Munster Heritage Sites, Kieran’s lecture notes for Cork-Kerry Failte Ireland, Blue Badge Course, February 2010
Caiseal
It’s huge, it’s complex, it’s iconic, there is nothing like it anywhere.
The complex has a character of its own, unique and native, and is one of the most remarkable collections of Celtic art and medieval architecture to be found anywhere in Europe. The Rock of Cashel (Carraig Phádraig), more formally St. Patrick’s Rock, it is also known as Cashel of the Kings. Reputedly the site of the conversion of Aenghus the King of Munster by St. Patrick in the 5th century AD.
In Gaelic Caiseal denotes a circular stone fort and is the name of other places in Ireland. The “Book of Rights” suggests that the name is derived from Cais-il, i.e. “tribute stone”, because the Munster tribes paid tribute on the Rock. Here Corc, the grandfather of Aengus Mac Natfraich, erected a fort, and Cashel subsequently became the capital of Munster. Like Tara and Armagh it was a celebrated court, and at the time of St. Patrick claimed supremacy over all the royal duns of the province, when Aengus ruled as King of Cashel.
In the 5th century, the Eóganachta dynasty founded their capital on and around the rock. In the times following, many kings of Munster reigned here. Although there is little structural evidence of their time here.Saint Patrick is believed to have baptized Cashel’s third king, Aengus, though it is more likely to have been Palladius. In 977 Brian Boru, was crowned here as the first non-Eóghanacht king of Cashel and Munster in over five hundred years.
In 1101 his great-grandson, King Muircheartach Ua Briain, gave the place to the bishop of Limerick, which also denied it forever to the MacCarthys, the senior branch of the Eóganachta. The bishops had a very famous school in Cashel and sent priests all over the continent, especially to Regensburg in Germany, where they had their own monastery, called Scots Monastery.
At the Synod of Cashel in 1172 the Irish bishops agreed to the lordship of Henry II of England over Ireland, in line with the policy of Pope Alexander III under Rome.
In 1127 Cormac III of Munster, King of Desmond, erected close to his palace on the “Rock” a church, now known as Cormac’s Chapel, which was consecrated in 1134, when a synod was held within its walls. During the episcopate of Donal O’Hullican (1158–1182), the King of Limerick, Domnall O’Brien, built in 1169 a more spacious church beside Cormac’s Chapel, which then became a chapterhouse.
Most of the buildings on the current site date from the 12th and 13th centuries when the rock was gifted to the Church. The buildings represent both Hiberno-Romanseque and Germanic influences in their architecture.
Skibbereen and Famine
It is probable that some 8,000-10,000 Famine victims are buried in the Famine Burial Pits of Abbeystrewery Cemetery.
The Skibbereen Poor Law records for the famine years show that 4,346 people died in the Workhouse with a further 613 dying in the Fever Hospital. During this same period the local Relief Committee recorded between 35 and 40 deaths in the streets every day.
In 1848 a certain Jack Hegarty took ’deck passage’ on an empty collier out of Castletownsend, a small port in the vicinity of Skibbereen, bound for Cardiff. Arriving in Cardiff he was found to be suffering from ’famine fever’. He was treated in hospital by a certain Dr. Lewis, a leading Cardiff citizen, ’’with the power of two magistrates.’’ Dr. Lewis aked Jack where he came from. Jack answered, ’’Skibbereen.’’Dr. Lewis said, ’’We have a lot of devils from that place!’’ Jack Hegarty was sent back to Skibbereen when he had recovered.
In 1842 it was recorded that there were between 1,500 and 1,700 Catholics in Cardiff (’’Catholic’’ was often used as a code for ’’Irish’’). In 1861 the population of Cardiff was 31,000 of whom 10,000 were Catholic / Irish – a significant community.
Up to two thirds of the Irish arriving in the Cardiff / Newport area during the period 1845 – 1860 came from towns in West Cork such as Clonakilty, Bandon, Kinsale, Schull, Bantry and Skibbereen.
Battle of Kinsale
Setting the scene:
Ireland had been a lordship under the authority of the English Crown since the twelfth century; but by the 1500s, the area under government control had shrunk to the Pale, the area around Dublin. The rest of the country was controlled by the mini-lordships of clan and feudal leaders.
But whenever English officials tried to control the actions of Irish lords, they were invariably met with resistance. The English spent the next 50 years trying to exert their control over the Irish population, often by exceptionally brutal means.
Desmond Rebellions:
The first major conflict this caused was the Desmond Rebellions between 1569 and 1583. In the 1590s they experienced the most significant resistance, from forces in Ulster under Hugh O’Neill and Hugh Roe O’Donnell. This war is known as the Nine Years War.
