GLENARM CASTLE

“Oh, sweetly rural is the sceneWhere Geashill Castle stands;Beneath the line of green old hillsThis lovely vale expands.”E. Egan.

Thevillage of Geashill is situated in the barony of the same name, about eight miles south-east of Tullamore, in the King’s County. On a long ridge near are the ruins of the castle, adjoining a modern lodge usually occupied by the agent of the Digby estate. The ancient fortress is three storeys high, and a spiral stairway still leads to the summit, where there is an iron chair. An underground passage is said to run to the ruined Abbey close by.

The date of the castle’s erection by the Fitzgeralds is ascribed to the twelfth century, and in 1203 or 1204 the King commanded it to be delivered to William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, as the guardian of Maurice, second Baron of Offaly, who was heir to Gerald FitzMaurice.

In 1305 the sept of the O’Dempseys slaughtered a great number of the O’Connors near the castle, and the following year the stronghold was destroyed by these native Irish. The Book of Howth says: “The Lord of Offalye builded the castle of Geschell” in 1307, so it was, no doubt, rebuilt this year by Thomas FitzMaurice, “the crooked heir,” who died in 1298, and who is supposed to have been prevented from inheriting as head of the family on account of some deformity. Juliana FitzGerald granted the castle to hisson, who was her cousin, and afterwards 1st Earl of Kildare.

An inquisition was held at Kildare in 1282 upon the estate of the late John FitzThomas, when his heir, Thomas FitzMaurice, came of age. It was shown that the former had held lands from Maurice FitzGerald “for a moiety of the service of one knight whenever royal service should be summoned, rendering suit nevertheless at the court of the said Maurice FitzGerald at Geashill.”

Lord Leonard Gray and the chieftain O’Mulmoy seized the castle, and abbey of Killeigh in 1538. In both they found great stores of corn, part of which they burnt and part carried off.

On an ancient map of Leix, dated about 1563, both the castles of Lea and Geashill are marked as ruins, but in Sir Henry Sydney’s account of Ireland shortly afterwards he writes: “Geshell, in the King’s County, is very necessary to be had of the Earl of Kildare; it is a matter of consequence for her Majesty’s service in that county.”

James I. granted the barony of Geashill in 1619 and 1629 to Lady Lettice Digby, widow of Sir Robert Digby, of Warwickshire, as compensation for not inheriting as heir-general of the house of Kildare, she being the only child of the eldest son of the 11th Earl of Kildare. At the same time he created her Baroness of Offaly, and she lived quietly at Geashill from that date until 1642, when the great rebellion broke out and the Confederate Catholics laid siege to her stronghold.

A kinsman of hers named Henry Dempsy, brother of Lord Clanmalier, was in command, and despatched a letter “To the Honourable and thrice virtuous Lady, the Lady Digby,” demanding that she should surrender the castle to his Majesty and offering her and her household a free pass to wherever they wished, threatening at the same time if she did not comply to murder every Protestant in the town.

To this demand the Baroness sent the following answer: “I received your letter, wherein you threaten to sack this my castle, by his Majesty’s authority. I have ever been a loyal subject and good neighbour among you, and, therefore, cannot but wonder at such an assault. I thank you for your offer of a convoy, wherein I hold little safety; and, therefore, my resolution is, that being free of offending his Majesty, or doing wrong to any of you, I will live and die innocently, and will do the best to defend my own, leaving the issue to God. And though I have been, and still am desirous to avoid the shedding of Christian blood, yet, being provoked, your threats shall no wit dismay me.—Lettice Offaly.”

The castle was surrounded by bog and wood, and was, in consequence, somewhat difficult of access, so that upon receiving her letter the enemy retired to make more elaborate preparations for attack.

They collected a number of pots and pans, with which a man from Athboy constructed a cannon. It had to be cast three times before it was successful.

After two months the attackers returned to the castle with Lord Clanmalier in command. He despatched another letter demanding surrender to the brave lady, which received a spirited reply, reiterating her determination to endeavour to hold her own against all comers.

Upon its receipt they discharged the gun, which burst at the first shot, but a fusilade of muskets was kept up until the evening.

As the Baroness was looking out of one of the windows a ball struck the wall near her, and taking out her handkerchief, she contemptuously dusted the spot.

