English: Castles of Munster: Lismore, Waterford. A castle has stood on this site since Prince John built a castle here above the River Blackwater in 1185. This was soon destroyed but later rebuilt, and provided a residence throughout the medieval period for the bishops of Lismore. It was damaged during the Desmond Rebellion of 1579 and was entirely rebuilt in 1621 by Sir Richard Boyle after its previous owner Sir Walter Raleigh was executed. At the end of the wars that devastated Ireland in the mid-C17 it was again in a ruinous state, and was remodelled by the 2nd Earl of Cork in the 1660s. After its neglect during the C18, a complete rebuilding was undertaken by the 6th Duke of Devonshire, whose descendants remain the current owners. The building works of 1814 totally transformed the old castle. The upper parts, the present battlements and turrets, and the majority of the features, date from this early C19 rebuilding, and it is just the lower parts of the old C17 walls that remain. There are also original gunloops in the NE tower, and in a circular tower on the west side, whilst the SE tower has older work up as far as the third storey.