After some initial successes, the rebels were pinned down defending their own territory in Ulster. Since 1591, the Irish rebels had been seeking help from Spain, and in 1601, in spite of bad weather a Spanish landing finally materialised.
Spanish Assistance:
Following the failure of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and the dispersal by storms of two more during the last years of Philip II, Phillip III decided to provide direct support (material support had been sent for years) to the Irish rebels fighting England.
Spanish aid was offered to the Irish rebels in the expectation that tying the English down in that country might draw even more of their resources away from their allies in the Netherlands, the Dutch Estates - which were engaged in a long rebellion against Spanish rule
Don Juan del Águila:
Phillip sent Don Juan del Águila to Ireland with 6,000 men, and a significant amount of arms and ammunition. Bad weather separated the ships and nine of them, carrying the majority of veteran soldiers and gunpowder, had to turn back. The remaining 4000 men disembarked at Kinsale, just south of Cork on October 2, 1601.
Another force commanded by Alonso de Ocampo managed to land at Baltimore. The Spaniards rushed to fortify the precarious fortifications to withstand the approaching English armies.
Lord Mountjoy intervenes:
On hearing of the Spanish landing, Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, the assigned Lord Deputy of Ireland, weakened the garrisons around the Pale and rushed to Kinsale with as many men as he could take, where he laid siege to the town. Reinforcements were brought in through Oysterhaven, the army’s complement up to 12,000, but many of these fell ill, and only about 7,500 were capable of fighting.
At the same time, Hugh O’Neill and his ally O’Donnell considered their positions, before setting out - separately from each other - with a total of 5,000 infantry and 700 cavalry, on a 300 mile winter march. The combined armies of O’Neill, O’Donnell and Tyrrell came to 6,180. This included 500 of O’Sullivan Beare’s men, and 200 of Ocampo’s Spaniards.
The board moves:
Lord Mountjoy’s forces were incapable of surrounding the town of Kinsale, but they did seize some higher ground and subjected the Spanish forces to constant artillery fire.
The march south:
O’Neill and O’Donnell were hesitant about leaving Ulster open to attack by marching south, especially given the lack of supplies for their troops. When they did set out they successfully cut English supply lines across the island and, by December, the shortage of supplies and the severe weather had begun to take a toll on the besieging army, with many dying of dysentery.
Reinforcements arrived from Spain, and on December 24, 1601 moved in to position. In three columns - led by Richard Tyrell, Hugh O’Neill, and O’Donnell - they marched toward a night attack, but owing to a lack of coordination and possible arguments between the commanders, they had failed to reach their destination by dawn.
Meeting at the Kinsale ridge:
The English scouts were aware of the troop movements and, after leaving a number of regiments behind to guard the camp and cover Kinsale, Mountjoy led his forces to meet the enemy at a ridge northwest of the town.
O’Neill controlled the ridge, and intended to fight for it, with support from Aguila, O’Donnell, and Tyrell on multiple sides. De Aguilla, the Spanish commander, was an experienced soldier and put up a fierce defense. His instructions were, however, to hold the town until the Irish army came down from Ulster to combine with them.
Retreat to the Marshes:
When neither of his allies showed signs of movement, O’Neill ordered a retreat into the marshes, hoping to mire the English cavalry in the soft land. In the end, the Irish were overpowered by the English cavalry, who charged through O’Neill’s men, and prevented a flanking maneuver by O’Donnell.
The tactics showed that the Irish Foot were poorly trained for open field fighting and the formation of the hollow square. It also showed up the English cavalry techniques using the lance, as compared with the Irish method of no stirrup and overhead spear throwing.
Surrender:
The Irish army left the field in some disorder while the supporting Spanish army led by Ocampo tried to hold the charge and the ensuing massacre. Most fled back to Ulster, though a few remained to continue the war with O’Sullivan Beare. The Spanish, who lost many men in the siege, gave up the town to Mountjoy, “on Terms” and were allowed to sail back to Spain, not knowing that only a few days ahead another Spanish force was sent.
Outnumbered, deprived from any enforcements and provisions and under constant English bombardment the Spaniards had bravely and successfully defended the town of Kinsale against all comers for more than 3 months.
Flight of the Earls:
The Ulster forces returned to their home province, and after two more years of attrition the last of them surrendered in 1603, just after the death of Queen Elizabeth. In the following year, Spain and England agreed a temporary peace with the signing of the Treaty of London.
