TomBoyNI's Challenge...

Moorso
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Re: TomBoyNI's Challenge...

Post by Moorso »

Well done TomBoy! (thumbs)

I've always wanted to redo the route and visit the sites I studied for my undergraduate thesis...which was on Castles in Ireland.

Everywhere from Greencastle in Donegal, to Ballylahan, Ballyloughan, Lea, Nenagh, Dungarvan, Roscommon, Kiltarten (sometimes called Ballinamantain), Roscrea, Ballintober....God, there were loads more that I can't remember now, but I thought it'd make a good road trip!
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TomBoyNI
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Re: TomBoyNI's Challenge...

Post by TomBoyNI »

Moorso wrote:Well done TomBoy! (thumbs)

I've always wanted to redo the route and visit the sites I studied for my undergraduate thesis...which was on Castles in Ireland.

Everywhere from Greencastle in Donegal, to Ballylahan, Ballyloughan, Lea, Nenagh, Dungarvan, Roscommon, Kiltarten (sometimes called Ballinamantain), Roscrea, Ballintober....God, there were loads more that I can't remember now, but I thought it'd make a good road trip!
You should absolutely get that into a route - I love a good challenge
Boo :-p

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Re: TomBoyNI's Challenge...

Post by TomBoyNI »

92kk k100lt 193214 wrote:Some lovely shots there and good history.

Trim Castle was also used as the setting for Braveheart.

So where is your next one?

I could add a few:

Mallow Castle, Co. Cork.
Birr Castle. Co. Offaly.
Charles Fort in Kinsale, Co. Cork.
Dun Guaire Castle in Kinvara Co. Clare.

Enough to keep you wandering the country for months.
Just the ones on the challenge map... (thumbs)
Boo :-p

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Re: TomBoyNI's Challenge...

Post by TomBoyNI »

Dunce Castle, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland :

Dunluce Castle (from Irish: Dún Libhse)[3] is a now-ruined medieval castle in Northern Ireland. It is located on the edge of a basalt outcropping in County Antrim (between Portballintrae and Portrush), and is accessible via a bridge connecting it to the mainland. The castle is surrounded by extremely steep drops on either side, which may have been an important factor to the early Christians and Vikings who were drawn to this place where an early Irish fort once stood.

In the 13th century [[Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster]], built the first castle at Dunluce.

It is first documented in the hands of the [[McQuillan]] family in 1513. The earliest features of the castle are two large [[drum tower (Europe)|drum towers]] about {{convert|9|m}} in diameter on the eastern side, both relics of a stronghold built here by the McQuillans after they became lords of [[Route, County Antrim|the Route]].

The McQuillans were the Lords of Route from the late 13th century until they were displaced by the MacDonnell after losing two major battles against them during the mid and late-16th century.

[[File:Dunluce Castle. County Antrim, Ireland-LCCN2002717364.jpg|thumb|300px|The castle in the last decade of the 19th century]]

Later Dunluce Castle became the home of the chief of the [[Clan MacDonnell of Antrim]] and the [[Clan MacDonald of Dunnyveg]] from [[Scotland]]. Chief John Mor MacDonald was the second son of ''Good'' [[John of Islay, Lord of the Isles]], 6th chief of [[Clan Donald]] in Scotland. John Mor MacDonald l was born through John of Islay's second marriage to Princess Margaret Stewart, daughter of King [[Robert II of Scotland]]. In 1584, on the death of James MacDonald the 6th chief of the Clan MacDonald of Antrim and Dunnyveg, the Antrim Glens were seized by [[Sorley Boy MacDonnell]], one of his younger brothers. Sorley Boy took the castle, keeping it for himself and improving it in the Scottish style. Sorley Boy swore allegiance to [[Queen Elizabeth I]] and his son Randal was made [[Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim|1st Earl of Antrim]] by [[James VI and I|King James I]].

Four years later, the ''[[Girona (ship)|Girona]]'', a [[galleass]] from the [[Spanish Armada]] was wrecked in a storm on the rocks nearby. The [[cannon]]s from the ship were installed in the [[gatehouse]]s and the rest of the cargo sold, the funds being used to restore the castle. MacDonnell's granddaughter Rose was born in the castle in 1613.

A local legend states that at one point, part of the kitchen next to the cliff face collapsed into the sea, after which the wife of the owner refused to live in the castle any longer. According to a legend, when the kitchen fell into the sea only a kitchen boy survived, as he was sitting in the corner of the kitchen which did not collapse. However, the kitchen is still intact and next to the manor house. You can still see the oven, fireplace and entry ways into it. It wasn't until some time in the 18th century that the north wall of the residence building collapsed into the sea. The east, west and south walls still stand.

