Foulksrath Castle (Irish : Caislean Ratha) is a 14th-century [1] Anglo-Norman tower house located in Jenkinstown in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
Foulksrath Castle (Irish : Caislean Ratha) is a 14th-century [1] Anglo-Norman tower house located in Jenkinstown in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
The castle is closely associated with both the De Frene and Purcell families. The estate and original fortified and moated dwelling were first built in 1349 and occupied by the De Frene family and it is thought that the castle derives its name from Fulco De Frene (d. 1349) who was in the military service of Edward III and fought at the Battle of Crecy and the Siege of Calais. In the early 15th century the current castle was built by the Purcell family, relatives to the De Frene's, after the estate came into their possession. [2] [3]
The Purcells sided with the Royalists during the English Civil War and had their estate confiscated by Cromwell. The estate was divided between three officers in Cromwell's army. One of them, Bradshaw, received the castle, but allowed the Purcells to continue living on the land. There were several inhabitants of the castle following Bradshaw's death, including the Dawson family and Moses Henshaw. A family of peasant farmers named Purcell were still living in the castle grounds in 1777 when the castle and lands were let to Thomas Wright.
William Ball Wright, genealogist and one of the first SPG Anglican missionaries to Japan, was born at the castle in 1843. [4] Lucy Olivia Wright, first Central Secretary of the Girls' Friendly Society, was born there in 1845. [5] The Wright family occupied the castle until 1861. [2] [6]
The Swift family (relatives of Jonathan Swift) have been associated with the castle since at least 1857. In that year, Godwin Meade Pratt Swift patented the first aircraft in Ireland. He called the device an "aerial chariot" and tested it by launching it from the top of Foulkrath Castle via a catapult with his butler as the pilot. The plane immediately nosedived to the ground. The butler survived, but with multiple broken bones. [7] [8] In a 1948 article in the Old Kilkenny Review, John Gibb wrote that the Swift family purchased the castle in 1898. [2] However, in a 1979 article in the same publication, John Brennan suggests they may have been the castle's owners, if not its residents, for a considerable time before that. [3]
In 1910, the castle was let to a Colonel Butler and his sister. After the death of Miss Butler, the castle lay empty and began to fall into ruin. [2] It was purchased from the Swift family by An Óige (the Irish Youth Hostel Association) in 1946 with community support. The purchase and cost of conversion into a youth hostel were met by a public appeal. [1] The Castle was managed by Jack Macken (Ernest J Macken), an artist who exhibited his oil paintings (and the work of local artists) in the gallery. Jack Macken left the Castle and the hostel closed in 2009 and Foulksrath Castle is now privately owned. [9]
Located about 12 km outside the medieval city of Kilkenny it is a well preserved and restored Norman Tower House. Most of the bawn (outer) wall and some ancillary structures also survive in addition to the main tower. A pitched roof has been added over the centre of the tower, though the open-air walk along the tower's crenellated battlement has been preserved and is still accessible. A narrow spiral staircase connects the four stories. The remains of a moat protect the outer walls of the tower. The moat is believed to have existed since the original structure was built some time in the early 13th century. It is probable that the earlier building was incorporated into the present structure. [2]
Several stories are in circulation as to the haunted nature of the castle and it was visited in 1992 by a BBC television crew of British ghost hunters. [9]
The first legend concerns a female ghost said to look out from the castle windows; she is purported to be the daughter of a former owner of the castle, who, unhappy with his daughter's choice of lover, had her locked away in a tower, where she either starved to death, or was put to death by her father, depending on the version. [10]
The second ghost apparently makes a yearly apparition on 29 November, and is supposedly a guard who fell asleep on duty and was thrown to his death from the ramparts of the castle in punishment. His footsteps can be heard as he wanders the castle to make amends for his carelessness.[ citation needed ]
The third legend concerns another female ghost, this time a woman who wanders the castle accompanied by the scent of wild flowers, or lilacs. [9]
Kilkenny is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2022 census gave the population of Kilkenny as 27,184, the thirteenth-largest urban center in Ireland.
Kilkenny Castle is a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland, built in 1260 to control a fording-point of the River Nore and the junction of several routeways. It was a symbol of Norman occupation, and in its original 13th-century condition, it would have formed an important element of the town's defences with four large circular corner towers and a massive ditch, part of which can still be seen today on the Parade.
Vice-Admiral Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, KG, PC, PC (Ire) was an Irish soldier and politician. He was the eldest son of James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond but predeceased his father and therefore never succeeded as duke.
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John Butler, 17th Earl of Ormonde, 10th Earl of Ossory (1740–1795) was an Irish peer and Member of Parliament (MP). He became a Protestant in 1764. He was an Irish MP, representing Gowran between 1776 and 1783, and Kilkenny City between 1783 and 1792. In 1791, his right to the peerage was acknowledged in the Irish House of Lords and he became the 17th Earl of Ormond.
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Christopher Plunket, 2nd Earl of Fingall and 11th Baron Killeen was an Irish politician and soldier. In 1641 he negotiated with the rebels on behalf of the Old English of the Pale and pushed them to join the rebellion. He fought for the rebels at the siege of Drogheda. He joined the Confederates and fought in their Leinster army, notably at Dungan's Hill. When the Confederates fused into the Royalist Alliance, he fought under James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormond in the Battle of Rathmines where he was wounded and taken prisoner. He died of his wounds two weeks later in captivity at Dublin Castle.
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Richard Butler of Kilcash was an Irish soldier and landowner, the third son of Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles and brother of James, 1st Duke of Ormonde. He sided with the Irish Confederacy at the Irish Rebellion of 1641. He scouted the enemy on the morning of the Battle of Cloughleagh. His descendants succeeded to the earldom of Ormond when the senior branch of the family failed in 1758.
Walter Butler of Nodstown, was the fourth son of James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and Lady Joan Fitzgerald. Nodstown is a townland in the civil parish of Ardmayle in the barony of Middle Third, County Tipperary. Moyaliff is a townland and a civil parish in the barony of Kilnamanagh Upper, County Tipperary.
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Cantwell's Castle is a tower house located in the townland of Sandfortscourt in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It served as the main residence for the head of the Cantwell family, While debated of who owned it in its final days the facts point to the Cantwell Family. Before a siege of the Cantwell castle from Oliver Cromwells army which led to Cromwells army being forced away with the Cantwells taking control even though two of the three castles were significantly damaged.
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