O’Donnell went to Castlehaven and took a ship to Spain. He was well received there but died a few months later, said to be by poisoning by Carew’s spy, Blake.
O’Neill returned to his native Ulster, and then decided to go to Spain, and was accompanied by many supporters and lesser chieftains. This was known as the “Flight of the Earls”.
Ulster Plantation:
Their intention was always to raise an army and oust English authority in their home province, but the territories they had left behind were soon divided up in the Plantation of Ulster, and they were never able to return. The English administration saw the ideal opportunity to seize most of the land of Ulster, and to bring in Presbyterian Lowland Scots to farm it.
The English had achieved their objectives of destroying the old Gaelic order, ridding themselves of the Clan system. In the longer term it created the environment for centuries of sectarian strife, including the recent conflict in Northern Ireland and the establishment of the Irish republic.
Killarney National Park
Bronze Age Mining:
Humans have lived in the area since at least the Bronze Age, approximately 4,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found evidence that copper mining took place in the Ross Island area during this period, which suggests that the area was of considerable importance to Bronze Age people.
Early Christian Period:
Some of the most impressive archaeological remains in the park are from the early Christian period. The most important of these features is Inisfallen Abbey, the ruins of a monastic settlement on Inisfallen Island in Lough Leane. It was founded in the seventh century AD by St. Finian the Leper and was occupied until the fourteenth century.
The Annals of Inisfallen, a record of the early history of Ireland as it was known by the monks, was written in the monastery from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries. It is thought that the monastery gave rise to the name Lough Leane, which means “Lake of Learning.”
Muckross Abbey:
Muckross Abbey was founded in 1448 by Observantine Franciscans and is also still standing, despite having being damaged and reconstructed several times when its inhabitants were raided. “Friars Glen” on Mangerton Mountain is customarily said to have been one of the places the monks would flee to when the monastery was attacked.
The central feature of Muckross Abbey is a central courtyard that contains a huge Yew tree surrounded by a vaulted cloister. It is traditionally said that this tree is as old as Muckross Abbey itself. The abbey was the burial place of local chieftans.
Ross Castle:
After the Norman invasion of Ireland, the land around the lakes was owned by the McCarthys and O’Donoghues. Ross Castle is a fifteenth century tower house on the shore of Lough Leane. It was once the residence of the chieftain O’Donoghue Mór. The castle was extended in the seventeenth century. It has been restored and is open to the public. A 1580s Elizabethan military record describes the Killarney area as a meagrely inhabited wilderness of forest and mountains.
Industrial Production:
From the 1700s the land in today’s park were divided between two great estates, the Herberts of Muckross and the Brownes (Earls of Kenmare). During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the woods were extensively utilised for local industries including charcoal production, cooperage and tanning. Pressure on the woods intensified in the later part of the eighteenth century.
The biggest cause of oakwood destruction in Killarney in the eighteenth century was the production of charcoal to fire smelters used in the local iron industry. Approximately 25 tons of Oak was needed to produced one ton of cast iron. In 1780 Young famously described Derrycunihy wood as “a great sweep of mountain, covered partly in wood, hanging in a very noble manner, but part cut down, much of it mangled, and the rest inhabited by coopers, boat-builders, carpenters and turners.”
Woodland Exploitation:
Woodland exploitation again increased during the Napoleonic era in the early nineteenth century, probably because of the high prices that Oak was commanding at this time. Replanting and management of the Oak forests was promoted at this time.
As most of the oak trees in the woods today are around 200 years old, it is likely that the majority of them were planted, and the oakwoods that have never been disturbed by humans are restricted to a few isolated pockets in remote areas such as mountain valleys.
Herbert Family:
The Herbert family owned the land on the Muckross Peninsula from 1770 onwards. They became very wealthy from copper mines on this land. Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife—the water colourist Mary Balfour Herbert—finished building Muckross House in 1843.
Muckross House:
Muckross House is a mansion designed by the Scottish architect, William Burn, that was built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife, the watercolourist Mary Balfour Herbert. With sixty-five rooms, it was built in the Tudor style. Extensive improvements were undertaken in the 1850s in preparation for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861. It is said that these improvements for the Queen’s visit were a contributory factor in the financial difficulties suffered by the Herbert family which consequenced in the sale of the estate.
The Herbert’s financial situation became precarious in the late nineteenth century, and the Muckross estate was purchased by Lord Ardilaun of the Guinness brewing family in 1899.
