college at Youghal and obtained an Act to establish a
university at Drogheda which was to have similar privileges to
those accorded to Oxford. Known for his learning, as well as for
valor, he was so beloved by the Irish that he incurred the
enmity of the crown and of the English residents of the Pale,
resulting in his beheading. Consequently when, in 1478, Garret
Mhór FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare, succeeded to the Lord
Lieutenancy of Ireland, he could have little confidence in
support from the crown. He established close links by marriage
with the ÓNeills of Tyrone, the ÓKellys of Hymainy and with other Irish leaders, while
he strengthened Maynooth’s walls.
When Edward IV died April 9, 1483,
his younger brother Richard, Duke of Gloucester, was made
Protector of the Realm for Edward’s son and successor, 12 year
old King Edward V. It was not long before adversaries appeared
from the faction headed by the new king’s mother, Elizabeth
Woodville, who dominated her son. Richard broke the power of the
Woodvilles, arresting and eventually executing their leaders and
taking the king and his 9 year old brother into custody. The
church was then persuaded to declare that Edward IV’s marriage
had been invalid and his children therefore illegitimate, making
the Duke of Gloucester his brother’s rightful successor. An
assembly of lords and commoners endorsed Richard’s claims on
June 25 and he was crowned Richard III, King of England, the
next day. His brother’s two sons, held in the Tower of London,
disappeared and were never seen again, giving rise to legends
and ghost stories which endure to this day.
Whatever the facts, the king’s
enemies wished to believe the worst and they turned to Henry
Tudor, Earl of Richmond, a Lancastrian claimant to the throne
living in exile in France. Henry landed in South Wales with an
army on August 7, 1485. Marching east, he engaged Richard’s
forces on Bosworth Field on August 22. Richard’s army was larger
than Henry’s but, at a crucial moment in the battle, several of
the king’s most powerful nobles defected to Henry. Refusing to
flee, Richard died fighting against overwhelming odds. Henry
Tudor then ascended the throne as Henry VII and united the Yorkist and Lancastrian claims by marrying Edward IV’s daughter,
Elizabeth of York, thus finally ending the Wars of the Roses.
Unfortunately for Garret Mhór FitzGerald, his power in Ireland
and his continued commitment to the Yorkists, led him to engage
in two further plots to seize the English throne,
miscalculations which would ultimately bring him down. In 1487,
a certain Lambert Simnel was received in Ireland as the nephew
of Edward IV and was crowned as Edward VI of England at a large
gathering of Irish nobles and prelates on May 24. Garret Mhór’s
brother, Thomas, accompanied the army which invaded England in
support of the pretender. But the Yorkists were defeated at
Stoke in June, 1487. Simnel was captured and made a servant in
the king’s kitchen.
When a second pretender, Perkin
Warbeck, financed by silver obtained from the naive, 15 year old
James IV of Scots, was brought forward in 1491 and received in
Cork as Prince Richard, he was supported by both the earls of
Desmond and Kildare. Henry VII could no longer ignore the
affront to his crown. Accordingly, in 1494, he sent Sir Edward
Poynings, a capable soldier and loyal Tudor supporter, to
Ireland to restore order and to prevent any further pretenders
from using the Gaedhil as a base. The acts of the parliament
which Poynings summoned to Drogheda in December, 1494 form the
best known legislation of the medieval Irish parliament.
The four counties of “The Pale” (Louth,
Meath, Dublin and Kildare), were formally separated from the
rest of the country. An ordinance required inhabitants on the
border of this area to build a double ditch six feet high to
repel Gaelic Irish invaders. It was further ordained that the
chief castles of the Pale, those of Dublin, Trim, Athlone,
Wicklow, Greencastle and Carrickfergus, should have as
constables, men born in England. The 1366 Statutes of Kilkenny,
proscribing the use of the Irish language, laws and customs were
confirmed, except that, since the use of the Irish language had
become so pervasive, that provision was waived. The most famous
act, known as “Poyning’s Law,” provided that parliament
was to meet in Ireland only after the king and council in
England had been informed of the measures it proposed to enact
and royal permission had been granted. There were to be no more
endorsements of opponents to the king and persecution of the
Irish was authorized.
Kildare, rebellious against this
blatant English tyranny, had taken the royal castle at Carlow.
