Kinnitty Castle or Castle Bernard is a 19th-century gothic revival castle and hotel in

Kinnitty Kinnitty () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It is located 13 km east of Birr on the R440 and R421 regional roads. Name and location The village derives its name from the myth that the head of an ancient princess is buried beneath ...

(''Cionn Eitigh''),

County Offaly County Offaly (; ga, Contae Uíbh Fhailí) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in hono ...

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 ...

. It is located north of the

Slieve Bloom Mountains The Slieve Bloom Mountains ( ga, Sliabh Bladhma; la, Bladinae montes) is a mountain range in Ireland. They rise from the central plain of Ireland to a height of 527 metres. While not very high, they are extensive by local standards. The high ...

on the R421 regional road between the villages of Kinnitty and

Cadamstown Cadamstown, historically called ''Ballymacadam'' (),Placenames Database of Ireland
(see archival records) is ...

. A nearby pyramid was built by the Bernard family who resided in the castle.

History

The first castle at Kinnitty was destroyed in 1209 and was rebuilt by the Normans in 1213. During that period an Augustinian abbey (St Finnian's) was established near the castle, of which the famous High Cross and Abbey Wall still remain. Later the Normans were replaced by the O'Carrolls of Ely and in 1630 William O'Carroll built a new castle close by the old abbey. This castle was confiscated in 1641 as part of the plantation of Offaly, or Kings County as it was then named. In 1664, the crown granted an estate, which included the castle, to Col. Thomas Winter in return for his military service. His descendants sold it to Thomas Bernard, who renamed the house Castle Bernard and left it to his son Thomas Bernard, MP. Several historic features of the original castle remain accessible to visitors. In 1811, Lady Catherine Hutchinson, wife of Thomas, jr, commissioned architect

James Pain James Pain (1779 – 13 December 1877) was an English architect. Born into a family of English architects, his grandfather was William Pain, his father James Pain and his brother George Richard Pain. James Pain served as an apprentice to the ...

to extend the castle in a Tudor revival style to its present size. Thomas was succeeded by his son, Colonel Thomas Bernard,

Lord Lieutenant of King's County This is a list of those who have served as Lord Lieutenant of King's County. There were lieutenants of counties in Ireland until the reign of James II, when they were renamed governors. The office of Lord Lieutenant was recreated on 23 August 1 ...

and

High Sheriff of King's County The High Sheriff of King's County was the British Crown's judicial representative in King's County (now County Offaly), Ireland, from 1556, when King's County was created, until 1922, when the office was abolished in the new Free State and replac ...

for 1837, who died unmarried in 1882 and was succeeded by his niece's husband Captain Caulfield French. The latter was

for 1887. Although burned by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief tha ...

in 1922, the house was restored in 1928 by means of a Government grant of £32,000. The Bernard family lived there until 1946, when it was sold to Lord Decies, who in turn sold it to the state in 1951. From 1955 to 1985, the building hosted a Forestry Training College. It was then purchased in 1994 by the Ryan family of Limerick, who developed it into a 37 bedroom, 4 star hotel and wedding venue. The castle was seized by the KBC Bank in 2008, who continued to keep it running as a Hotel until 2015 when the Castle was bought over by its present owners. The current ownership group of Irish and American investors includes Derek Warfield, founding member of the musical group the Wolfe Tones, and Colin Breen, owner of Four Green Fields Pub in Tampa, Florida. Since the purchase in 2015, Kinnitty Castle Hotel has undergone significant renovations and continues to serve as a wedding and executive-level conference venue, as well as a 4 star hotel.

Captain Bernard

Captain Richard Bernard who lived at the Castle was much loved by Augusta Magan. The Captain was involved in the 19th Century Crimean War and three years after his return from war married a widow, Ellen Georgiana Handcock of the old Athlone family in 1859. He died in 1877 aged 55 and was buried in the Egyptian style family mausoleum in the grounds of St. Finnian's church, Kinnitty.The Irish Aesthete, 'The lonely passion of Augusta Magan'

Notes and references

External links

Kinnitty Castle Hotel website
{{coord, 53, 06, N, 7, 42, W, display=title, region:IE_type:landmark_source:GNS-enwiki Castles in County Offaly