It is said that one of her sons, having fallen into the enemy’s hands, was brought before the castle in chains, with a threat that they would kill him unless she surrendered. She, however, replied that if they touched a hairof his head she would at once put to death a Roman Catholic priest who was within the walls.

At dark the enemy retired, again sending her a letter offering her terms, which received the same refusal as the others had done, and the messenger she sent was kept a prisoner.

Lady Offaly managed to let Sir Charles Coote, then at Naas, know that she needed assistance, and Philip Sydney, Viscount Lisle, at once set out from Dublin to her relief, accompanied by Sir Charles Coote, Sir George Wentworth, Lord Digby, the Baroness’s eldest son, and a considerable force of horse and foot.

Lady Offaly had also despatched an appeal for help to the FitzGeralds, but the letter fell into the enemy’s hands instead, who at once renewed the siege when they learnt of her straits.

As the English forces advanced the besiegers skirmished and retreated. The relieving party supplied the fortress with food and ammunition, but at Lady Offaly’s request she remained in the castle.

The following October she was again attacked by Charles Dempsie, but this time was shortly relieved by Sir Richard Grenville, and after this she retired to Cole’s Hill, in Warwickshire, where she died in 1658.

Her eldest son, Lord Digby, inherited the castle, and it is still in the family’s possession.

GLENARM CASTLE.

Thiscastle is situated in the Barony of Lower Glenarm, a little more than twenty-five miles north of Belfast, in the County Antrim, where the Glenarm rivulet enters the bay.

The original stronghold was erected by the Byset family about the middle of the thirteenth century, and came into the MacDonnell family through the marriage of Margery Bisset.

The castle stood on the southern side of the river at the head of the street which leads from the barbican, and on the opposite bank from the present building.

In 1278 an inquisition was held after the death of two John Bysets to determine if the Earl of Ulster was right in making the fortress over to the Bishop of Connor as ecclesiastical property, and it was decided that the Bysets had not held the castle from the church.

Captain Pers and Malbie placed Randal Oge in possession of the stronghold in 1568, but the same year his ward surrendered it.

In 1597 it is reported James and Randal M’Donnell “broke” the castle, and it does not appear to have been afterwards rebuilt, although the ruins were standing for many years.

Sir Randal MacDonnell was granted the estate in 1603, and began to erect the present castle.

Sir Awla M’Awla petitioned against his possession of Glenarm in 1610, but apparently without effect.

Sir Randal greatly enlarged the dwelling in 1636, and the following inscription was placed over the entrance:—

“With the leave of God this castle was built by SirRandal McDonnel, Knight, Erle of Antrim, having to wife Dame Aellis O’Neill, in the year of our Lord God, 1636. Deus est adjutor meus.”

Shortly after this the family made Glenarm their chief place of residence instead of Dunluce Castle.

The fortress is approached by a barbican standing on the northern side of the bridge, while an avenue of limes leads to the hall door. The building is flanked by towers crowned with cupolas and vanes, and the gables are decorated with heraldic devices.

An embattled wall guards the terrace on the river side.

The hall, which is also used as a billiard-room, is especially handsome, while the dining-room and drawing-room are also fine apartments.

Some treasure chests said to have belonged to the Spanish Armada are preserved in the castle, but a doubt has been thrown upon their being of such a date.

During the rebellion of 1798, the castle was used as the headquarters of the Yeomanry. The rebels had decided to attack it on the 8th of June, and the wives of the Yeomen, whom they had captured, were to be placed in front of the insurgents in their advance.

This diabolical plan was frustrated on the very morning of the intended attack by news of the defeat at Antrim, whereupon the camp was broken up.

Glenarm is the seat of the Earl of Antrim, the present representative being the sixth peer.

Theorigin of the title Knight of Glin, or Knight of the Valley, seems not to be accurately known, but the designation has been recorded as in use during the reign of Henry III. The Knights of Glin, also called the Black Knights, belong to the great Geraldine family, and owed a certain allegiance to the Earls of Desmond, which is described as follows: “Divers customs of meat and drink, together with rising of men at the Earl’s calling to the number of 60 kearne.”

The housing and feeding of some of the Earl’s men were also included.

Glin is a small market town and seaport in the Barony of Shanid, in the County Limerick, at the junction of a rivulet with the Shannon, twenty-six miles west by south of Limerick City.

