The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

Castles of Ireland are a towering presence

Malcolm Rogers goes on a castle quest round Ireland.

“The October winds lament around the Castle of Dromore
Yet peace is in her lofty halls, a pháiste bán a stór
Though autumn leaves may droop and die, a bud of spring are you
Sing hushaba lú lá lú ló lán, hushaba lú ló lán”

This is perhaps the most beautiful Irish lullaby ever written — up there with Brahms and Beethoven in terms of beauty and tranquillity. And yet its poignancy is that castles in Ireland, which are such a quintessential feature of the countryside, speak not of peaceful sleep but of oppression, murder and subjugation.

Ireland has more than it’s fair share of castles — from the grandeur of the Rock of Cashel with its fairytale turrets and towers, to the altogether more downmarket Blarney Castle, kissed by everyone from President Clinton to Bing Crosby. In between there are romantic ruins such as the keep of Kildownet Castle, once the Achill Island redoubt of Grace O’Malley, to substantial medieval forts in the North now festooned with barbed wire and used by the British Army — amongst the oldest castles in the world still employed for their original purpose, i.e., to keep an eye on the restless natives.

Ireland’s first primitive castles were wooden towers built on hills by Norman invaders. The conquest of Ireland by these visitors, beginning1169, has had a fundamental impact on the Irish landscape. Previous invaders — notably the Vikings — merely made a nuisance of themselves; the Anglo Normans changed Ireland forever. The military success of the Normans can be attributed to their fighting skill and their ability to build strongholds rapidly in strategic positions.

From 1200 onwards a wave of castle building hit Ireland, accelerated in 1429 when Edward VI promised a grant of £10 to anyone building a castle in order to strengthen the boundaries of The Pale.

But even beyond the Pale were substantial fortifications. On Ireland’s north coast stands a castle which many believe has one of the most dramatic settings anywhere. Dunluce Castle is perched on a limestone crag on the Antrim coast — on the site of a fortification which dated back to before pre-Christian times. However it was the Normans who transformed it into the definitive castle, most of which remains to this day. Separated from the mainland by a twenty foot chasm, it was originally owned by the de Mandevilles, an early Norman family. The celebrated Sorley Boy O’Donnell then seized it and refurbished the place thanks to the Spanish Armada foundering on the Giant’s Causeway nearby. The Spanish gold came in very handy, thanks very much. Subsequently the castle changed hands between the English and the locals, finally ending up under the stewardship of the Earl of Antrim.

Further south, in the middle of Ireland, stands Trim Castle, in Co. Meath, the largest and just about the most important castle in Ireland for several centuries. It should be remembered that these large castles were roofed and had wooden galleries round their walls which would have made them even more impressive looking.

The garrison of Anglo Normans would watch over the dangerous natives, taking every precaution to ensure their castle was unwelcoming in the extreme. Uninvited guests — of which you can be sure there were many — were treated to boiling water, tar, arrows, rocks, and other early weapons of mass destruction, rained down on them from overhead murder-holes. These bombs were extremely accurate — they always hit anyone immediately below, ensuring an early grave.

The very model of impregnability, the castle’s thick granite walls are equipped with slit-like embrasures for the archers, and the unevenly spaced stumble-steps in the keep made the going as difficult as possible for intruders. And don’t forget the ‘oubliette’, a word derived from the French ‘oublier’, to forget. Prisoners were simply thrown into this dungeon-like room and forgotten about.

Towards the end of the 16th century a new type of castle evolved — the tower house, or fortified house. These were largely defensive abodes where the local gentry lived — gated communities you’d call them now.

Probably the most prefect examples of these is the at Burntcourt, Co. Tipperary, built in 1650. This fine looking building, which dominates the landscape. With twenty six gables and numerous chimney stacks, Burntcourt attempted to afford its owners some luxury in their living quarters while at the same time not forsaking any defensive qualities. In Ireland, trouble as never far away.

But it’s not all tales of skulduggery, murder holes and muniment chests (where they kept the charters, fact fans). An increasing number of Irish castles are being refurbished, and there is a fine choice of fortresses offering either ‘medieval’ banquets to more luxurious battlements complete with four-poster beds and dungeon bars.

As Frank O’Connor once said, “It would take more than one lifetime to discover the reason for all the ruins in Ireland,” but it can certainly make for a diverting holiday trying at least to scratch the surface. Legends, ghosts, history and tall tales are all hidden in the grey stones which make up such an integral part of Ireland’s landscape.

Castles offering accommodation