Bourn Connection:
In 1910, the American William Bowers Bourn bought Muckross Estate as a wedding present for his daughter Maud on her marriage to Arthur Vincent. They spent £110,000 improving the estate between 1911 and 1932, building the Sunken Garden, the Stream Garden, and a rock garden on an outcrop of limestone.
Donation to the Irish State:
Maud Vincent died from pneumonia in 1929. In 1932 Arthur Vincent and his parents-in-law donated Muckross Estate to the Irish state in her memory. The 43.3 square kilometres (10,700 acres) estate was renamed as the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park. The Irish government created the national park by passing the Bourn Vincent Memorial Park Act in 1932.
Initially the Irish government was unable to provide much financial support to the park, so it operated primarily as a working farm that was open to the public. Muckross House was closed to the public until 1964.
Park Expansion:
The park is now more than double the size it was in 1932. As the Irish economy became wealthier and the perception of the role of national parks changed, much more money was made available to the park
Woodland:
The Killarney vicinity possesses the most extensive area (approximately 120 square kilometres (30,000 acres)) of semi-natural native woodland (woodland dominated by indigenous species) remaining in Ireland. Most of this woodland is encompassed by the national park. There are three main types of woodland in the park: acidophilous Oak woodland (Quercus petraea-Ilex aquifolium) on Devonian sandstone; moss-rich Yew woodland (Taxus baccata) on Carboniferous limestone outcrops; and wet woodland (also called carr) dominated by Alder on low-lying swampy limestone soils on the lake edges.
Tourism:
Muckross House is a Victorian mansion, located close to Muckross Lake’s eastern shore, beneath the backdrop of Mangerton and Torc mountains. The house has now been restored and attracts more than 250,000 visitors a year. Muckross Gardens are famous for their collection of rhododendrons, hybrids and azaleas, and exotic trees.
Muckross Traditional Farms is a working farm project that recreates Irish rural life in the 1930s, prior to electrification. Knockreer House is used as the National Park Education Centre.
Lough Derg
1100 - Lough Derg in possession of two islands with religious associations, a larger called Oileán na Naomh (Saints Island), and a smaller known as Station Island. Station Island had the great attraction of a cave, said to have been where Saint Patrick spent time in prayer.
1135 - Augustinian Canons in charge of Lough Derg
1153 - Knight Owein’s Pilgrimage
1186 - Henry of Saltry in Huntingdonshire writes of Knight Owein’s Pilgrimage and Purgatory - 150 copies of this text still survive in libraries across Europe
1346 - The Fresco, depicting St. Patrick’s Purgatory at Lough Derg, believed to have been painted by an artist from Siena
Legend says that it was here St. Patrick spent forty days and nights in prayer and fasting and faced many temptations. In the end, he was given a vision of Purgatory that he might share with the Irish people. Throughout the centuries pilgrims came to Lough Derg, and after intense fasting and constant prayer, were led into Patrick’s “Purgatory
Bunratty
The first dwellings to occupy the site, in 970 were part of a Viking trading camp.
In 1270, Robert De Muscegros built the first defensive fortress, known as a motte and bailey castle.
These lands were later granted to Thomas de Clare, who built the first stone structure on the site. At this time Bunratty town had grown to a population of 1,000.
In 1318, Thomas’s son Richard de Clare, Steward of Forest of Essex (new holder of the castle) was killed in the Battle of Dysert O’Dea during the Irish Bruce Wars 1315-1318. The castle and town were completely destroyed by the victorious O’Briens.
In 1332, soon after being restored for the King of England, the castle was once again razed by the Irish Chieftains of Thomond under the O’ Briens and the MacNamaras.
In 1353, after lying in ruins for 21 years, it was rebuilt by Sir Thomas Rokeby, but was almost immediately attacked again by the Irish and was held by Irish hands thereafter.
The present structure was completed by the MacNamara family around 1425 but 50 years later was in the hands of the O’Briens, the most powerful clan in Munster.
Blarney Castle
The castle originally dates from before AD 1200, when a wooden structure was built on the site. Around 1210 A.D. this was replaced by a stone fortification. It was destroyed in 1446, but subsequently rebuilt by Cormac MacCarthy - then King of Munster.
The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty.
During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.
The castle was sold and changed hands a number of times before being purchased by Sir James St. John Jefferyes.
Members of the Jefferyes family would later build a mansion near the keep. This house was destroyed by fire however, and in 1874 a replacement baronial mansion - known as Blarney House - was built overlooking the nearby lake.
