Castlekirk | |
---|---|
Native name Irish: Caisleán na Circe | |
Hen's Castle | |
Type | tower house |
Location | Castlekirk Island, Lough Corrib, County Galway, Ireland |
Coordinates | 53°29′33″N9°30′48″W / 53.492530°N 9.513332°W Coordinates: 53°29′33″N9°30′48″W / 53.492530°N 9.513332°W |
Built | before 1118 |
Owner | State |
Official name | Castlekirk Castle |
Reference no. | 245 [1] |
Castlekirk, also called Hen's Castle, is a tower house and National Monument located in Lough Corrib, Ireland. [2] [3] [4]
Castlekirk is located on a tiny island (0.18 ha or ½ acre) in the northwest corner of Lough Corrib, on the approach to Maum. [5]
The castle was built early in the 12th century by the sons of Ruaidrí na Saide Buide (d. 1118) aided by William FitzAldelm and is one of the oldest mortared castles in Ireland.[ citation needed ]
The Lord Justice Sir Edmond Butler, in 1225, caused Odo O'Flatherty to give up Castlekirk to Aedh Ua Conchobair, King of Connaught; for assurance of his fidelity. The castle was knocked down by Fedlimid, son of Cathal Crobhdearg Ua Conchobair in 1233.[ citation needed ]
Gráinne Ní Mháille in 1546, at the age of sixteen, married Dónal an-Chogaidh O'Flaherty who, because of his aggressive behaviour, got the nickname ‘the Cock’ and she was in turn was called ‘the Hen’. When Donal was murdered she fought back with fury and with such determination the castle became known as ‘Hen’s Castle’, the name it still bears.[ citation needed ]
It continued to be occupied as a castle until it finally succumbed to Cromwellian soldiers in 1654.[ citation needed ]
In the 19th century this ruin was vandalised and its stones were removed to build houses in the area. [6] [7]
According to legend, the castle was built in a night by a cock and a hen. The Chief of the Name of Clan Ó Flaithbheartaigh and Lord of Iar Connaught, hired a witch to build it using magic. In a day and a night of casting spells she succeeded in creating the castle. She left a magic hen to look after it, warning that as long as the hen was looked after, the castle would remain secure. Everything went well until severe weather made life difficult and the inhabitants were forced to eat the hen.
Lady Jane Wilde tells of the folklore associated with Hen's Castle. In her work published in 1888, "Speranza" wrote the following:
Strange lights are sometimes seen flitting through it, and on some particular midnight a crowd of boats gather round it, filled with men dressed in green with red sashes. And they row about till the cock crows, when they suddenly vanish and the cries of children are heard in the air. Then the people know that there has been a death somewhere in the region, and that the Sidhe have been stealing the young mortal children, and leaving some ill-favoured brat in the cradle in place of the true child. [8]
The rocks slope abruptly into the water on all sides.
Grace O'Malley, also known as Gráinne O'Malley, was the head of the Ó Máille dynasty in the west of Ireland, and the daughter of Eóghan Dubhdara Ó Máille.
Connacht, or Connaught, is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms.
Lough Corrib is a lake in the west of Ireland. The River Corrib or Galway River connects the lake to the sea at Galway. It is the largest lake within the Republic of Ireland and the second largest on the island of Ireland. It covers 176 km² and lies mostly in County Galway with a small area of its northeast corner in County Mayo.
Connemara (Irish: Conamara[ˌkʊnˠəˈmˠaɾˠə]) is a region on the Atlantic coast of western County Galway, in the west of Ireland. The area has a strong association with traditional Irish culture and contains much of the Connacht Irish-speaking Gaeltacht, which is a key part of the identity of the region and is the largest Gaeltacht in the country. Historically, Connemara was part of the territory of Iar Connacht. Geographically, it has many mountains, peninsulas, coves, islands and small lakes. Connemara National Park is in the northwest. It is mostly rural and its largest settlement is Clifden.
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Maigh Seóla, also known as Hy Briuin Seola, was the territory that included land along the east shore of Lough Corrib in County Galway, Ireland. It was bounded to the east by the Uí Maine vassal kingdom of Soghain and extended roughly from what is now Clarinbridge in the south to Knockmaa Hill in the north. Its rulers belonged to the Uí Briúin Seóla and are sometimes found in the annals under the title "King of Uí Briúin" and "King of South Connacht". The earliest identifiable kings belonged to the line that became the Clann Cosgraigh. However in later times the line which would become the Muintir Murchada, under the O'Flaherty chiefs, monopolized the kingship.
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Galway, one of the largest cities in Ireland, situated on the west coast of Ireland, has a complex history going back around 800 years. The city was the only medieval city in the province of Connacht.
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hen's castle.
hen's castle.
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