Clonony Castle
| Clonony Castle | ||
|---|---|---|
 Clonony Castle |
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| Alternative name (s): | Caisleán Chluain Damhna | |
| Creation time : | 1500 | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg (Tower House) | |
| Conservation status: | restored | |
| Standing position : | Irish nobility | |
| Construction: | Quarry stone | |
| Place: | Clonony | |
| Geographical location | 53 ° 14 '9.7 " N , 7 ° 55' 22.8" W | |
| Height: | 43 m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference | |
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Clonony Castle ( Irish Caisleán Chluain Damhna ) is a Tudor style tower house in the hamlet of Clonony , about 1.5 km west of the town of Cloghan and about 6.5 km east of the town of Banagher in County Offaly, Ireland .
history
The McCoughlan clan had Clonony Castle built in 1500 and John Óg McCoughlan gave the property to the English King Henry VIII and then to Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire , when Henry wanted to marry his daughter Anne . Mary and Elizabeth Boleyn , second cousins of Queen Elizabeth I , lived in the castle all their lives and their tombstone is still on the property today. Her grave was discovered in 1803 about 100 meters away from the castle. The inscription on the 2.4 x 1.2 meter limestone slab reads:
"Below are Elizabeth and Mary Bullyn, daughters of Thomas Bullyn, son of George Bullyn, son of George Bullyn, Viscount Rochford, son of Sir Thomas Bullyn Alder from Ormond and Willsheere."
From 1612 to around 1620, Matthew de Renzi (1577–1634), a London cloth merchant who originally came from Cologne and, according to his tombstone in Athlone, created the first English-Irish dictionary, lived in the castle. He acquired it after the McCoghlans forfeited it in the Nine Years War .
In the annals of the four masters it is written:
“A great war broke out in Dealbhna between the descendants of Farrell Mac Coghlan and the descendants of the Donnells, in the course of which James Mac Coghlan, Prior of Gailinne and Roydamna of Dealbhna Eathra, was killed by a gunshot from Cluain-damhna Castle was fired. "
description
The 15 meter high tower, a national monument , is surrounded by gardens and a moat . The castle is just a few miles from Clonmacnoise Abbey , an ancient seat of Irish science. Shannon Harbor village and the towns of Cloghan, Banagher and Shannonbridge are also nearby. The castle is currently being restored and can be visited free of charge. There are no specific opening times, but the owners try to keep the castle accessible and offer tours.
The castle has all the basic details of a tower house from this period, such as a Machicolation , a murderer hole, a tapered base, passages in the walls, spiral staircases , loopholes , a garderobe and a fence. The first floor had collapsed, but was rebuilt as part of the restoration. The vaulted ceiling on the second floor has also been restored. The Tower House is three stories high; the entrance is in the western wall and a machiculus is above it. The ground floor ceiling consists of a fire-proof vault and a spiral staircase leads to the upper floors. There are round arch and keel arched windows , as well as straight lintel windows. The enclosure wall with its two square corner towers and the entrance, which bears a coat of arms, was restored in the 19th century and with its enclosing wall and internal defenses gives a good impression of what the Tower House might have looked like. The inner enclosure building in front of the west entrance seems to be a 19th century building.
Individual evidence
- ^ David Sweetman: Medieval Castles of Ireland . Dublin 2000.
- ^ Clonony Castle in Banagher, A Brief History . Banagher Parish Council, Banagher June 1951.
- ↑ Brendan Ryan: A German Planter in the Midlands . In: History Ireland . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ A b Clonony Castle, Co. Offaly, Near Shannonbridge . In: Cultural Heritage Ireland . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ↑ Annála Ríoghachta Éireann (Annals of the Four Masters), M1519.15 . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
- ^ Clonony Castle, Co. Offaly . In: The Standing Stone . Retrieved March 29, 2019.
