Leamaneh Castle

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The ruins of Leamaneh Castle

Leamaneh Castle ( Irish Caisleán Léim an Eich ) is the ruin of a country house in the townland Leamaneh North ( Léim an Eich Thuaidh ) in the municipality of Killnaboy between the villages of Corofin and Kilfenora in County Clare, Ireland, and thus in the Burren . It consists of a tower house from the 15th century and a country house from the 17th century. The ruin is considered a national monument .

Surname

The name of the country house is said to be derived from the Irish Gaelic léim an eich , which can be translated into German as “horse jump ”. But it could also be derived from léim an fheidh (dt .: "deer jump").

Location

The country house is at an important intersection and at the point where the baronies of Burren , Corcomroe and Inchiquin met. Today the roads R476 from Kilfenora to Killnaboy and R480 north to Ballyvaughan intersect there .

history

First building

The first building on this site was a simple, five-story, Irish tower house, which was built 1480-1490, probably for Toirdelbhach Donn MacTadhg Ó Briain, King of Thomond , of the O'Brien family , one of the last High Kings of Ireland and direct Descendants of Brian Boru .

In 1543 Toirdelbhach handed over to Donn MacTadhg Ó Briain's son, Murrough O'Brien , his royal title Henry VIII and was appointed 1st Earl of Thomond and Baron Inchiquin . In 1550, Murrough O'Brien gave Leamaneh Castle to his third son, Donough . Donough was hanged as a rebel in Limerick in 1592 .

Country house

1639 married Conor O'Brien , Donough O'Brien's grandson, Máire Ní Mathghamhna (MacMahon). She became one of the most famous women in Irish folklore; she was called Máire Rua ("Red Marie") because of her flaming red hair . She was born in 1615 or 1616. Her father was Sir Torlach Rua MacMahon, Lord of Clonderlaw , and her mother was Lady Mary O'Brien , daughter of the 3rd Earl of Thomond. Her first husband, Daniel O'Neylan (sometimes also O'Neillan or Neylan ) of O'Dea Castle in northern County Clare, died young and upon his death, Máire Rua inherited a large estate and a fortune of £ 1000. This wealth made it possible it is her and Conor O'Brien to have a comfortable country house added to the Tower House.

Part of the Tower House was demolished around 1648 and replaced by a four-story country house. Máire Rua went on raids against English settlers with her husband . In 1651, Conor O'Brien was fatally wounded while fighting alongside the royalists in Inchicronan . It is reported that immediately after her husband's death, the widow, realizing that the punishment for his rebellion against the English would be the return of his possessions to the English crown, rode to Limerick and offered to marry any officer in Cromwell's army who take her hand.

General Ludlow , who commanded the English parliamentary forces at Inchicronan , later led operations against insurgents in the Burren, making his famous statement about the sterility of the area. It also said of Leamaneh Castle that he “found it very strong because it was built of stone and enclosed by a good wall. We garrisoned it and provided it with all the necessary things. "

Máire Rua's third husband, Cornet John Cooper , was a soldier in Cromwell's armed forces; by marrying him she was able to get her possessions back. Cooper left the army and amassed a fortune from property speculation. But later he got into financial difficulties and as a result the Leamaneh estate, which he had acquired through marriage, was mortgaged to pay off his debts.

In the 1660s parliamentary troops were temporarily stationed at Leamaneh Castle and Máire Rua's son, Donagh (or Donough , from 1686 also Sir Donat ) found the Tower House and country house damaged, stayed there until 1684 or 1685 and then moved the family seat to it much larger Dromoland Castle in Newmarket-on-Fergus , south of Ennis .

Even though Máire Rua's children from her first marriage to Daniel O'Neylan were raised Catholics, Sir Donat grew up as a Protestant and later became the "richest common man in Ireland". He had Sir Donat's Road built, which connected Killnaboy to Leamaneh Castle, a toll road whose flanking stone walls are partially still visible today. The gatehouses where the toll had to be paid were demolished.

Sir Donat was High Sheriff of Clare from 1690 and Member of Parliament for County Clare from 1695 to 1713. He died in 1717. In 1678 the property was expanded to over 4000 hectares.

Another story

View of the ruin

In the following years Leamaneh Castle belonged to different owners. But it eventually fell into disrepair at the end of the 18th century. The barbican-like gates that adorned the entrance to the property were moved to Dromoland Castle in 1906 or 1908 at the instigation of Lucius O'Brien, 15th Baron Inchiquin . You can still find them there today.

The most elegant of the open fireplaces was implemented in the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis.

today

Today the ruin consists of both the Tower House with its narrow loopholes and the four outer walls of the attached country house with their coupled and combat windows . The latter have a trompe l'oeil effect, as the windows on the upper floors are smaller, which creates the impression of great height. Remnants of the outbuildings, the enclosed garden and the deer park can also be found. Unlike other castles and country houses in Ireland, Leamaneh Castle is left to its fate and is not officially accessible due to its poor state of construction. It is on private land that is used as a field.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship: Clare . March 4, 2009. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  2. ↑ George Cunningham: Burren Journey . Shannonside Mid Western Regional Tourism Organization, 1978. p. 38.
  3. ↑ Hugh Carthy: Burren Archeology . The Collins Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-848891-05-0 . P. 119.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g h Anne Korff: The Burren: Kilfenora - A Ramblers Guide and Map . Tir Eolas, 1988. ISSN 0790-8911.
  5. ↑ a b George Cunningham: Burren Journey . Shannonside Mid Western Regional Tourism Organization, 1978. p. 40.
  6. ↑ There are other versions of the story that report that Máire Rúa did not remarry until 1653, two years after the death of her second husband.
  7. ↑ a b c d Hugh Carthy: Burren Archeology . The Collins Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-848891-05-0 . P. 122.
  8. ↑ Hugh Carthy: Burren Archeology . The Collins Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-848891-05-0 . P. 121.
  9. ↑ Hugh Carthy: Burren Archeology . The Collins Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-848891-05-0 . Pp. 119-122.

swell

  • Ivar O'Brien: O'Brien of Thomond: The O'Briens in Irish History 1500-1865 . Phillmore & Company, January 1986. ISBN 0-85033-582-5 .
  • Jeff O'Connell, Paul Gosling: Leamaneh - an O'Brien Castle and Manor House in Anne Korff, Jeff O'Connell (editor): The Book of the Burren . Tír Eolas, 2001. ISBN 978-1-873821-15-2 . Pp. 135-140.
  • Peter Harbison : Guide to the Naional Monuments in the Republic of Ireland Gill and Macmillan, Dublin 1992 ISBN 0-7171-1956-4 pp. 45-46

Web links

Commons : Leamaneh Castle  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 59 ′ 15.3 "  N , 9 ° 8 ′ 25"  W.