Tag Archives: Ruins

A Noble and Commanding Appearance


‘The history of Mourne is associated with that of the Castle of Greencastle – one of the finest specimens of Anglo-Norman architecture military architecture in the County of Down – which constitutes such an important feature in the scenery of that coast, from every point of which it presents a noble and commanding appearance. It was erected by the early English invaders to guard the entrance to the Lough of Carlingford and to secure a line of correspondence between the Pale and their outlying possessions in Lecale.’
From An Historical Account of the Diocese of Down and Connor by the Rev. James O’Laverty (Dublin, 1878)




‘Greencastle, situated in the barony of Mourne, County Down, province of Ulster. It stands upon a gut or inlet of the sea and was reputed a strong castle, fortified by the Burghs, earls of Ulster and lords of Connaught. It was remarkable for two eminent marriages celebrated here in 1312; one between Maurice Fitzthomas and Catherine, daughter to the Earl of Ulster, on the 5th of August, and the other between Thomas Fitz-John and another daughter of the said earl, on the 16th of the same month. It was destroyed by the Irish, A.D. 1643, but soon after repaired and better fortified. Green Castle and the Castle of Carlingford, appear by a record, 1 Henry IV, to have been governed by one constable, the better to secure a communication between the English pale of the County Louth and the settlements of the English in Lecale and those northern parts; and Stephen Gernon was constable of both, for which he had a salary of 20l. per annum for Green Castle and 5l. for Carlingford. In 1495, it was thought to be a place of such importance to the crown, that no person, but of English birth was declared capable of being constable of it.’
From An Improved Topographical and Historical Hibernian Gazetteer, by the Rev. H Hansbrow (Dublin, 1835)




‘The castle stands upon an elevated rock, about a quarter of a mile from the sea. The walls are double, and the outer ones is looped at regular distances for archers, with passages to each floor. The central building is strengthened and protected by four square flanking towers at the corners, with a spiral staircase in each. Upon gaining the battlements, a beautiful view of the Lough scenery is obtained; the most striking object, however, is the Castle of Carlingford, which looks to great advantage from this point.
Green Castle rendered important services in the rebellion of 1641. It served not only to protect the Protestants of the district, but exercised considerable influence in keeping the insurrection in check. A part of this old Castle is now in occupation, and the rest turned into out-offices for cattle.’
From Tours in Ulster: A Handbook to the Antiquities and Scenery by J.B. Doyle (Dublin, 1855)


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A Place of Pilgrimage



June 23rd 1752: ‘This country being entirely unknown I have been the more particular in relation to it, for my own satisfaction. From the Ferry I went westward along the Strand, and passed under an old Church called Kilkenny, a chapel of Ease to Enniskeel, a mile farther I came to a village called Balyaristan: and having a letter to Mr. Stewart the Minister of Inniskeel I came in two miles to his house, the first half on the strand and the remainder within the sand banks ; opposite to it is a small Island called Keel or Inniskeel (Island Bed) in which are two churches, about one the Protestants bury, and at the other the Papists; At low water they ride over to it.’
From Richard Pococke’s Tour of Ireland in 1752, edited by George T. Stokes (Dublin, 1891)