Sir Edward, demonstrating his resolve, marched to Co. Carlow and
took it back. Poynings Law became the authority for English
persecution of the Irish for the next three hundred years, but
Kildare submitted to the lord deputy with good grace and, after
trial in London, was restored to power in 1496 and retained his
office as lord lieutenant until his death in 1513. The story is
told that the Archbishop of Cashel accused “The Great Earl”
of having burned his cathedral. Replying with the charm for
which he was famous, FitzGerald confessed that he had, but
added, “By Saint Bride! I never would have done it but I
thought the archbishop was inside!” The king laughed, and
when the Bishop of Meath exclaimed irritably, “All Ireland
can not rule this man!” Henry VII replied, “Then he shall
rule all Ireland!”
Freed of his Yorkist sympathies, FitzGerald remained loyal to the Tudors, while they found it less expensive to allow the FitzGeralds to rule Ireland than to maintain an army there. But inside Ireland, “The Great Earl” exercised power as if he were sovereign and the MacDonnells prospered in his service. Maynooth Castle, at that time the hub of a large manor of over 500 acres, was lavishly furnished and had a substantial library containing books in Latin, French, English and Irish. The estate included one of only two deer parks in Ireland, the earls of Ormonde possessing the other.
By contrast, the Clanricard Burkes, who ruled Galway in the west, were considered by the crown to be the worst of all the Anglo-Normans in Ireland. Their rejection of English law and adoption of Irish customs and dress were famous, as were their conduct as Irish warlords. They had engaged in Gaelic practices of fosterage and dynastic marriage that resulted in a family regarded as totally Celtic. "Ulick de Burgho" (William MacWilliam of Clanrickard), clan chief in 1500, isolated from the affairs of the English Crown, had three principal adversaries, those within his immediate family who sought to overthrow him, his cousins, the MacWilliam Burkes of Mayo, and “An ÓCeallaigh Ui Maine” (ÓKellys of HyMainy), whose territories lay to his east, in East Galway and Roscommon.
The Geraldines’ allegiance to the Yorkists during the “Wars of the Roses” had brought on a conflict with the Clanrickard Burkes who supported the Lancasters. In 1504, Ulick de Burgho, in alliance with the ÓBriens of Thomond and the ÓCarrolls of Melrony, attacked and destroyed the ÓKelly castles of Monivea, Garbally and Castleblakeney, capturing and seducing ÓKelly’s wife. (We are not told whether the affair was rape or consensual.) In either case, de Burgho was married to Garret Mhór FitzGerald’s daughter, Eustacia, so that both ÓKelly and FitzGerald honor was involved. In addition, the two wronged families had long been allies in the Yorkist cause. The Great Earl therefore assembled a large army and marched into Mayo, untrodden by English arms for many years. The battle was fought at “Cnoc Tuagh” (Knockdoe - Hill of the Axes, eight miles northeast of Galway Town in Co. Mayo) on August 19. This most famous brawl employing some 10,000 axe-men was a fixed battle that was specially suited to the gallóglaigh style of fighting and the MacDonnell gallóglaigh were the decisive factor in its outcome. Fighting for the FitzGeralds with the MacDonnells of Leinster were the MacSweeney of Doe gallóglaigh of the ÓDonnells, ÓNeills of Tyrone, The Burkes of Mayo, ÓReilly, ÓConnor Faly, ÓConnor Roe, most of whom were also MacDonnells, and John Blake, Mayor of Dublin, leading a well armed contingent of the city’s citizens. On the other side, supporting Ulick de Burgho, were nine “batail,” some 2,000 gallóglaigh of the MacSwineys (Suibhne - Sweeneys) of Thomond, of Clanrickard and those of the ÓBriens, many of whom were also MacDonnells, although some of the latter were MacDonnells of Clare and Connacht and therefore not related to our subjects.
The FitzGeralds, of Norman as well as
Irish descent and
related to the
Plantagenets, generally
supported English
sovereignty over
Ireland. But, openly or
secretly, they hated
English tyranny with a
fiery passion, even when
they were serving her,
and constantly fomented
one rebellion after
another. They were loved
and admired by the Irish
in return, starved as
they were for heroes and
roll models. Henry VIII
came to the English
throne in 1509.
Opposition from England
to FitzGerald was
negligible so long as
the king was unable to
maintain a permanent
power to which Kildare’s
opponents might turn,
but Henry was determined
to root out
“overmighty subjects.”