Of the ancient fortress situated in the town, nothing now remains but the keep. It measures 38 feet by 35 externally, and the walls are 8 feet in thickness. It is at present about 40 feet in height, but was at one time crowned by a turret in the eastern corner. The courtyard walls were 102 feet in length and 92 in breadth. The chief entrance, to the north, was defended by a semicircular outwork. The great hall was situated on the western side of the courtyard, while the keep was in the south-west corner. The two eastern angles were defended by small towers. A moat surrounded the castle filled with water from the Shannon tributary.

The Knight of Glin was a very important chieftain in Limerick, maintaining an ordinary force of ten horsemen and a hundred and forty foot soldiers. During the Desmond wars he shared the fortunes of the Earl, and in 1569 both the Knight and the son were attainted, the latter being executed.

The estates were, however, very shortly afterwards restored, and in the rebellion of the Northern Earls and the “Sugan Earl” of Desmond, the Knight of Glin was again amongst the disaffected.

In the summer of 1600 Sir George Carew started on an expedition to the west to restore peace in that quarter. He had with him a force of one thousand five hundred men, and was accompanied by the Earl of Thomond.

The army marched through Kerry to Askeaton, where there was a halt for four days awaiting provisions, which had been sent by water from Limerick. On the 4th of July they marched twelve miles to Ballintare, the enemy moving in front within view. The next morning’s march brought them before Glin Castle, the rebels still offering no opposition.

The Four Masters describe the route taken as having been from Limerick along the northern bank of the Shannon through Clare, the troops ferrying themselves across the river at Glin, but it is most likely that Sir George Carew’s biographer gives the correct line of march.

Captain Gawin Harvey’s ship, with the ordnance on board, had been anchored in the Shannon for fourteen days awaiting their arrival, and the guns were at once unshipped upon the arrival of the troops.

That night the forces entrenched themselves between the castle and the river, and the next day, under the guise of a parley, they managed to plant the cannon without opposition.

The next day the Knight of Glin, who was not withinthe castle, asked for a safe conduct to the English camp, which was granted. Upon arrival he demanded to see the President, but was refused unless upon an unconditional surrender. This he would not consent to, and was, therefore, ordered to depart. Seeing his son in the camp, whom he had delivered as a hostage some time previously, he seemed to hesitate, but as he still held out for terms the Earl of Thomond broke off the negotiations, and the Knight and his attendants retired to a neighbouring hill to watch the attack.

Later the Constable of the fortress sent a message to the Earl of Thomond begging an interview, which was granted. He began by stating that the love he bore the Earl, being a Thomond man himself, had induced him to warn the English to depart, as the Earl of Desmond with three thousand Connaught men were only two miles off, and would most likely attack the camp and drive them all into the river. The Earl laughed at his forebodings, and told him to deliver the castle and so save himself and the warders from death. This offer he refused, and the President, hearing he had done so, sent a message to say that he hoped to place his head on a stake in two days’ time.

One of the cannon becoming clogged, Sir George Carew ordered it to be filled with a charge in inverted order and the fire put to the mouth, so as to clear the touch-hole by the explosion. This was carried out with great success, much to the relief of the besiegers.

A fire of small shot was kept up from the castle at the ordnance, and the President, placing the Knight’s son on one of the cannon, sent a message to the garrison to say he had given them a mark to aim at. The Constable replied that the Knight of Glin might have more sons, and that the child should not deter him from firing.

Sir George Carew, however, removed the child, and commenced the battery. A breach was made into the cellar under the great hall, one gunner only being killed.

Captain Flower then led the attack and entered the hall through the breach, forcing the ward to retire. The flag of the besiegers was hoisted from the turrets of the hall, and night coming on Captain Slingsby was ordered to hold the position until the morning.

A dropping fire was kept up all night. The Constable, seeing that to successfully hold the castle was impossible, tried to escape with some of the warders, but he and others were killed in the attempt, one only getting away. His head was placed upon a stake in the camp as the President had said.

The rest of the garrison retired to the keep. In the morning the attackers burned the heavy wooden door which guarded the stairway, but they had to wait two hours for the smoke to clear away. As soon as it had done so, one of the garrison appeared to ask for the lives of his comrades if they surrendered, but it appears he gave himself up before an answer was returned.

