Castle Conway is a former castle and stately home in the town of

Killorglin Killorglin () is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2016 CSO census, the town's population was 2,199. Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, and annual events include the August Puck Fair festival, which starts with the crown ...

County Kerry County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the co ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Today only the ruins of one wall remain. Originally called Killorglin Castle, a defensive structure was first built on the site next to the

River Laune The River Laune (; Irish: ''An Leamhain'') is a river in County Kerry, Ireland, which flows from Lough Leane (sometimes written as Lough Lein), one of the Lakes of Killarney, through Beaufort, past Ballymalis Castle, through the town of Killo ...

Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly Maurice Fitzmaurice FitzGerald I, 2nd Lord of Offaly (c.1184 – 20 May 1257) was a Norman in Ireland peer, soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1232 to 1245. He mustered many armies against the Irish, and due to his harsh methods as Justicia ...

. Following the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the Fitzmaurice/FitzGerald Dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and ...

, the castle was seized by

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

and subsequently granted to Captain Jenkin Conway in 1587 as part of the

Munster Plantation Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the English Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Britain. The Crown saw the plantations as a means of controlling, angl ...

. The Conway family were Welsh in origin and through the wife of Jenkin Conway, Mary Herbert, descendants of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...

and

Aoife MacMurrough Aoife MacMurrough (c. 1145 – 1188, ga, Aoife Ní Diarmait), also known by later historians as Eva of Leinster, was an Irish noblewoman, Princess of Leinster and Countess of Pembroke. She was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough (c. 1110 – 117 ...

through her ancestor Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook. This grant was confirmed in 1592. Due to the poor state of the building, the son of Captain Jenkin Conway, also Jenkin, rebuilt the castle in 1613 and named it Castle Conway. The castle passed in marriage to Robert Blennerhassett, a

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

officer in the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...

. During the wars, the castle had been damaged and it was in ruins by 1682. Between 1700 and 1710, a new stately home was built by the

Blennerhassett family The Blennerhassett family is an English and Anglo-Irish noble family which has been involved in the politics of the Britain and Ireland since the fourteenth century. The male line of the family is extinct in Britain. History The family is record ...

on the site of the ruined castle, including elements of the Medieval structure. By this stage, the family estate surrounding the castle was approximately 7,000 acres, and the Blennerhassetts were able to build a large new house, recorded as having tall chimneys, an important library and demesne terraced gardens leading down to the River Laune. The old chapel was repaired and incorporated into the new building. Castle Conway was inherited by

Harman Blennerhassett Harman Blennerhassett (8 October 1765 – 2 February 1831) was an Anglo-Irish lawyer, a member of the Society of United Irishmen who emigrated in advance of their rebellion in 1798 to become a socially and politically distinguished plantation ...

in 1792, but was sold to his relation,

Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry (25 October 1736 – 11 January 1824) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. Biography Mullins was the son of William Mullins and Mary Rowan.Michael C. O'Laughlin, ''Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland'' (Irish Roots ...

in 1795. The castle had been largely demolished by 1842, with much of its stone being used in the construction of other Killorglin buildings. The stone ruins of one of the Medieval walls are all that remain of the castle.Killorglin Town, Kerry County Council information http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/planning/planspolicies/localareaplans/killorglinfunctionalarealap/thefile,3385,en.pdf (Accessed 25 February 2014)

Ancestry of Conway of Kerry

References

External links

Castle Conway, Killorglin, Co. Kerry
{{coord missing, County Kerry Castles in County Kerry Buildings and structures in County Kerry Blennerhassett family