This was certainly true
of Garret Ogh FitzGerald,
9th Earl of Kildare
(1487-1534), who
inherited his father’s
title as Lord Lieutenant
and Justiciar. There
were still the
interminable clan feuds,
as well as the
FitzGeralds’ rebellions.
John MacDonnell,
constable of their
gallóglaigh, was killed
in 1514 in a siege by
Garret Ogh FitzGerald of
the ÓMore’s Caislen
Ciuilentragh. In
1522, the MacDonnells of
Tighearna Coille again followed
Garret Ogh to assist the
ÓNeills against the
ÓDonnells. The ÓNeills
were defeated and many
of the MacDonnells of
Leinster fell.
But when Henry VIII broke with the
Roman Church, the
balance was upset. Both
FitzGerald branches were
staunchly Catholic and
patrons of the church.
James FitzGerald, 11th
Earl of Desmond,
intrigued with Emperor
Charles V of France in
1529, offering an
alliance against
England. Even though
Desmond was defeated and
killed in a skirmish
with Piers Butler, 8th
Earl of Ormonde,
Desmond’s uncle and
successor continued to
negotiate with Charles
V, refused to send his
grandson and heir to the
English court and King
Henry VIII became
convinced that Kildare
had lost the power to
keep Ireland neutral.
Garret Ogh’s venerable titles
notwithstanding, Henry
VIII, fearing that
Ireland would fall to
France and, trusting no
Catholic lords, called
Kildare to London and
imprisoned him three
times on charges of
treason, in 1519, 1527
and finally in 1534,
when Henry’s divorce of
Catherine of Aragon made
the possibility of
intervention by Charles
V particularly acute.
This time, Garret Ogh
was replaced by an
Englishman, Sir William
Skeffington. FitzGerald
died in The Tower of
London and pope versus
king became an issue in
Irish politics. Rumors
spread by Piers Butler’s
pro-English party that
Garret Ogh had been
executed precipitated
the rebellion of the
earl’s twenty-one year
old son, Lord Offaly,
Thomas FitzGerald,
called Silken Thomas
because of the
ostentation of his dress
and as Catholic as any
man in Ireland.
Impetuously, at the head
of 140 horsemen,
undoubtedly including
the MacDonnell of
Leinster Gallóglaigh, he
rode into Dublin, burst
into the Council Chamber
at Saint Mary’s Abbey,
flung down on the
council table the sword
of state which had been
entrusted to him by his
father, resigned his
office and with it, all
allegiance to Henry
VIII. It has long been
debated whether this was
a rash act by an
immature aristocrat, or
a demonstration
calculated to show that
England could not rule
Ireland without
FitzGerald support.
Silken Thomas appealed to Pope Paul
III for aid at the very
moment when Henry had
renounced the Vatican’s
authority. Initially
winning victory after
victory, he gained
control of most of
Leinster and the Pale
and laid siege to
Dublin. But when England
poured in troops
equipped with the new
siege cannon, the skill
and daring of Thomas and
his men were checkmated,
just as was the
rebellion of Donald Dubh
MacDonald in The Isles
at about the same time.
The fall of Maynooth
Castle, then the
greatest stronghold in
Ireland, to the king’s
representative, Sir
William Skeffington,
after ten days battering
with “great guns,”
on March 23, 1535,
spelled the beginning of
the end.
Cnoc Tuagh Cairn, said to cover the graves of the fallen.
De Burgho’s men attacked and were held by the gallóglaigh of FitzGerald. They hacked at each other for hours and the footing became difficult because of the heaps of dead and dying intermingled with discarded spears, shields and other paraphernalia of battle. Finally, the tide turned as de Burgho’s forces were pushed back and his few remaining men fled. Of the nine battles of de Burgho’s gallóglaigh, only one survived the day. FitzGerald’s losses were also heavy, including Turlough Ogh MacDonnell who was among the 2,000 total killed in the largest battle ever fought between Irish nobility. Upon the return of his army to Dublin, FitzGerald distributed 120 hogsheads of wine to his troops. The king rewarded FitzGerald for his success by making him a Knight of the Garter in 1505. Turlough Ogh was succeeded by his son John Carragh MacDonnell as chief of Sliocht Toirrdhealbhaigh. According to the “Annals of Loch Ce,” John was the best captain of the English and not to be confused with his grandfather of the same name. His brother, Donoch, was slain at Leix, near home, also in 1504.
