Desmond Hall and Castle, also called Desmond Castle and Banqueting Hall or Newcastle West Medieval Complex and Desmond Hall, are a set of medieval buildings and National Monuments located in

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicized Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city, It is also the county town, and sits on the ...

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 ...

. For over 200 years, it belonged to the Fitzgerald family, Earls of Desmond.

Location

Desmond Hall and Castle are located on south of the main square in the western end of

History

A castle was built in the 13th century by the FitzGerald

Earls of Desmond Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, ...

. Local folklore also connects it with the Knights Templar, perhaps confusing them with their house at Askeaton. By 1298, the castle had curtain walls and defensive towers surrounding the complex, with thatched houses, cattle byres and fishponds in the centre. Newcastle West was sacked in 1302 and destroyed in 1315. The present structure dates to the 15th century, with the hall and chamber built on the site of the earlier structure, and used for banqueting and entertainment. In 1591, during 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 an ...

, the castle was seized by the Crown and granted to Sir William Courtenay on condition that 80 English colonists be settled in the area as part of the Munster Plantation.

James FitzThomas FitzGerald James fitz Thomas FitzGerald, called the Súgán Earl (died 1608), was a pretender to the Earldom of Desmond who made his claim and led a rebellion after the last earl, Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond had been killed in 1583. The preten ...

retook the castle in 1598 but lost it again the next year. It was regranted to Sir William's son Sir George Courtenay, 1st Baronet in 1639. In 1643, during the Irish Confederate Wars, the castle was besieged for four months, then taken by the

Irish Catholic Confederation Confederate Ireland, also referred to as the Irish Catholic Confederation, was a period of Irish Catholic self-government between 1642 and 1649, during the Eleven Years' War. Formed by Catholic aristocrats, landed gentry, clergy and military ...

. They burned it and executed the garrison. The castle buildings were attacked by

Oliver Cromwell 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 K ...

’s forces in 1645, and further damage during the

Williamite war in Ireland The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691; ga, Cogadh an Dá Rí, "war of the two kings"), was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called th ...

in the late 17th century. In the 17th and 18th century the castle was occupied by the Mahony family, while the Courtenay

Earls of Devon Earl of Devon was created several times in the English peerage, and was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the de Redvers (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.) family, and later by the Courtenay family. It is not to be con ...

lived in Courtenay Castle; much of what had survived of the Desmond Castle was demolished in the 18th century to make room for Courtenay Castle. The banqueting hall was restored in early 19th century, a replacement fireplace being found in

Kilmallock Kilmallock () is a town in south County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Cork. There is a Dominican Priory in the town and King's Castle (or King John's Castle). The remains of medieval walls which encircled the settlement are sti ...

. By the 19th century, the Earl of Devon's agent Charles Curling was living in Courtenay Castle, and the Curlings bought Desmond Castle in 1910. It was burned down on 8 August 1922 during the Irish Civil War. It was owned by the Curlings until the 1940s. Later, it was used as a

Masonic hall A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting. Development and history In ...

and as a

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

. The site was taken into state care in 1989, and renovation began in 1990 under the auspices of the

Office of Public Works The Office of Public Works (OPW) ( ga, Oifig na nOibreacha Poiblí) (legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of o ...

Castle

A spacious medieval hall of two storeys, with a

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

lower chamber and adjoining tower. Restored medieval features include an oak

minstrels' gallery A minstrels' gallery is a form of balcony, often inside the great hall of a castle or manor house, and used to allow musicians (originally minstrels) to perform, sometimes discreetly hidden from the guests below. Notable examples *A rare example ...

and a limestone hooded fireplace.

References

National Monuments in County Limerick Castles in County Limerick FitzGerald dynasty Former Masonic buildings Newcastle West {{Ireland-castle-stub