The officers and men then ascended the stairs in single file as the width of the passage necessitated, but met with no opposition, the garrison having retired to the battlements, which were protected only by one door.

Here a terrible hand to hand encounter took place. Some of the warders were killed, while the rest jumped from the parapet into the water below, and were either drowned or killed by the guards stationed beneath the tower.

The English lost ten soldiers and one ensign, while about twenty-one men were wounded. Of the defenders of the castle about eighty men were killed, while the Four Masters state that some women and children also lost their lives. They remark that the place would not have been so easily won had not the “Earl of Desmond’s people dispersed from him.”

The rebels had burned the town of Glin upon the approach of the Royal troops.

During the rising the castle had been used as a storehouse for the “Sugan Earl’s” forces, and a Limerick merchant called Anthony Arthurs seems to have dispensed his goods from it.

Sir George Carew placed a guard of twenty-one soldiers in it under the command of Captain Nicholas Mordant.

Edmund FitzGerald, Knight of the Valley, was restored to most of his estates in 1603, and six years later he appealed to the Lords of the Council against Patrick Crosby obtaining Glin Castle by the King’s letter, on the pretext that it was kept from the Knight to prevent his rebelling. Crosby had undertaken to repair and fortify the fortress at his own cost. The Knight stated he had been pardoned by Lord Mountjoy, that his lands had been restored, and shortly afterwards the castle as well.

The next year Sir Arthur Chichester explains that the building was occupied only by Anthony Arthur, who sold wines in it, and that he had therefore given it to Crosby. He also stated that the Knight’s eldest son was abroad.

In 1681 the castle was in the possession of Major FitzGerald.

The present Glin Castle, seat of Desmond FitzJohn Lloyd FitzGerald, Knight of Glin, is situated about a mile west of the town. Over the yard gate is an engraved stone bearing the following inscription: “Edmond Gerrald, Knight of the Vally. Onnor Cartie, his wife. Fear God always and remember the Poor. I.H.S. Anno Domoni, 1615.”

Thiscastle is situated on the west side of the entrance to Lough Foyle, two and a half miles north-east of Moville, in the Barony of Innishowen.

It was erected upon a rock and defended by two towers which contained the chief apartments, while a third tower defended the northern end.

It is built of green fire stone, from which its present name may have been derived.

In Macator’s map, which was published in 1629, it is marked as “New Castle,” and it is still known in Irish by that name.

Hanmer’s “Chronicle” and Grace’s “Annals” state that Arx Viridis in Ultonia was thrown down in 1260, so that it is likely that the present building, which was erected by Richard de Burgo, the Red Earl of Ulster, in 1305, replaced a former fortress.

In 1332 William de Burgo, or the “Dun Earl,” owned the fortress, which he had inherited from his father, and having taken prisoner Walter, son of Sir Walter de Burgo, he starved him to death in the castle. Sir Arthur Chichester excavated one of the pillars of the dungeon in which it is supposed he was confined, and a mark was discovered that most likely had held a ring to which the prisoner was chained. The “dreary and dismal” prisons are still to be seen.

The Dun Earl was stabbed to death the next year in revenge for the murder.

The following legend is told regarding Walter de Burgo’s death. The Earl had a beautiful daughter who one day, in

GREENCASTLE, COUNTY DONEGAL.

crossing the sands on the shore under Benevenagh, became engulfed in quicksands, and was nearly losing her life when Sir Walter Burk’s son, who was serving in the army of O’Neill and O’Donnell, seeing her danger from the heights above rushed down and saved her from the peril.

The same year this young man was taken prisoner by the girl’s father in his war with the O’Donnells and starved to death at Greencastle. The Earl one day, during his unfortunate victim’s captivity, discovered his daughter carrying food to the prisoner, and seizing her by the hair, dragged her to the battlements and hurled her over on to the rocks below.

The fortress was for many years in possession of the O’Dohertys.

In 1555 Calvagh O’Donnell went to Scotland to raise forces with the help of Mac Calin (Gillaspick Don), and returning with them and a cannon calledgonna cam, or “crooked gun,” he set to work and demolished the New Castle.

It was, however, reported as wardable in 1586. The last of the O’Dohertys to hold the fortress was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, but shortly afterwards he went into rebellion, and his estate was forfeited.