Cnoc Tuagh, Galway The view from the battlefield
Portumna Castle,
Galway
From 1619, “Caput” of
the Burkes of Clanrickard
Maynooth is said to have been betrayed to the English by its constable, Christopher Parese, Silken Thomas’ foster brother. The next morning Skeffington thanked Parese, payed him for his service to the crown and then, in what was to be remembered as “the pardon of Maynooth,” had him beheaded, along with twenty-five of his garrison. One was hanged. The heads of several of the more prominent were placed on the turrets of the keep as trophies of victory. Thomas escaped and took refuge in Lea Castle, compelling evidence in itself of the involvement of the MacDonnells, who held the adjacent estate from FitzGerald. But a promised French army failed to arrive and, after several minor defeats, Thomas surrendered. He was sent to the Tower of London and, on February 3, 1537 hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, along with five of his uncles and his father’s half brothers, who had been arrested on trumped up charges. The latter were close kinsmen of Henry VIII, who ordered the executions. The Kildare titles, estates and castles were forfeited to the crown, became the favorite residence of the lords deputy and were only finally restored to Gerald, 11th earl, in 1552. The castle fell into disrepair and remained so until Richard Boyle, Earl of Cork, bought the guardianship of young George FitzGerald, 16th Earl of Kildare, in 1629. Boyle carried out extensive remodeling and his daughter, Joan, married George. Thus ended the era of “The Geraldines” of Kildare, and MacDonnell history as constables and gallóglaigh. Although their wars had been largely to promote their own fortunes, FitzGeralds’ appeals to the papacy established the future pattern of Irish nationalists. Their numerous descendants contributed to the blood of American presidents and New Zealand prime ministers.
.
Following the fall of the FitzGeralds, The Leinster MacDonnells, led by Calvach, 4th of Leinster, had to take on responsibilities locally which erstwhile had probably been attended to, at least in part, by their mentors, the FitzGeralds, including the administration of a 20,000 acre estate and the keeping of its records. Some of these records have come down to us in “The Tinnakill Duanaire,” the original of which may still be found, although in delicate condition and not entirely legible, in the archives of Trinity College Dublin. We are presently attempting to obtain a copy, although it may not have been translated because of its condition and illegibility. But perhaps of more importance, is a thirteen page analysis of the "Duanaire” by Anne ÓSullivan in 1974 and recorded in “Celtica,” an index and description of Celtic works by The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Her broad knowledge of Celtic sources made possible analysis which we could not equal.
Sometime in the middle of the 16th Century, shortly after assuming the mantel of leadership of The MacDonnells of Leinster, Calvach employed a scribe who began to record matters of importance to the Clan. These took the form of eighty five bardic poems, of which eighty three survive. The first four poems are in the hand of Guath Laidhuig and deal with the rights of “Aodh mac an Challbaigh” (Hugh Buidhe MacCalvach, 5th of Leinster) to MacDonnell revenues in Leinster. If these first four documents were written under the auspices of Calvach, they would have served as a kind of will, and would have pre-dated Calvach’s death in 1570. If, on the other hand, they were commissioned by Hugh Buidhe, they may have served as an inquisition of the estate and would therefore be dated subsequent to 1570. In either case, Hugh Buidhe was the patron for whom the “Duanaire” was begun to be compiled, and these are some of the oldest surviving narrative documents we know of produced by Clan Donald, either in Scotland or in Ireland. The "Duanaire" pre-dates both Captain Somhairle MacDonnell of Antrim's 1631 "Ostend Duanaire," mentioned by ÓSullivan, and the 1632- 1636 "Annals of The Four Masters" by more than sixty years, and MacMhuirich’s 1660 “Leabhar Dearg Nam Clanranald” by some ninety years, although copies of documents from as early as 1473 were included and original writings were added to the “Tinnakill Duanaire” as late as 1762. The collection was bound into a book in 1836 by George Mullen, a Dublin publisher. This preservation effort and its retention by Trinity College, Dublin probably came about because of the close association of The MacDonnells of Leinster with TCD.