Dunluce Castle served as the seat of the [[Earl of Antrim]] until the impoverishment of the MacDonnells in 1690, following the [[Battle of the Boyne]]. Since that time, the castle has deteriorated and parts were scavenged to serve as materials for nearby buildings.

Thanks Wikipedia

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Boo :-p

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Re: TomBoyNI's Challenge...

Post by TomBoyNI »

Carrickfergus Castle, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland :

Carrickfergus Castle is a Norman castle in Northern Ireland, situated in the town of Carrickfergus in County Antrim, on the northern shore of Belfast Lough. Besieged in turn by the Scottish, Irish, English and French, the castle played an important military role until 1928 and remains one of the best preserved medieval structures in Northern Ireland. It was strategically useful, with 3/4 of the castle perimeter surrounded by water (although in modern times only 1/3 is surrounded by water due to land reclamation). Today it is maintained by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency as a state care historic monument, at grid ref: J4143 8725.

Carrickfergus was built by John de Courcy in 1177 as his headquarters, after he conquered eastern Ulster in 1177 and ruled as a petty king until 1204, when he was ousted by another Norman adventurer, Hugh de Lacy. Initially de Courcy built the inner ward, a small bailey at the end of the promontory with a high polygonal curtain wall and east gate. It had several buildings, including the great hall. From its strategic position on a rocky promontory, originally almost surrounded by sea, the castle commanded Carrickfergus Bay (later known as Belfast Lough), and the land approaches into the walled town that developed beneath its shadows.

English Control :

It appears first in the official English records in 1210 when King John laid siege to it and took control of what was then Ulster's premier strategic garrison. Following its capture, constables were appointed to command the castle and the surrounding area. In 1217 the new constable, De Serlane, was assigned one hundred pounds to build a new curtain wall so that the approach along the rock could be protected, as well as the eastern approaches over the sand exposed at low tide. The middle-ward curtain wall was later reduced to ground level in the eighteenth century, save along the seaward side, where it survives with a postern gate and the east tower, notable for a fine array of cross-bow loops at basement level.

A chamber on the first floor of the east tower is believed to have been the castle's chapel on account of its fine Romanesque-style double window surround, though the original chapel must have been in the inner ward. The ribbed vault over the entrance passage, the murder hole and the massive portcullis at either end of the gatehouse are later insertions started by Hugh de Lacey who died in 1248 and did not live to see its completion in around 1250. It was finished by King Henry III.

After the collapse of the Earldom of Ulster in 1333, the castle remained the Crown's principal residential and administrative centre in the north of Ireland. During the early stages of the Nine Years War (1595–1603), when English influence in the north became tenuous, crown forces were supplied and maintained through the town's port. And in 1597, the surrounding country was the scene for the Battle of Carrickfergus.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries improvements were made to accommodate artillery, including externally splayed gunports and embrasures for cannon, though these improvements did not prevent the castle from being attacked and captured on many occasions during this time. Marshal Schomberg besieged and took the castle in the week-long Siege of Carrickfergus in 1689. This is also the place where Schomberg's leader, King William III first set foot in Ireland on 14 June 1690.

In 1760, after fierce fighting in the town, it was surrendered to French invaders under the command of Francois Thurot. They looted the castle and town and then left, only to be caught by the Royal Navy.

In 1778, a small but significant event in the American War of Independence began at Carrickfergus, when John Paul Jones, in the face of reluctance by his crew to approach too close to the Castle, lured a Royal Navy vessel from its moorings into the North Channel, and won an hour-long battle. In 1797 the Castle, which had on various occasions been used to house prisoners of war, became a prison and it was heavily defended during the Napoleonic Wars; six guns on the east battery remain of the twenty-two that were used in 1811.

For a century it remained a magazine and armoury. During the First World War it was used as a garrison and ordnance store and during the Second World War as an air raid shelter.

Later Use :

It was garrisoned continuously for about 750 years until 1928, when its ownership was transferred from the British Army to the new Government of Northern Ireland for preservation as an ancient monument. Many of its post-Norman and Victorian additions were then removed to restore the castle's original Norman appearance. It remains open to the public. The banqueting hall has been fully restored and there are many exhibits to show what life was like in medieval times. It was built and re-built three times, and still stands today.

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