In 1610 it was granted with other property to Sir Arthur Chichester with an allowance to maintain the garrison. Two years later he asked to be allowed for horsemen at Greencastle instead of the ten warders, and in 1615 Lord Chichester was granted Greencastle for three lives by letters patent.

In 1752 it was on the Earl of Donegal’s estate.

Uponthe northern shore of Carlingford Lough, in the Barony of Mourne, four and a half miles south-west of Kilteel, County Down, are situated the ruins of this castle. It is a very fine specimen of Norman architecture, and was erected soon after the landing of the first English settlers so as to secure communication between the Pale and the outlying district of Lecale, as well as to command the entrance to Carlingford Lough.

At present the remains chiefly consist of the keep, which was a high rectangular building, with square towers at the angles. A winding stair in the south-west turret leads to the top. The stone floor of the great hall, measuring 70 feet by 40, is supported by arches which form vaults in the basement. The upper floors have disappeared, and were probably of wood.

The traces of extensive outworks can be seen round the building. On the west side stands a house which is at present inhabited by a farmer, but which for many years formed the chief residence of the Bagnall family during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The castle belonged to the Du Burgos or Burkes, Earls of Ulster, and in 1312 Sir Maurice, the son of Thomas, married Catherine, daughter of the “Red Earl” of Ulster, and the next day, being the 16th of August, Thomas, the 2nd Earl of Kildare, “a prudent and wise man,” married her sister, Lady Joan de Burgh, also in the castle. The Lady Joan had two other married sisters, one being the

GREENCASTLE, COUNTY DOWN.

wife of King Robert Bruce, and the other Countess of Desmond.

In 1335 there was an order to send six “balistas” to furnish “Viride Castrum,” or the Greencastle. The same year William de Logan was ordered to pay Henry de Maunderville 20 marks out of the rents of the late Earl of Ulster, which were in the King’s hands, on account of the minority of the heir. This reward was for De Maunderville having twice relieved the castle of Greencastle with men-at-arms when it was besieged by the “felons” of Ulster.

It was again attacked by the Irish in 1343, and this time it was carried by storm and dilapidated, but was shortly afterwards restored.

The late Constable, William de Doun, received pardon in 1356 for having seized and imprisoned Rosea, daughter of Richard Foy.

During Henry IV.’s reign there was only one constable between the castles of Carlingford and Greencastle. It is reported that Stephen Geron received £20 a year for the guardianship of Greencastle and £5 for Carlingford.

In 1403 John Moore, who was then constable, petitioned for a rise of salary, and he was granted £40 a year on condition he spent 10 marks of it on repairs. The amount was to be paid out of the rents of Carlingford, Cooley, and “le Mourne.”

None but Englishmen were permitted to hold the appointment in 1495.

Notwithstanding this, when M’Donell made his submission in 1542 he requested to be granted Greencastle, and the lands lying waste around it, for which favour he promised military service.

The Government did not evidently see their way to accede to his request, and seven years later it is reported that the fortress was in a “wretched condition.”

In 1552 it was granted to Sir Nicholas Bagnall, in whose family’s possession it remained for many years.

Sir Arthur Chichester was granted means to provide ten warders for Greencastle in 1612, but this does not seem to have interfered with the Bagnall possession, as in 1620 Arthur Bagnall held the manors and lordships of Greencastle and Mourne.

Three years later it is recommended that the ward be moved from Culmore to Greencastle, and the stronghold was garrisoned during the rebellion of 1641.

HOWTH CASTLE.

Aboutseven miles east-north-east of Dublin, in the Barony of Coolock, is situated the village of Howth, on the promontory of the same name.

A short way from the town, nestling under the lee of the hill is the castle, the seat of the Earls of Howth.

It is a long battlemented building, with square towers at each end.

A large flight of steps gives admission to the hall, which extends along the whole length of the building. Here is preserved the two-handed sword of Sir Amoricus Tristram (the founder of the St. Laurence family in Ireland) with which he is said to have fought his first Irish battle. Also three inscribed bells, which were removed from the Abbey, are preserved in the castle.

The fortress seems to have undergone much alteration since its first erection, and the great gateway tower, which now flanks the main building on one side, appears to be of sixteenth-century architecture and is no doubt part of the original building.