The castle is now a partial ruin with some accessible rooms and battlements. At the top of the castle lies the Stone of Eloquence, better known as the Blarney Stone. Tourists visiting Blarney Castle may hang upside-down over a sheer drop to kiss the stone, which is said to give the gift of eloquence. There are many legends as to the origin of the stone, but some say that it was the Lia Fáil—a magical stone upon which Irish kings were crowned.
Surrounding the castle are extensive gardens. There are paths touring the grounds with signs pointing out the various attractions such as several natural rock formations which have been given fanciful names, such as Druid’s Circle, Witch’s Cave and the Wishing Steps. Blarney House, also open to the public, is a Scottish baronial-style mansion that was built on the grounds in 1874.
Lismore Castle
The castle site was originally occupied by Lismore Abbey, an important monastery and seat of learning established in the early 7th century. It was still an ecclesiastical centre when Henry II, King of England stayed here in 1171, and except for a brief period after 1185 when his son King John of England built a ‘castellum’ here, it served as the episcopal residence of the local bishop.
In 1589 Lismore, was leased and later acquired by Sir Walter Raleigh, who sold the property during his imprisonment for High Treason in 1602 to another famous adventurer, Richard Boyle, later 1st Earl of Cork.
Boyle came to Ireland from England in 1588 with only twenty-seven pounds in capital, and proceeded to amass an extraordinary fortune. After purchasing Lismore he made it his principal seat and transformed it into a magnificent residence with impressive gabled ranges each side of the court yard. He also built a castellated outer wall and a gatehouse known as the Riding Gate.
It was here in 1627 that Robert Boyle The Father of Modern Chemistry, the fourteenth of the Earl’s fifteen children, was born.
The castle (along with other Boyle properties - Chiswick House, Burlington House, Bolton Abbey and Londesborough Hall) was acquired by the Cavandish family in 1753 when the daughter and heiress of the 4th Earl of Cork, Lady Charlotte Boyle (1731-1754) married William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire, a future Prime Minister of Great Britain & Ireland. Their son, the 5th Duke (1748-1811), carried out improvements at Lismore, notably the bridge across the Blackwater, in 1775, designed by Cork-born architect, Thomas Ivory.
The 6th Duke (1790-1858), commonly known as ‘the Bachelor Duke’, was responsible for the castle’s present appearance. He began transforming the castle into a fashionable ‘quasi-feudal ultra-regal fortress’ as soon as he succeeded his father in 1811, engaging the architect William Atkinson from 1812 to 1822 to rebuild the castle in the Gothic style, using cut stone shipped over from Derbyshire.
In 1850 he engaged his architect Sir Joseph Paxton, the designer of The Crystal Palace, to carry out improvements and additions to the castle on a magnificent scale - so much so that the present skyline is largely Paxton’s work.
Adare Manor
Adare Manor is a 19th century manor house located on the banks of the River Maigue in the village of Adare, County Limerick, Ireland, the former seat of the Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl, now a luxury resort hotel - the Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort.
The Quins, whose ancestors were Chiefs of the Clan Hy Ifearnan, gave their name to Inchiquin and also became Earls of Dunraven, and are one of the rare families of true Gaelic origin in the Irish peerage.
Thady Quin (born 1645), who settled in Adare, County Limerick, was the ancestor of Valentine Quin who, between 1720 and 1730, built the first Quin manor at Adare by the River Maigue.
King John’s Castle, Limerick
The arrival of the Anglo-Normans to the area in 1172 changed everything. Domhnall Mor O’Brien burned the city to the ground in 1174 in a bid to keep it from the hands of the new invaders. The Anglo-Normans finally captured the area in 1195, under John, Lord of Ireland. In 1197 local legend claims Limerick was given its first charter and its first Mayor, Adam Sarvant. A castle, built on the orders of King John and bearing his name, was completed around 1200.
Charles Fort
Charles Fort is built on the site of an earlier stronghold known as Ringcurran Castle, which featured prominently during the Siege of Kinsale in 1601.
The fort, which is named after Charles II, was designed by the Surveyor-general Sir William Robinson - architect of the Royal Hospital Kilmainham. The fort was built in the 1670s and 1680s to a star fortification design - a layout specifically designed to resist attack by cannon.
The in-land bastions of the fort however are overlooked by higher ground. A fact which was of critical importance when the fort was besieged by the Duke of Marlborough in 1690 during the Williamite War in Ireland. Repairs were made following the siege, and the fort remained in use as a British Army barracks for several hundred years afterwards.
An early lighthouse was established here in the 17th century by Robert Reading.
The fort was relinquished by British forces following the Anglo-Irish Treaty, but it fell out of use after being burned by the retreating anti-Treaty forces during the Irish Civil War in 1922.