No longer to be seen on Inishkeel or indeed in this part of the world: St Conall’s Bell and Shrine. Made of iron, the original plain hand bell, used to summon the local people to services, likely dates from the 7th or 8th century. It is indicative of the growing fame of St Conall that several hundred years later, this simple device was decorated with a bronze mount and then, in the 15th century, an elaborate shrine of bronze and silver parcel-gilt, with silver plates, rock crystal studs and a chain, was made to house the implement. Both the bell and its shrine were kept for many centuries by the local O’Breslin family, supposedly descendants of the saint’s family, and would be exhibited annually during celebrations of his feast day (May 22nd) when pilgrims gathered on Inishkeel. Writing for the Ordnance Survey in 1835, described how ‘This chain O’Breslin threw around his neck, and from it the bell hung down his breast, exhibiting to the enthusiastic pilgrims the glittering gems and the symbol of the bloody sacrifice.’ At some date around this time, the bell and shrine were purchased by Major James Nesbitt, a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Donegal, who lived a little further south in a house called Woodhill. The items then passed through a couple of hands before being bought by the English antiquarian and collector Augustus Wollaston Franks who in 1889 presented them to the British Museum where he served as Keeper of British and Medieval Antiquities. Bell and shrine remain in the museum’s collection to the present day, although they were loaned for exhibition in the Donegal County Museum ten years ago.
Inishkeel is a little island off the coast of south-west County Donegal, only accessible on foot when the tide is sufficiently low. Here, in the late 6th century, Saint Conall Cael, about whom almost nothing is known, founded a monastic settlement which, like so many others, in due course became a renowned place of pilgrimage. Remains of two small churches, one dedicated to St Conall, the other to the Virgin, both dating from the 13th century and later, can be seen here. They have each undergone some restoration work (the east end of the St Conall’s church has evidently been reconstructed, since numbers can be seen on many of its stones). There are also several cross slabs still standing, including two on which carved decorations of interlaced design may still be seen: one of them is believed to have been the shaft of a high cross from the 11th/12th century. When the buildings here fell out of use is unclear, but the island continued to be populated into the 19th century: the 1841 census shows there were 16 people living on Inishkeel. Today, while one roofed house still stands, it is otherwise uninhabited. Looking at the scant remains, it is difficult to believe that this was once the centre of a thriving monastic community and a place to which pilgrims flocked. 




No longer to be found on Inishkeel or indeed in this part of the world: St Conall’s Bell and Shrine. Made of iron, the original plain hand bell, used to summon the local people to services, likely dates from the 7th or 8th century. It is indicative of the growing fame of St Conall that several hundred years later, this simple device was decorated with a bronze mount and then, in the 15th century, an elaborate shrine of bronze and silver parcel-gilt, with silver plates, rock crystal studs and a chain, was made to house the implement. Both the bell and its shrine were kept for many centuries by the local O’Breslin family, supposedly descendants of the saint’s family, and would be exhibited annually during celebrations of his feast day (May 22nd) when pilgrims gathered on Inishkeel. Writing for the Ordnance Survey in 1835, described how ‘This chain O’Breslin threw around his neck, and from it the bell hung down his breast, exhibiting to the enthusiastic pilgrims the glittering gems and the symbol of the bloody sacrifice.’ At some date around this time, the bell and shrine were purchased by Major James Nesbitt, a local magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant of Donegal, who lived a little further south in a house called Woodhill. The items then passed through a couple of hands before being bought by the English antiquarian and collector Augustus Wollaston Franks who in 1889 presented them to the British Museum where he served as Keeper of British and Medieval Antiquities. Bell and shrine remain in the museum’s collection to the present day, although they were loaned for exhibition in the Donegal County Museum ten years ago. 



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A Failed Venture



The former lock-keeper’s house outside Smithborough, County Monaghan. Dating from the mid-1830s, it was constructed by the Ulster Canal Company established in the previous decade to link Lough Neagh to Lough Erne. The canal opened in 1842 but proved a failure, since in an effort to economise the company created too narrow locks and, in places, a route too narrow to permit boats to pass. Shortage of water was also a problem, as was competition by the expanding network of railway lines. By 1851 the company was already in financial difficulty and the canal was taken over by the Board of Works. However, the problems proved insuperable and by the early 20th century the canal had become derelict. This little house now sits surrounded by dry land (as does and adjacent former lock), a souvenir of a failed venture.



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The Old and the New



Unused for almost 160 years, the old church at Ballyclog, County Tyrone dates from 1622 when it was built on the site of an ancient place of worship by the then-rector, the Rev Bradley. Constructed of dark stone with a brick belfry, the building was summarised by Samuel Lewis in 1837 as ‘a small plain ancient structure with a tower and spire; and in the churchyard are the family vaults of the Steuarts of Steuart Hall, and the Bells of Belmont, to whom some handsome monuments of freestone have been erected.’ Three decades later, another rector, the Rev. Greene, decided the time had come to commission a new church, erected within sight of its predecessor. Used for services since 1868, St Patrick’s was designed by Welland and Gillespie, joint architects to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of the Church of Ireland. It has been described by Prof. Alistair Rowan as ‘a roguish little building…wilfully adapting Irish architectural elements to jazzy ends.’ Among the most obvious of these elements is a tower on the south-west corner, which rises from a battered base around which snake bands of red stone up to a greatly extended conical spire. 



