Glin Castle is a Georgian country house and national heritage site located along the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( ga, Abhainn na Sionainne, ', '), at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of the island of Ireland. The Shan ...

in Glin,

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

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 ...

. The castle has belonged to the FitzMaurice/FitzGerald family for over 700 years and was the seat of the Knights of Glin.

History

The FitzGeralds and Fitzmaurices first settled in the area in the 13th century, following the

Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land from the Irish, over which the kings of England then claimed sovereignty, all allegedly san ...

, at the nearby Shanid Castle.

Castle

In the 14th century the Lord of Desmond elevated an illegitimate son to the hereditary knighthood of Glin. He built Glin Castle within the village of Glin, which became the permanent seat of the

Knight of Glin The Knight of Glin (; dormant 14 September 2011), also known as the Black Knight or Knight of the Valley, was a hereditary title held by the FitzGerald and FitzMaurice families of County Limerick, Ireland, since the early 14th century. The fam ...

. The castle was attacked 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 and ...

in the 16th century, the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland wi ...

in the 17th century, the

Jacobite risings , war = , image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg , image_size = 150px , caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766 , active ...

and the Enforcement of the Penal Laws. In 1601 the castle was besieged by British troops and the knight's son was kidnapped.

Georgian house

By the late 17th century the castle had been abandoned and the FitzGerald family moved into a thatched longhouse adjacent to the castle. John Bateman FitzGerald, 23rd Knight of Glin married Margaretta Maria Fraunceis Gwyn in the 1780s and used her dowry to build a new home in the Georgian style. Later Neo-classical elements were added to the building. In 1923 a mob of

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

members attacked the castle. In 1993 the FitzGeralds decided to turn the castle into a hotel to help pay for the upkeep. The hotel closed in 2008. In 2011

Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin (13 July 1937 – 14 September 2011)
rte.ie; accessed 1 May 2016. ...

died without a male heir. In 2015 the castle was put up for auction at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

by Lady FitzGerald. The castle did not sell in auction. In an effort to keep the castle in the family, it was purchased by Catherine FitzGerald, daughter of the last Knight of Glin, and her husband

Dominic West Dominic Gerard Francis Eagleton West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor, director and musician. He is best known for playing Jimmy McNulty in HBO's ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Noah Solloway in Showtime's '' The Affair'' (2014–2019), t ...

. Today they run the castle as both a family home and as a complete-let venue.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Castles in County Limerick Country houses in Ireland FitzGerald dynasty Georgian architecture in Ireland Hotels in County Limerick Neoclassical architecture in Ireland