Irish Castles, County Wexford
Irelandseye.com continues the tour of Ireland, moving down the east coast, with details of Irish castles. Now to County Wexford:
Enniscorthy Castle
The town of Enniscorthy developed around this much rebuilt and restored 13th-century castle standing on a rock at the head of the Slaney's navigable tideway.The original building was probably built by Gerald de Prendergast during the 1230s, and like both Ferns and Carlow, comprised a rectangular keep of four storeys strengthened at the corners by communicating three-quarter drum towers. In 1253 it passed through marriage to the Rochford family, and by the 15th century was held by the MacMurrough Kavanaghs. By the 1530s the castle was evidently in Crown possession and serving as the Seneschal's residence. It was leased to Edmund Spenser for three days in 1581 and five years later was acquired by Sir Henry Wallop. It was captured by Cromwellian troops in 1649 and was used as a prison during the 1798 Rebellion.
During the early 19th century the castle suffered a restoration by the Earl of Plymouth, and yet another at the end of the century by a local MP who enlarged it and used it as a residence. The building now houses the county museum.
Wexford town. NGR: S 971399.
Ferns Castle
The much-ruined castle at Ferns is the largest of a distinctive group of 13th-century Hiberno-Norman keeps that comprise rectangular blocks with cylindrical corner towers. Known as "towered" or "four-towered" keeps, they evolved independently in the South Leinster region at least a century before any comparable castles were built in England. Considering the great size of the Ferns keep it is perhaps surprising that we have no historical reference for the date of its building, but it was probably begun around 1222 by Earl William Marshall the younger. Architectural details, however, suggest that it was not completed until the mid 13th century, when it was held by William de Valance.In its heyday the castle must have been particularly imposing. The three storeys of the main block were divided into vast apartments, the upper floors of which were lit by rather splendid trefoil-pointed windows, mostly grouped in pairs beneath pointed and camber-headed embrasures. There are similar windows in the beautiful circular chapel on the second floor of the largely complete south-east tower.
This room, often cited as the most perfect chapel to be found in any Irish castle, is particularly noteworthy for its moulded rib-vaulting and supporting corbels in the shape of capitals. Of the other corner towers, one has vanished, only fragments remain of another, while about half survives of the south-west tower, which has a cellar hollowed out of solid rock, said to have been used to keep Kathleen, daughter of William Marshall, to prevent her eloping. Outside the walls a ditch was partly exposed during archaeological excavations carried out in the 1970s.
The castle evidently ceased being a residence in the early 14th century, for the ditch appears to have been filled by about 1310, while the building was in a bad state of repair by 1324. It was captured by the O'Tooles in 1331, recovered by Bishop Charnell shortly afterwards, and seems to have stayed in the hands of the Bishopric of Ferns until the 1370s when it was taken by the MacMurroughs. Lord Grey captured the place during the 1536 revolt, but the MacMurroughs managed to remain until 1551, when it was taken over for the Crown by John Travers. The Mastersons held the castle from 1583 until 1649, when it was surrendered to Cromwellian soldiers. It is likely these troops were responsible for demolishing much of its structure.
Ferns village. NGR: T 017501.
Rathmacknee Castle
Many Irish castles have lost their parapets during the course of time, but those at Rathmacknee are fully intact and are a superb example of the picturesque multi-stepped crenellations so characteristic of late medieval Irish architecture. Other features of the castle have survived equally well, and although now lacking its roof and floors, it may be considered one of the most complete examples of a tower house in South Leinster.The tower occupies a corner of a well-preserved five-sided bawn that has a boldly projecting machicolation above the entrance. In plan the tower is a simple rectangle with one small projection - a prolongation in the east wall to accommodate latrines. There is a mural stair linking all five storeys, each having one apartment with closets or chambers in the thickness of the wall. The two lower storeys are beneath vaulting, while the timber floors had crossbeams that were tenoned directly into the wall-beams rather than laid directly upon them - an unusual practice that allowed the depth of the floor to be reduced.
It is probable that the castle was built by John Rossiter, Seneschal of the Liberties of Wexford, in 1451, whose family had lived in this area since the 12th century. Though staunch Catholics, they survived the Reformation purges, but ultimately forfeited their lands in the 1650s. The castle remained occupied until the 1760s.
12 km (7.5 miles) SW of Wexford town, off a minor road W of the main Kilmore Road. NGR: T 037143.
Slade Castle
The picturesque little harbour of Slade is dominated by the brown rubble walls and striking merlons of this castle, formerly home of the Laffans, possibly merchants here in late medieval times. The building comprises a tower house built in the late 15th or early 16th century, and an attached two-storey hall of slightly later date.The tower, standing 56 feet high and gracefully tapered, contains a mural stair in the south-east angle and barrel vaults over the second and fifth floors; above the latter rises a turret accommodating the stair head, a small apartment and the base of what was once a tall chimney stack. The rooms were all very small, including the main chamber on the third floor, which had a latrine, fireplace, cupboard recess and two windows. No doubt the two-storey house was later added to provide more living space. It has its own entrance on the south side, leading via a lobby up a straight mural staircase to three fair-sized rooms on the first floor. A low-pitched slated roof once covered these rooms rising from the wall-walk behind the attractive many-stepped battlemented parapet, though on the east side the roof was at a higher level to accommodate an extra storey. The three ground-floor rooms strangely cannot be entered from the living quarters above and may have been intended as a warehouse on the quay.
The castle was forfeited by the Laffan family in the aftermath of the 1641 Rebellion, though the Laffan heir was only a young boy who could not possibly have been implicated in the war. The building appears to have been used and extended in the late 18th century as part of an extensive salt works adjoining the site.
Located at the E end of Hook Head, 9.5 km (6 miles) SW of Fethard-on-Sea. NGR: X 747986.
from the Appletree Press title Irish Castles
Click here Irish Castles to buy the newly reformatted book from Amazon.co.uk. The previous edition of Irish Castles is also still available from Amazon.co.uk.