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Larkin’ about




What survives of the little parish church of Ballylarkin, County Kilkenny, its name derived from the Irish Baile Uí Lorcáin meaning Town of Ó Lorcáins (they being the family who initially controlled this part of the country). The building is believed to date from the 13th century but inside on the south wall is a later piscina and a triple sedilia probably inserted in the 14th century. 




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Sacred Origin and Pious Association


‘From childhood it has been my fortune to see, many times, as fine a specimen of a round tower as time and the ravages of man allowed to remain in our midst. It was situated at a remote village, called Kilbannon, distant some three miles from the ancient archiepiscopal town of Tuam. Standing at the northern side of a little graveyard and upon a perfectly level plain, it is visible for miles round. Near it are the ruins of an old Dominican monastery or nunnery (for it is variously described in old annals)…The name of the place, “Kilbannon”, is indicative of its sacred origin and pious association ; and tradition ascribes to the ruins the fame of a Saint Bennan, who is supposed to have been a disciple of Jarlath, the first Bishop of Tuam, after whom that See was called in ecclesiastical history. St. Jarlath was believed to have been an intimate follower of the glorious Apostle himself, and we may note, that but a few short miles, as the crow flies, from the Church of Bennan was the illustrious school of Cluan-fois, otherwise Cloonfush, founded by St. Jarlath, and in his time and long after known as “the mother of many memorable missionaries”.’
From ‘The Round Tower of Kilbannon’ by Richard J. Kelly, The Irish Monthly, Vol.14, 1886




‘There is a pillar tower at Kilbennan, near Taam. Before the young Bishop Benignus, or Bennin, had come to the territory of Conmaicne, or Tuam, in the Barony of Dunmore, the place now called Kilbannon had been known by the name Dun-Lugaidh, i.e., Louis’s Fortress. When St. Benignus, in company with St Patrick, had come from Donach Patrick to Dun-Lugaidh, it is said that the saint dug a fountain, in the waters of which he baptized nine lepers, who became instantly healed of their leprosy. Niatha, the chieftain of that district, and all his followers and clients, and all the people of the entire country of Conmaicne — St. Jarlath’s cousins, himself and his father and relatives — were baptized in that fountain. That well, or fountain, is to be seen to this day at Kilbennan. Its waters gush forth from the foot of the Round Tower which to this hour is to be seen. Two things remain to this day to confirm the truth of the historical event — first, the “Dun” or pillar tower of Lughaidh ; second, the fountain gushing forth at its foot. At the time, say, A.D. 440, the Dun existed, it was the fortified home of the chieftain Xiatha.’
From The Aryan Origin of the Gaelic Race and Language by the Rev. Ulick J. Bourke (1875)




‘Kilbannon: Sometimes called Ballygaddy, which is the name of the townland and bridge adjoining the site, is situated two miles N. W. from Tuam Railway Station. The Round Tower still remains, to the height of about forty-five feet. It is broken away on one side, but the doorway is nearly perfect, being of the ordinary form, round-headed, and with inclining jambs. The Church adjoining is a rude early Christian building. No vestiges of genuine antiquity have come under my observation, save the Round Tower, which is associated with the name of St. Bunaun-one of three brothers; another, St. Bernaun, being the reputed founder of Knockmoy.’
From The Towers and Temples of Ancient Ireland by Marcus Keane (1867) 


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Boldly and Picturesquely Seated



‘Dundrum Castle is usually supposed to have been erected for the Knights Templar by the renowned Sir John de Courcey, and that powerful body possessed it till the abolition of the order in the year 1313. It was afterwards granted to the Prior of Down, who held it, with a small manor adjoining, till the final suppression of religious orders; and the reversion of this house and manor, with the yearly rent of 6l. 13s. 6d. reserved out of it, was granted to Gerald, Earl of Kildare.’
From the Dublin Penny Journal, No.36, Vol.1, March 2 1833.