In addition to bardic poems that relate the history and traditions of the Clan, the “Duanaire” provides us insights and information in a number of areas where we previously could only speculate. The names of the wives of several chieftains are given, and consequently the dynastic relationships to other clans, which were often omitted from genealogical data of the period. The hand-written language of the various scribes tells us, among other things, the prevalent formal language of that era, which was subsequently lost during the oppression of Cromwell, now enabling us to improve our translations of personal and place names, which have since been corrupted by the lack of education and understanding which are the legacy of the “Penal Laws” of the Cromwellian era, and which have left us with the modern Irish dialect, a poor shadow of the grand language of the 17th Century. In addition, ÓSullivan says, “The Tinnakill duanaire is one of the most important sources for bardic religious verse as it contains many unique poems and is the earliest witness for many others. For a few it is the only known link between earlier poems and nineteenth-century Longáin copies.”
Tuilid Aodh 'san crú caoilsleg
clú nach baoghal do bhádhadh,
luth a ghreadh co fuar d’fe'ghadh
ag te'ghadh gruadh fer náladh.
Surrounded by slender-shafted spears
Aodh won undying fame,
and saw the charge of his cavalry
mangling the faces of wounded men.
Muircheartach ÓCobhthaigh
In the Tinnakill Duanaire
The British Empire had always been built on the bones of its victims, cemented with the blood of mercenaries. Queen Elizabeth was determined to subjugate Ireland. In 1569, Lord Deputy, Sir Henry Sidney, who had procured the submission of both the De Burgho lords, appointed Sir Edward Fitton as President (Governor) of Connacht. Then, in 1570, he established presidencies in Munster and Connacht for the purpose of completing Irish submission. Fitton attempted to establish boundaries for the new counties of Connacht and Thomond which favored Connacht and the Clanrickard Burkes, supporters of the crown, at the expense of Gaelic lords, led by Mac Uilliam Ochtair, Lord Thomond and chief of the Burkes of Mayo. When Lord Thomond revolted in 1570, Calvach was named chief of the Queen’s Leinster MacDonnell Captains of Gallóglaigh in the army of the President of Connacht. They laid siege to Shrule Castle on the borders of Galway and Mayo with about 500 gallóglaigh. Calvach was killed there on June 18, 1570 by the forces of Mac Uilliam Octair and the Clan Donnell Gallóglaigh of Mayo “in a drawn battle of great carnage.” Burke’s men charged the English and were met with a volley that did not stop them. Calvach fell in the hand to hand fighting which followed. Randall MacDonnell, a gallóglaigh of Mayo, was also killed, both fratricidal victims to English greed.
Charles was succeeded by Hugh Buidhe MacDonnell. James FitzMaurice FitzGerald, called “the arch traitor,” rebelled against Elizabeth and was crushed in 1572. Hugh, his four brothers and sixty-six others, including two bagpipers named Alexander and Turlough, were pardoned by Queen Elizabeth in 1575 for FitzGerald’s revolt. Other than MacDonnell, the most common names included in the pardon were ÓKelly, ÓFullan, ÓDullam and MacEvoy, indicating something of the makeup of the gallóglaigh of the MacDonnells of Leinster. But the Tighearna Coille Estate was granted to Bernard FitzPatrick, Knight, in 1577. This grant and the punishment of the Leinster MacDonnells it represents is notable in that the FitzPatricks were close friends and kinsmen of the MacDonnells, significantly lightening their burden. Hugh himself married Mary ÓMore in April 1577 and moved to Kellranelagh Parish, Talbotstown in County Wicklow. Hugh’s brother Alexander had been slain in combat in Gallway in1577 by Theobald Boy MacSeoinin (Jennings, a branch of the Burkes). The Four Masters say “there were not many sons of Galloglasses in Ireland at that time who were more wealthy, or who were more bountiful and munificent than he.”