The stronghold was erected in 1564 by Christopher, the twentieth baron, but whether it was built on the site of an older castle or whether Corr Castle, also situated on the peninsular, was the ancient fortress of the St. Laurence family, does not seem to be known.

The mortar of the early building, like the Tower of London, is reported to have been mixed with blood.Until far into the nineteenth century the castle was surrounded by a fosse.

There are several inscribed and figured stones over the entrance to the stable-yard, and also one built into the wall near the garden gate.

Sir John de Courcy and his sister’s husband, Sir Amoricus Tristram, arrived at Howth in 1177. Their companionship in arms is said to have been the outcome of a compact to share each other’s fortunes made in the Church of St. Mary at Rouen.

Upon the arrival of the ship at Howth, De Courcy, being ill, remained on board, while Sir Amoricus took command of their forces in the first engagement with the Danes, who fiercely opposed their landing.

After a great battle, in which Sir Amoricus lost seven blood relations, the enemy were completely defeated at the bridge of the Evora, and the lands of Howth were granted to the victor as a reward of prowess.

He then accompanied Sir John de Courcy to Down, where he also gained possessions and did great deeds of valour. A story is told that after the first battle in the north Sir Amoricus was found leaning on his shield under a hedge, bleeding from three large wounds, and having sustained himself by eating the wild roses and honeysuckle which grew within his reach. His life was despaired of for nine days, but he eventually recovered, and lived to die heroically among a group of outnumbered infantry, having slain his horse so that he could not save himself by flight.

The St. Laurence coat of arms is a shield with cross swords and roses in a bloody field, which may have originated from the wild flowers Sir Amoricus gathered.

An early chronicler says of him that he might “be chosen from amongst a thousand knights for beauty and heroic courage, as well as for humility and courtesy to his inferiors, yielding to none but in the way of gentleness.”

After his death his sons gradually lost his northernpossessions, and King John confirmed the grant of the lands of Howth to the third baron by charter. It may have been at this time that the family name was changed from Tristram to St. Laurence. There seems to be no historical evidence for the tradition that the name was altered to commemorate a victory gained upon St. Laurence’s Day.

In 1575, as Grace O’Mailley was returning from her famous visit to Queen Elizabeth she landed at Howth, but found the castle gates closed, the reason assigned being that it was the dinner hour. Shocked at such want of Irish hospitality she seized the young heir, who was playing on the strand, and carried him off to her castle in Mayo. She refused to restore him until she received a promise that the gates of Howth Castle should never again be closed at dinner hour. This child was Nicholas, afterwards twenty-first baron. A picture at the castle is supposed to represent the incident.

Lord Mountjoy, as Lord Deputy, and Sir George Carew, as Lord President of Munster, landed at Howth in 1599, and spent a night at the castle before proceeding to Dublin.

In 1607 the State Papers report that the old Countess of Kildare and Lady Dowager of Delvin and her children were at Howth in Sir Christopher St. Laurence’s house, and the following year it is mentioned that Sir John Talbot’s house is near the castle of Howth.

King William slept a night in the castle in 1690, and his room was kept unaltered from the time he had used it.

Dean Swift was a constant visitor at Howth, and an original portrait of him, painted by Bindon in 1735, hangs in the castle.

Near the garden stands the old elm known as “The Tristram Tree,” which has been carefully propped and preserved in every way on account of the tradition attaching to it. It is said that as long as this tree livesthere will be an heir to the noble house which was founded by Sir Amoricus Tristram.

To “follow as closely as Lord Howth’s Rat” was at one time a common simile for any faithful or attached animal, and the legend which gave rise to the saying is the following:—

One of the former Lords of Howth had retired to his castle to retrench a somewhat diminished heritage, and one night while living thus in solitary state there was a fearful storm.

Word was brought to the fortress that a ship was being wrecked under the cliffs near the Abbey, and every one rushed off to the spot to render what assistance was possible, and amongst them Lord Howth.

Every effort was, however, unavailing, and the ship went down apparently with all hands. But as morning broke the eager watchers espied a frail, roughly-put-together raft floating towards them, and on this was a beautiful woman, with a wooden chest beside her.

As soon as she landed Lord Howth courteously offered her the hospitality of the castle, and ordered his servants to carry the heavy coffer thither.