‘This Castle was granted to the family of Magennis; on their forfeiture, it became the property of the Earl of Ardglass, and afterwards was in the possession of the Lord Viscount Blundell; the ruins are of an irregular multangular ſorm, with a fine round tower, which is about thirty-five feet diameter in the inside.”  Thus far Mr. Archdall. In addition to which, Harris says, “When the Castle was in repair it often proved a good guard to the pass, and as often an offensive neighbour to the English planted in Lecale, according to the hands that possessed it. Anno 1517, the Earl of Kildare, then Lord Deputy, marched into Lecale, and took it by storm; it being garriſoned at that time by the Irish, who had driven out the English ſome time before. It was again possessed and repaired by the Magennises, and re-taken by the Lord Deputy Gray, with seven castles more in Lecale, anno 1538. lt afterwards got into the hands of Phelim McEver Magennis, who was obliged to yield it to the Lord Mountjoy on the 16th of June in the year 1601, It met with another fate during the progress of the war of 1641, when it was demolished by the order of Cromwell, though then garrisoned by Protestants, and has ever since been suffered to run entirely to ruin.’
From The Antiquities of Ireland, Vol.1 by Francis Grose (1791)





‘The old Castle of Dundrum, boldly and picturesquely seated on a high rock covered with verdure, commanded in the ages of warfare the entrance to the harbour — if to the inner Bay, or rather the estuary of the Blackstaff Water, the appellation may be applied. This was considered one of the finest castles erected by the first Anglo-Norman adventurers; and its ivy-mantled ruins contribute materially to the strikingly romantic features of the landscape. These ruins consist of a great circular keep or tower, with detached fragments of towers, and ruins of other outworks, and a barbican. At a little distance southward of the castle are the mouldering remains of a large mansion, partly a fortalice and partly a dwelling-house of the sort in use in the sixteenth century. From these ruins we command a wider sweep of the magnificent scenery described at Newcastle.’
From A Picturesque Handbook to Carlingford Bay by Robert Greer (1846)


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Beyond Balief


The histories of some Irish buildings are easier to trace than others. The origins and owners of Balief Castle, County Kilkenny prove particularly elusive. It is commonly stated that the castle, actually another late-medieval tower house, was constructed by a member of the Shortall family. The Shortalls were of Norman origin, and settled in this part of the country in the late 13th century: a townland is still called Shortallstown. The Shortalls allied themselves with another, more powerful, dynasty, the Graces, Barons of Courtstown, and this helped to assure the possession of their lands. Both the Graces and the Shortalls remained loyal to the Roman Catholic faith and to the Stuart cause. In 1689, the then Baron of Courtstown raised and equipped a regiment of foot at his own expense to support James II during the Williamite Wars, and Thomas Shortall joined this force. When the baron died the following year, his son Robert Grace succeeded as head of the regiment but he was badly wounded at the Battle of Aughrim in July 1691 and died the following year. Nevertheless, the regiment continued to operate, with Captain Thomas Shortall commanding a company of 100 men at the second Siege of Limerick. Following the treaty concluded there in October 1691, Shortall like many others left Ireland and joined the French army. He is said to have continued to serve until the age of 88, and to have died in 1762 at the age of 104.




What happened to Balief Castle in the aftermath of the Williamite Wars is something of a mystery, but it appears to have passed into the hands of the St George family, which owned large estates in County Kilkenny. In Atkinson’s The Irish Tourist (1816) Balief Castle is described as being ‘the seat of Mr St. George’, presumably Robert St George whose father Sir Richard St George lived not far away at the since-demolished house of Woodsgift. However, it would seem there was another, more modern residence here, again no longer standing, since the earliest Ordnance Survey map shows ‘Balief House’ on or adjacent to the same site of the castle. Hercules Langrishe St George is later listed as owning the property, and being a local Justice of the Peace before Balief became occupied in the 1860s by Denis W Kavanagh, another gentleman whose family owned land in the area. Thereafter it is hard to find any more information about the place. 




