Mannan Castle
| Mannan Castle | |
|
County Monaghan | |
|---|---|
 Edge of the motte, overgrown with vegetation | |
| Type: | Motte-and-bailey |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | H86932582 |
| Location: | 54°10’27"N, 6°40’10"W |
| Village: | Donaghmoyne, Carrickmacross |
| History | |
| Built 1193 | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Ruins |
Mannan Castle is a motte-and-bailey castle in County Monaghan, built first in the twelfth-century, and now a mere ruin crowning its motte.
Today the site is enrolled as a National Monument.
Location
Mannan Castle is located on Mannan Castle Golf Club, on a south-facing slope of a limestone drumlin ridge about two miles north-east of Carrickmacross.[1]
History
This site is believed to have been the ancient capital of Airgíalla (Oriel), a kingdom originating at some time in the pre-Christian era (according to semi-mythical accounts, it was founded by The Three Collas in AD 331).
A motte-and-bailey was constructed in 1193 by the powerful Anglo-Norman Pipard family (Sir Roger Pipard, c.1136 – before 1225), to consolidate their hold over the region. They first built a wooden castle. This site was not necessarily chosen for its military or defensive usefulness, but for reasons of prestige. By building atop an ancient Gaelic Irish capital, the Norman conquest of Ireland was made clear. In 1227 the Pipard lands were entrusted to Ralph fitz Nicholas. He began to strengthen Mannan Castle; it was burned by the Irish in 1230 and replaced by a stone castle in 1244.
Various local legends attach to the castle; one claims that the mortar was made with animal blood and this is why a stone cannot be dislodged from the wall. Another connects the name with a druid named Manann, although the early names are clearly derived from Irish maighean ("of the plain").[2][3][4]
The first archaeological survey of the site was carried out in 1910 by Henry Morris. Later excavations found large amounts of iron slag, pottery, iron nails and ironworking tools in the southern part of the bailey.[5][6]
The reains today
Mannan Castle is today a motte 41 feet high and inner bailey connected by a causeway with a ditch and an outer bailey without a ditch. The stone ruins of a keep are atop the motte.[7]
References
- ↑ Duffy, Seán (15 January 2005). "Mediæval Ireland: An Encyclopedia". Routledge. https://books.google.ie/books?id=a7uTAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA568&dq=Mannan%20Castle%20-golf&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7xKCeua3PAhWrKMAKHd52CYQQ6AEINjAD#v=onepage&q=Mannan%20Castle%20-golf&f=false.
- ↑ "Mannan Castle". http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758584/4756689/4936032.
- ↑ "The Schools’ Collection » St Peter's, Phibsboro". http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4428244/4388009/4510324.
- ↑ "Manann Castle". http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4758587/4756881/4936445.
- ↑ "Mannan Castle excavation - Donaghmoyne.com". http://donaghmoyne.com/mannan-castle-excavation/.
- ↑ "4632 « Excavations". http://www.excavations.ie/report/1999/Monaghan/0004632/.
- ↑ "Mannan Castle - Monaghan Tourism". Monaghan Tourism. http://www.monaghantourism.com/index.php/heritage/119-mannan-castle.
- Day, Catharina: '[https://books.google.ie/books?id=Xc-d1qxTg9AC&pg=PA630&dq=Mannan%20Castle%20-golf&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7xKCeua3PAhWrKMAKHd52CYQQ6AEIMDAC#v=onepage&q=Mannan&f=false Ireland' (New Holland, 2006) via Google Books