She continued to live at Howth Castle, and her host became passionately enamoured of her, and wished to marry her, but she persistently refused his offers, and urged him daily to seek another bride.

At last he gave way to her entreaties, and became affianced to the daughter of a neighbouring nobleman.

As the time for the marriage drew near the fair stranger presented Lord Howth with a ribbon wrought with strange characters, which she told him to wear on his wrist and guard as his luck. Then she left the castle and was heard of no more.

In due course Lord Howth brought home his bride, and with true womanly curiosity she wanted to know why he never removed the ribbon from his arm.

One night, while he was asleep, she untied it, and tookit over to the fire to decipher the inscription, but it accidentally ignited, and was burnt to ashes.

Lord Howth was terribly distressed at its loss, declaring that his good fortune would now forsake him.

Shortly after this there was a great feast in the castle. In the midst of the festivities the dogs in the courtyard began to give tongue, as if in pursuit of game, and in a minute a terrified rat had jumped on the banqueting table, and, pausing before Lord Howth, looked up piteously in his face for protection.

He ordered the dogs to be called off, and from that hour the rat never left him.

His wife and family did not approve of his faithful attendant, and his brother persuaded him to go to the Continent, and by thus crossing the sea rid himself of the animal. However, the morning after his arrival in France the rat was found sleeping on his bed. He then pushed on to Marseilles, but not long after his arrival the rat entered his room wet and draggled from its long journey.

The animal approached the fire to dry itself, when the nobleman’s brother took up the poker in a rage and killed it with one blow.

“You have murdered me,” cried the Earl, and, falling back, he died.

The rat is sometimes said to have been white, and to reappear when evil is about to befall the house of St. Laurence.

The present Lord Howth is the fourth earl.

“Broad, blue, and deep the Bay of DonegalSpreads north and south, and far a-west beforeThe beetling cliffs, sublime and shattered wall,Where the O’Cleary’s name is heard no more.”T. D. McGee.

Thiscastle is situated on the shores of Donegal Bay about three miles from the town of Ballyshannon, in the Barony of Kilbarron, County Donegal.

The name Cill-Barrainn signifies “the Church of St. Barrfhionn.”

The fortress was built on a high and nearly insulated cliff, and from its romantic and wild situation a tradition falsely sprang up that it had been the stronghold of freebooters. The promontory is nearly circular in form and rises a hundred feet above the sea, along the edge of which a wall was built, while on the landward side a thick wall, the whole width of the neck protected this direction from attack.

To the north of the small open courtyard thus enclosed was the keep, and here are traces of a subterranean passage, now filled up, which was used for “distillery purposes” in the eighteenth century.

The remains of two chambers at the cliff side seem older than the other buildings. The sea wall is pierced by an oblong passage with a small square mouth popularly known as “the murdering-hole.”

The castle was probably erected in the thirteenth orfourteenth century by the O’Sgingins, who were ollaves or historians to the great O’Donnells.

In 1391 the Four Masters tell us it was demolished by Donnell, the son of Murtough (O’Conor of Sligo).

The last of the O’Sgingins to be chief historian to O’Donnell in the fourteenth century had no son, and only one beautiful daughter, with whom Cormac O’Cleary, who was on a visit to the Abbey of Assaroe, from Galway, fell in love.

KILBARRON CASTLE

O’Sgingin gave his consent to the marriage, and instead of the wedding gift which it was usual for the bridegroom to present to his wife’s father, O’Sgingin asked that if a son were born of the marriage he should be brought up with a knowledge of literature and history.

Hence Kilbarron passed into the O’Cleary family, and this great race of historians occupied it for several centuries.

It is likely Cormac O’Cleary re-edified it, but the “stone houses,” of which the building is recorded, were erected by Diarmaid, one of the celebrated sons of Tadhg Cam (or The Stooped) O’Cleary.

The fortunes of the Ollaves of Tirconnell began to wane with that of their patrons, the O’Donnells, although the last O’Cleary to hold lands was not dispossessed until 1632, yet many of their possessions were lost to them at the flight of the Northern Earls in 1607. Most of the estate passed to Lord Folliott and the Bishop of Raphoe.

Thecastle is situated about five miles south of Bandon, at the Kilbrittain inlet from Courtmacsherry Bay, in the County of Cork.