Most Irish tower houses are either square or rectangular. Circular examples are relatively rare, although one has featured here in the past, Moorstown Castle, County Tipperary (see In the Round « The Irish Aesthete). Thought to date from the 16th century, Balief Castle is another member of this small group. The building castle rises approximately 35 feet and has an interior diameter of the castle of 15 feet, eight inches with walls some eight feet, four inches thick. As is customary, it has a single entrance, a pointed arch door on the west side. Immediately inside, is the staircase, with an ascent to the top by 50 stone steps, the majority of which are eight inches thick (the final nine being six and a half inches thick), but all floors and other internal divisions have long been lost, leaving one space that climbs to a still intact domed roof. Today Balief Castle stands in the middle of a field, little noticed and little known. 


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Erected for their Posterity



Above the pointed arch doorway with cable moulding at the entrance to a now-roofless church in Naul, County Dublin is a plaque stating that the building had been ‘Erected by Hon. Edward Hussey and his wife Lady Mabel (nee Barnwall) for their posterity in the year of Our Lord God 1710.’ This memorial also features the Hussey coat of arms and motto ‘Cor Immobile’ (Immovable Hearts). The plaque suggests the building dates from the early 18th century but more likely it was reconstructed then as a chantry chapel for the Husseys (whose vault lies within the nave), because the Civil Survey of 1654-6 described it as being ruinous with only ‘the walles of ye parish church’ still standing. In addition, at the east end there remains a fine double ogee-headed window (a second, less ornamented opening can be found on the south wall). At the start of the 19th century, a Church of Ireland church was constructed to the immediate north of this little structure but was then demolished in 1949 due to insufficient numbers attending services there.



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Glimpses into the Past


Barely a mile to the north of Castle Carra, County Mayo (see last Monday, Difficult to Locate without a Guide « The Irish Aesthete) can be another substantial ruin, this time of a religious settlement. Like the castle, Burriscarra Abbey, as it is now popularly known,  is believed to have been established by the Anglo-Norman Adam de Staunton. He granted the land here to the mendicant Carmelite order, founded by St Berthold in 1154. The date given for the establishment of the house at Burriscarra is 1298, just over a quarter century after the first Carmelite friary had been founded in Leighlinbridge, County Carlow. At Burriscarra, the friars did not remain in situ for long. For reasons unknown – perhaps warfare, perhaps devastation caused by the Black Death – by 1383 they had gone, after which the property lay abandoned for some 30 years. 





In 1413, the former Carmelite friary at Burriscarra was given to the Augustinian order which had already established a house elsewhere in the county at Ballinrobe (see Unclear Past, Unclear Future « The Irish Aesthete). The Augustinians appear to have been invited by Edmund and Richard Staunton, descendants of Adam de Staunton. On arrival, the friars found the place in a poor state of repair, these circumstances made worse in 1430 when the buildings were burned, presumably during one of the internecine disputes that bedevilled Ireland throughout the 15th century. In consequence, a Papal indulgence was granted to anyone who visited the church and gave alms for its repair.  After the rebuilding of the friary a dispute arose between the Carmelites and the Augustinians over ownership of the property. However, it appears the Augustinians remained in residence of the friary until, like all other religious houses, it was suppressed in the 16th century. In 1607 the lands of Burriscarra were granted by James I to one John King, who then sold them on to the Bowens, after which, like nearby Castle Carra, they passed into the possession of the Lynch family and eventually being taken into the care of the Office of Public Works. 





Today Burriscarra friary consists of a roofless church with a side aisle on its south-west side and the remains of a two-storey domestic range incorporating a cloister garth to the immediate north. Much of what survives likely dates from the rebuilding of the property in the 15th century, following damage caused by the fire of 1430. Access to the church is through a small round arched window at the west end. At the head of the building, what was once a very substantial east window occupying much of the gable wall was later blocked up and a much smaller opening created. The southern wall had another three large windows and while these remain, all their tracery is lost. Below these, in what would have been the choir, are a sedilia and piscina. The former is demarcated by a trefoil arch concluding on either side with a carved head, one of which has suffered considerable damage. Note also how the decoration of column capitals inside the arch differ from each other and that the ogee-headed window inside the arch is slightly off-centre, as also is the point of the adjacent piscina’s arch. The only window to retain its tracery can be found inside the side aisle, accessed via two large arched openings on the south wall nave. Like nearby Castle Carra and the subsequent 18th century house, what survives of this religious establishment offers us glimpses into the complexities of this country’s history.

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