The next year, on May 7, the three MacDonnell gallóglaigh of Leinster executed a new Indenture with the lord deputy. The queen would pay each constable £300 and the right of pressing provisions “during the Queen’s pleasure,” in lieu of the customs of “Bonnaghts” and “Sorrens,” taxes which the crown wished to abolish. . Their officers would receive ordinary pay over and above the sum paid to the constables. The constables bound themselves to provide ninety spears when required, not to serve anyone but the queen without leave of the lord deputy and to perform all duties connected with the marching of the army, the assaulting of castles and other services as ought to be done by the queen’s gallowglass. The last record of service of the MacDonnell gallóglaigh was in November, 1579, when Munster rebelled. The three captains were ordered to assemble with ninety spears of gallowglass at Carrig. They were to serve under the Earl of Ormonde against the Earl of Desmond. There is no record that the MacDonnell Gallóglaigh answered the summons, but they probably did, since there is also no record that they forfeited their estates. We do know that, in 1600, Sir George Carew, President of Munster, wrote: "I know not any man called Sir Hugh Boy, but in the Queen’s County there is a Galloglass of good livelihood called Hugh Boy M’Calloghe. His sons , as I understand, are in rebellion, but himself is an aged and corpulent man, and lives in neutrality.” "Aodh Buidhe M'Callagh of Tenekylle" (Hugh Boy MacDonnell) was pardoned in 1600 and passed away May 31, 1619 at the ripe age of 70. (Hercules H G MacDonnell reports the date was August 31st, 1618.) It may be that Hugh resigned the chiefship to his son Fergus in 1618, and died nine months later. Brian FitzPatrick had copied his poem of farewell, one of several contributions he made to the MacDonnell literary collection, into "The Tinnakill Duanaire" in January, 1614. Brian was a younger grandson of Brian, 1st Baron of Upper Ossory, was a noted Bard and had been ordained in 1610. At the time of his visit, he was about to leave Ireland to study theology, and the event implies a close friendship between the Leinster MacDonnells and the Ossory FitzPatricks. Aodh Buidhe was the last of the MacDonnell gallóglaigh who served the Gaelo-Norman lords of the Pale, passing, like the Gaelic bards, into Irish legend.
The MacDonnells of Mayo continued to occupy Aghalard Castle until the 19th Century, save a brief occupation of Aghalard by Burke of Clanrickard, Capt Anthony Brabazon and Thomas Darcy of Chiche in 1596. Many of the Mayo MacDonnells rose to prominence in a variety of fields, from engineering to politics. One of the most famous was Sir Anthony Patrick MacDonnell (1844 - 1925), first Baron MacDonnell, whose career in the English Foreign Service led him to become acting Governor of Bengal, India in 1893.
I ask, who will buy a poem?
It holds right thoughts of scholars
Who needs it? Will anyone take it?
A fine poem to make him immortal
A poem of close-knit skill,
I have walked all Munster with it
From market cross to cross
for a year, and I'm no better off.
Not a man or a woman would give me
down-payment, no tiniest groat.
And no one would tell me why
- ignored by Gael and stranger.
What use is a craft like this,
a shame though it has to die?
Making combs would earn more honour.
Why would anyone take to verse?
Core of Cashel is dead, and Cian,
who hoarded no cattle or cash,
men happy to pay their poets.
So goodbye to the seed of Eibhear.
They kept the palm for giving
until Cobhthach was lost and T’al.
Many I leave unmentioned
that I might have made poems for still.
I’m a ship with a ruined cargo
now the famous FitzGeralds are gone.
No answer. A terrible case.
It is all in vain that I ask.
Mathghamhain ÓHifearnáin,
fl. early 17th Century
Shrule Castle, Co. Mayo
It was a Cistercian house founded by Dermot MacMurrough in 1148. By 1228 there were some thirty-six monks and fifty lay-brothers serving the abbey. They expelled their new abbot when he was made subject to Furness in Lancashire, but they were themselves expelled when the abbot returned and seized the monastery by force. Jerpoint Abbey was founded from there some years later. Burned and abandoned during the Cromwell era, a modern church was built on the site in the 19th Century
Mainistir Bhealach Conghlasainn (Monastery Of The Pass Of The Shrouds - Baltinglass Abbey), Co. Wicklow
Maynooth Castle Keep,
Co. Kildare
“Caislen Mhagh Nuadhat”
was the seat of “the
almost kings” of Ireland
for nearly 400 years
Carlow Castle,
Co. Carlow
Built c.1207 as the principal fortress
of William Marshal,
it may be the earliest “four towered”
keep in The British Isles.
the southern approaches to Wicklow Harbor until destroyed by English cannon.
Granted to Maurice FitzGerald by Strongbow in 1173, it guarded
Caislen Dubh (Black Castle), Wicklow
Thomas Davis
Ye Geraldines! Ye Geraldines! How royally ye reigned
O’er Desmond broad and rich Kildare, and English arts disdained;
Your sword made knight, your banner waved, free was your bugle call
By Glyn’s green slopes and Dingle’s tide, from Barrow’s banks to Youghal.
True Geraldines! brave Geraldines! as torrents mould the earth,
You channeled deep old Ireland’s heart by constancy and worth.
When Gluckle leaguered Limerick the Irish soldiers gazed
To see if in the setting sun dead Desmond’s banner blazed.