Smith says the castle before being rebuilt “was a stately building environed with a large bawn, fortified with six turrets on the walls.” Mr. Jones Stawell erected the present mansion, with which a portion of the ancient castle is incorporated. The kitchen, servants’ hall, and housekeeper’s room have vaulted roofs, and date from the twelfth century or earlier. There is also a tower and adjoining wall which belonged to the former fortress, as well as the steps leading from the old courtyard. There are supposed to be vaults underneath the building, which are not now accessible, as well as an underground passage leading to the sea.

The castle is pleasantly situated on rising ground between hills. It is usually supposed to have been erected by the Lords Courcey, who received a grant of the lands shortly after the Anglo-Norman landing, but in 1743 Robert Clayton, Bishop of Cork, sent copies of two inscribed stones, found at Kilbrittain, to John, Earl of Egmont. These stones bore the date 1035 in the Arabian characters, which seems to indicate an earlier date of erection. He says: “The stone from which the inscription was taken was found by Mr. Stawell in an old castle, which he has since pulled down, called Kilbrittain, which signifies in Irish the ‘church or cell,’ or rather the ‘burialplace of the Britains.’ Mr. Stawell says there was likewise the figure of a woman carved inbas-reliefon another stone, the workmanship of which being most curious. He neglected it, and it has since been lost.”

The manor of Kilbrittain passed into the King’s hands in 1295 upon the death of John de Courcey, who was slain on the Island of Inchydonny by M’Carthy. Walter de la Haye, the King’s escheator, delivered the lands to James Keating in keeping for De Courcey’s heir.

Lord Courcey, it is said, borrowed a white weasel or ferret from M’Carthy, and pledged his castle as surety for its safe return, but the animal dying M’Carthy claimed Kilbrittain, and it thus passed out of De Courcey’s hands.

In 1430 M’Carthy Reagh and James, Earl of Desmond, “The Usurper,” began hostilities, and the castle was stormed by the Earl and given to his brother Donough, who had assisted at its capture, but it subsequently returned to the M’Carthys.

In 1537 Lady Eleanor M’Carthy resided in the castle after her husband’s death. She was sister to Gerald, 9th Earl of Kildare, and, therefore, aunt to Thomas, the “Silken Lord,” and his half brothers. After Lord Offaly’s rebellion, and execution, and the attainting of the house of Kildare, the young heir Gerald escaped from the Government by the aid of his tutor Thomas Leverous, afterwards Bishop of Kildare, who wrapped him in a blanket, and fled with him although the lad was sick with smallpox. After a hot pursuit they reached Kilbrittain where the Lady Eleanor took charge of her nephew. She subsequently married O’Donnell of Ulster to gain protection for the boy, but finding her husband was treating with the Government to betray him, she sent the future Earl to France and returned to her son’s territory in the County Cork.

In 1572 Kilbrittain is spoken of as M’Carthy Reagh’s chief dwelling-place, and it is mentioned that he paid a yearly rent of 67 beefs for it to the Earl of Desmond,besides rendering him military service at times. Eighteen plough lands are mentioned as attached to it in 1599.

During the great rebellion of 1641 it was the scene of much bloodshed, a gallows having been erected before the castle windows “for hanging the English.” One morning a Richard Mewdon was hanged after two days’ imprisonment, having been bound to a Mrs. Stringer with great cruelty. The rope was then put round her neck, but M’Carthy’s mother looking out of the window, and thinking to save her, sent a priest to know what religion she was. She, however, boldly declared she was a Protestant.

The castle was shortly afterwards taken by the Bandonians.

Some ancient fir-trees are still to be seen called “M’Carthy’s Bagpipes,” where the executions took place, and the ground beneath having been cursed by one of his victims no grass will grow on it, although there is plenty of light and air.

After the confiscation of the M’Carthy estates the castle passed to Colonel Thomas Long, who was left at the head of affairs when Henry Cromwell retired. At the Restoration it reverted to the Crown and James II. bestowed it on Donough M’Carthy, Lord Cloncarty, a relative of its former owner.

It was sold in Oueen Anne’s reign to the Hollow Sword Blades Company, and it is now in the possession of Colonel W. St. Leger Alcock-Stawell.

To the castle belonged privileges of fairs and markets.

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