Clogrennane Castle is a ruined castle in

County Carlow County Carlow ( ; ga, Contae Cheatharlach) is a county located in the South-East Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Carlow is the second smallest and the third least populous of Ireland's 32 traditional counties. Carlow Cou ...

, Ireland, near Clogrennane, about two miles from

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

on the River Barrow on the county border with

County Laois County Laois ( ; gle, Contae Laoise) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and in the province of Leinster. It was known as Queen's County from 1556 to 1922. The modern county takes its name from Loígis, a medie ...

History

The Kavanaghs occupied the land since before the Norman invasion of Ireland until Dullough, the western part of the barony of Idrone, was sold to

James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond James Butler, 9th Earl of Ormond and 2nd Earl of Ossory ( – 1546), known as the Lame (Irish: ''Bacach''), was in 1541 confirmed as Earl of Ormond thereby ending the dispute over the Ormond earldom between his father, Piers Butler, 8th Earl o ...

. Following his death in 1546, his second son Sir Edmund Butler inherited Dullogh.

Clogrennane Castle

The Castle was built by Sir Edmund sometime in the 15th century to defend an area along the River Barrow and the extensive woodlands along the side of Killeshin hill. The castle withstood a siege from Sir Peter Carew, who attempted to claim the land in right of his ancestors, in 1568. Sir Edmund participated in the revolt against the Tudors, which led to him being

attainted In English criminal law, attainder or attinctura was the metaphorical "stain" or "corruption of blood" which arose from being condemned for a serious capital crime (felony or treason). It entailed losing not only one's life, property and hereditary ...

by Queen Elizabeth I. After he surrendered his estate to the Queen in 1570, the Queen pardoned him in 1573, but did not remove the attainder. After Edmund's death in , Elizabeth reversed the attainder on his eldest son Piers, who was granted ancestral lands in Roscrea, County Tipperary. Both Piers and his brother, James Butler, were executed at Thurles by their uncle, Thomas Butler, 10th Earl of Ormond, during Tyrone's Rebellion in 1596. In 1602, Elizabeth also reversed the attainder on Sir Edmund's last remaining legitimate son, Theobald, the heir presumptive to his uncle's earldom of Ormond. Theoboald was created 1st Viscount Butler of Tulleophelim in 1603, immediately before marrying his first cousin, Lady Elizabeth Butler, the only surviving child of the 10th Earl of Ormond, in a marriage the Earl made to avoid splitting his inheritance between his daughter, Lady Elizabeth, and his heir, Theobald. Viscount Butler, however, predeceased the Earl, dying without issue in 1613. His widow, who inherited his considerable debts, married Sir Richard Preston, Lord Dingwall (a favourite of the King) the following year, shortly before her father's death. Sir Richard was created Earl of Desmond in 1619. Since the next in line, the 10th Earl's younger brother John, had died in 1570, the earldom passed to John's son, Walter Butler, who became the 11th Earl of Ormond. King James I awarded most of the Ormond estate, including Kilkenny Castle, to Lady Elizabeth, as they were Protestants and the 11th Earl was a devout Catholic. The 11th Earl contested the King's decision and was detained in the Fleet Prison from 1619 until 1625, when he submitted to the King's ruling. The Ormond estate was eventually reunited when Lady Elizabeth's only child, Lady Elizabeth Preston, married the 11th Earl's Protestant grandson and heir, James Butler (son of the 11th Earl's eldest son, Thomas Butler, Viscount Thurles, who had died in 1619), in 1629. James inherited the earldom of Ormond in 1634 before being created Marquess of Ormond in 1642 and Duke of Ormond in 1661. The Butlers remained in possession of Clogrennane until 1715, when James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde was attainted after being accused of supporting the Jacobite rising of 1715. The castle, which by then was in ruins, and 3,000 acres in

were purchased by

Robert Rochfort Robert Rochfort (9 December 1652 – 10 October 1727) was a leading Irish lawyer, politician and judge of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He held office as Attorney General for Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, a ...

from the

Butler family Butler family may refer to: * Butler dynasty, a noble family in Ireland * Butler-Belmont family, a family of United States politicians * Butler family (Artemis Fowl), a family in the ''Artemis Fowl'' teen novel series * Butler (surname) Butler, is ...

for Rochfort's second son,

John Rochfort John Rochfort (21 May 1832 – 8 March 1893) was a New Zealand surveyor and engineer. Early life John Rochfort was born in London, England, the youngest son of Frank senior, a goldsmith, silversmith and jeweller, and Sarah (née Button). He ...

. John, who served as High Sheriff of County Carlow in 1758, married Dorothea

Burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

(sister to Thomas Burgh, both children of Thomas Burgh, MP for Lanesborough).

Clogrennan House

John Rochfort's son, Col.

John Staunton Rochfort John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, built Clogrennan House, also called Clogrennan Hall, in , which converted the entrance of the castle into the newly built House. The house and estate were inherited by his son, Horace William Noel Rochfort. Both father and son served as High Sheriffs of County Carlow. After his death in 1891, his descendants continued to own the house until they through their last ball in January 1922, shortly before the house was sold. Like the castle, it was later abandoned and has been roofless since 1945.

Artist renderings

* 1680, drawing by

Thomas Dineley Thomas Dingley or Dineley (died 1695) was an English antiquary. Life He was the son and heir of Thomas Dingley, controller of customs at Southampton; he was born about the middle of the seventeenth century, and, on his own account educated by Jam ...

shows a five floor house featuring three decorative gables at front and crenellated parapet at sides. * 1790 sketch shows ruins similar to conditions seen in 1870 photographs. * Between 1890 and 1920, artist J.S. Fleming made a pen and ink drawing of the ruins of Clogrennane Castle.

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links