Mallow Castle is a National Monument situated off the N72 on Bridewell Lane,

Mallow, County Cork Mallow (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland, approximately thirty-five kilometres north of Cork. Mallow is in the barony of Fermoy. It is the administrative centre of north County Cork, and the Northern Divisional Offices of Cork County Coun ...

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 ...

Description

The site is composed of gardens and parkland on which three buildings sit: the remains of a 16th-century fortified house, a 19th-century mansion to the north, and the ruins of a 13th-century castle to the east. The fortified house is a long rectangular three-storey building, with two polygonal towers on the north-west and south-west corners. It is early Jacobean in style, featuring high gables, stepped battlements, and mullioned windows. The wings of the house project from the centre of the south and north walls, with the entrance in the north wing. The design of the house was to provide a field of fire around it entirely. The 19th-century baronial mansion has parts which date to the 1690s and is situated near the older ruined Mallow Castle. As a refurbished building it features 8 reception rooms, which include a music room, a billiard room and a library, as well as 12 bedrooms.

History

The first castle in Mallow was built on the instructions of King John in 1185. In 1282, it came into the possession of the

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, ...

. Following the Geraldine Wars, the estate was confiscated by

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

, who granted it to Sir Thomas Norrey along with the Lordship of Mallow and of surrounding country. The Desmond Castle, as it was known, fell into such bad repair that in 1585 a new castle was constructed on the same site.Cork County Council
Mallow Castle
accessed 13 May 2019 The fortified house dates from the 16th century and is believed to have been built by

Sir Thomas Norreys Sir Thomas Norris (1556–1599) was an English soldier. He sat in the Irish House of Commons, and was made Lord President of Munster in Ireland. His last name is sometimes spelt Norreys. Family He was the fifth son of Henry Norris, 1st Baron ...

Lord President of Munster The post of Lord President of Munster was the most important office in the English government of the Irish province of Munster from its introduction in the Elizabethan era for a century, to 1672, a period including the Desmond Rebellions in Munste ...

, who died in 1599. Following his death, his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir

John Jephson Sir John Jephson (died 6 May 1638) was an English soldier and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1621 and 1625. He married into two prominent Anglo-Irish families, and spent much of his career in Ireland. Jephson was the seco ...

inherited the house, with their family remaining in Mallow for almost 400 years. It was placed under siege by

Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret (1578–1651) was the son of Edmund Butler, 2nd Viscount Mountgarret and Grany or Grizzel, daughter of Barnaby Fitzpatrick, 1st Baron Upper Ossory. He is best known for his participation in the Irish Confed ...

, in 1642 during the Irish Confederate Wars and did not fall. It was captured in 1645 by

James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven ( - 11 October 1684) was the son of Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven and his first wife, Elizabeth Barnham (1592 - ). Castlehaven played a prominent role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms that took pla ...

. The house was badly damaged by fire during the

Williamite War 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 ...

and subsequently abandoned by the Jephsons. The Jephsons built the new mansion house on the site of the older castle's stable block.

Current use

The fortified house was made a National Monument in 1928. Commander Maurice Jephson sold the mansion to Mr. & Mrs. Michael & Judith McGinn of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, in 1984. The castle and the grounds have been in the possession of

Cork County Council Cork County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and ...

since 2011.

References

External links

*Cork County Council
Council-owned supported attractions: Mallow Castle

Discover Ireland

History of Mallow Castle

Entry in Landed Estates Database
{{Authority control Castles in County Cork National Monuments in County Cork Ruins in the Republic of Ireland

Description

History

Current use

See also

References

External links