Dunkerron Castle

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Dunkerron Castle
County Kerry

Tower house at Dunkerron
Type: Tower house
Location
Grid reference: V88437048
Location: 51°52’32"N, 9°37’15"W
Village: Templenoe
History
Built 13th century (tower house)
16th century (court house)
Information
Condition: Ruin

Dunkerron Castle is a ruined four-storey tower house located in Templenoe, near Kenmare, County Kerry. The castle was the family seat of the O'Sullivan family from the late 16th century.

History

The four-storey tower house was built in the 13th century on a limestone outcrop as a Norman stronghold by the Carew dynasty.[1]

Several later structures of the castle, including an enclosed court, date to the late 16th century, when Owen O'Sullivan became 'Chief of the Name' and acceded to the title of 'O'Sullivan Mór'.[2][3][4] An inscribed plaque, dated 1596, recorded the castle's association with the O'Sullivan Mór and MacCarthy Reagh dynasties.[5]

The castle was the family seat of the O'Sullivan Mór for centuries.[6][7] The main O'Sullivan familial seat however moved to nearby Cappanacush Castle during the 17th century, and antiquary Samuel Lewis noted that both castles were "traditionally said to have been defended" by their O'Sullivan Mór owners during the mid-17th century Cromwellian conquest of Ireland.[8]

The O'Sullivan castles and lands at Dunkerron and Cappanacush were confiscated following this conflict under the Act for the Settlement of Ireland of 1652, and assigned to Cromwellian supporter William Petty.[4] Later O'Sullivan attempts to have the lands returned were not successful.[9]

By the 19th century, maps record the castle and court as being "in ruins",[10] and a Victorian manor house, Dunkerron House, was built on the estate around that time.[11][12]

Text from an inscribed stone dated 1596, attributing works to Owen O'Sullivan Mór and his wife Sily Ní Donogh MacCarthy Reagh

Title

One of the last members of a branch of the O'Sullivans was Donal O'Sullivan, who died on 16 April 1754, without issue or heirs.[13] The traditional Irish title he bore, the "Prince of Dunkerron", became extinct on his death.[13] The King did issue a peerage title of Baron Dunkeron to John Petty.[14] (John Petty was Sheriff of Kerry from 1732,[14] and a descendant of the William Petty to whom the lands had been given following the Cromwellian confiscations). The title assigned to Petty was not however related to the original title of the native Irish nobility.

References

  1. ↑ Ann O'Sullivan, John Sheehan (1996). The Iveragh peninsula: an archaeological survey of South Kerry. Cork University Press. p. 375. https://books.google.ie/books?id=mwGFAAAAIAAJ&q=%22dunkerron+house%22+kenmare&dq=%22dunkerron+house%22+kenmare&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6vbPYlqLRAhXOFsAKHYlUD4QQ6AEIMjAA. 
  2. ↑ Colin Breen (2007). An Archaeology of Southwest Ireland, 1570-1670. Four Courts Press. p. 115. ISBN 9781846820403. https://books.google.com/books?id=7YIiAQAAIAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=1580+owen. 
  3. ↑ John Windele (1859). "Dunkerron Castle". Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society 2 (2): 292–301. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 William Betham (1805). The Baronetage of England ... Volume 5. Miller. p. 559. https://books.google.ie/books?id=zKNBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA559&lpg=PA559&dq=Lord+Muskerry+dunkerron&source=bl&ots=9utiFpGmn9&sig=TSFjHeHWnjeipVoYpSu24LBENNs&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXmPWT_aXRAhWmJsAKHej5Bn0Q6AEIQjAH#v=onepage&q=Lord%20Muskerry%20dunkerron&f=false. 
  5. ↑ George Victor Du Noyer. "Notes on Sculptures and an Inscription Carved on a Chimney-Piece Preserved in the Building Attached to Dunkerron Castle". Journal of the Kilkenny and South-East of Ireland Archaeological Society II (2): 290–292. 
  6. ↑ "The O'Sullivan Clan - History of the Clan". BearaTourism.com. http://www.bearatourism.com/osullivanclan/history.html. Retrieved 1 January 2017. 
  7. ↑ Geoffrey Keating (1723). History of Ireland, Volumes 1-3. p. 700. https://books.google.com.bo/books?id=SIv6M89mOswC&q=dunkerron#v=snippet&q=dunkerron&f=false. 
  8. ↑ Samuel Lewis (1837). Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. p. 611. https://books.google.ie/books?id=dDQE_stxs-AC&q=dunkerron#v=snippet&q=dunkerron&f=false. 
  9. ↑ National Monuments Service (Butler 1925, 43-4)
  10. ↑ OSI - Historical Mapping - 25" B&W Series - Dunkerron (1897–1913): Ordnance Survey of Ireland
  11. ↑ "Dunkerron House". Dunkerron.ie. http://www.dunkerron.ie/dunkerron-house/. Retrieved 1 January 2017. 
  12. ↑ "Dunkerron House". Landed Estates Database. NUI Galway. http://landedestates.nuigalway.ie/LandedEstates/jsp/property-show.jsp?id=1794. Retrieved 1 January 2017. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 John O'Hart (1892). "O'Sullivan Mor (No.2) - Lords of Dunkerron". Irish Pedigrees; or the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation. p. 245. https://archive.org/details/irishpedigreesor_01ohar. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 "John Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne, 1st Baron Dunkeron". ThePeerage.com. http://www.thepeerage.com/p3842.htm. Retrieved 3 January 2016. 
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