Dunamase or the Rock of Dunamase ( ga, Dún Másc "fort of Másc") is a rocky outcrop in

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 ...

, Ireland. Rising above a plain, it has the ruins of Dunamase Castle, a defensive stronghold dating from the early Hiberno-Norman period with a view across to 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 ...

. It is near the

N80 road The N80 road is a national secondary road in Ireland that runs southeastwards from its junction with the N52 and R443 in the town of Tullamore in County Offaly, to the N30 at Ballynahallin, just north of Enniscorthy in County Wexford, a di ...

between the towns of

Portlaoise Portlaoise ( ), or Port Laoise (), is the county town of County Laois, Ireland. It is located in the Midland Region, Ireland, South Midlands in the province of Leinster. The 2016 census shows that the town's population increased by 9.5% to 22,050 ...

and

Stradbally Stradbally () is a town in County Laois, Ireland, located in the midlands of Ireland along the N80 road, a National Secondary Route, about from Portlaoise. It is a townland, a civil parish and historic barony. It is known for its "Steam Ra ...

History

Excavations in the 1990s demonstrated that the Rock was first settled in the 9th century when a

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

or ''

dún A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Ireland and Britain it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse. Etymology The term comes from Irish ''dún'' or Scottish Gaelic ''dùn'' (meaning "fort"), and is cognate ...

'' was constructed on the site. The first known settlement on the rock was Dun Masc, or Masc’s Fort, an early Christian settlement that was pillaged in 842 by the Vikings. In 845 the Vikings of Dublin attacked the site and the abbot of

Terryglass Terryglass () is a village in County Tipperary, Ireland. The small town is located on the R493 regional road on the north-eastern shore of Lough Derg near where the River Shannon enters the Lough. It is a civil parish in the historical barony ...

, Aed son of Dub dá Chrích, was killed there.''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

'' 845.2; '' Cogad Gaedel re Gallaib'' 19. There is no clear evidence of 10th–11th century occupation. The castle was built in the second half of the 12th century. When the Normans arrived in Ireland in the late 12th century, Dunamase became the most important

Hiberno-Norman From the 12th century onwards, a group of Normans invaded and settled in Gaelic Ireland. These settlers later became known as Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans. They originated mainly among Cambro-Norman families in Wales and Anglo-Normans from ...

fortification in Laois. It was Dunamase where Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, brought the wife of O'Rourke, the King of Breifne, after kidnapping her. Enlisting the help of the O'Connor clan, the O'Rourkes and O'Connors drove MacMurrough from Dunamase and he fled Ireland. MacMurrough gave Dunamase and his daughter Aoife in marriage to the Norman conqueror Strongbow in 1170 as part of a deal to enlist his help to regain his lands. The Norman invasion of Ireland then followed when Strongbow accompanied MacMurrough, along with many men, to attack and regain MacMurrogh's lands. Later, with the marriage of Strongbow and Aoife's daughter and heir, Isabel, the castle passed into the hands of the Marshal family.

William Marshal William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...

, who later became Regent of England in the minority of Henry III, had five sons, all of whom succeeded him in turn and died without issue. So in 1247 the Marshal lands were divided among William's five daughters. Dunamase fell to

Eva Marshal Eva Marshal (1203–1246) was a Cambro-Norman noblewoman and the wife of the powerful Marcher lord William de Braose. She was the daughter of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and the granddaughter of Strongbow and Aoife of Leinster. Sh ...

and then to her daughter, Maud, who was married to Roger Mortimer. The castle remained in Mortimer hands until 1330 when another Roger Mortimer was executed for treason. By the time the Mortimer family was rehabilitated the castle seems to have passed out of the area under Norman control. It seems to have become a ruinous shell by 1350. From the 1400s and until the 16th century it was part of the land of the powerful O'More (now More O'Ferrall) family who ruled the county of

for several hundreds of years until the 16th century when they faced great opposition from the English.

Rory O'More Rory O'More, also known as Rory Oge O'More ( ga, Ruairí Óg Ó Mórdha) (died 1578), was the Irish lord of what became Laois. Family background Rory O'More was the second son of Ruairí Ó Mórdha, Captain of Leix, and Margaret, daughter of ...

famously resisted the English. Hence,

today is still nicknamed "The O'More County". The O'More's move from Laois to new lands is so memorialised in a 19th-century poem, ''Transplanted'', by William O'Neill: ''But vain I wait and listen for Rory Og is dead,'' ''And in the halls of Dunamase a Saxon rules instead,'' ''And o'er his fruitful acres the stranger now is lord'' ''Where since the days of Cuchorb a proud O'Moore kept ward.'' The castle was notably owned by,

, Lord of

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 medi ...

. The O'Mores left the castle and moved to Kildare, on land granted to them in 1574 by Rory O'More's cousin,

Elizabeth I of England 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 ...

. The O'More family became the More O'Ferrall family in 1751. The family had been reduced from one of the most powerful Irish families to a standard aristocrats, although they declined a peerage in the 17th century and later a baronetcy in the 19th (the More O'Ferralls still have the right to use their Irish title, Lord of Laois, and the head of the family is sometimes addressed as so). However, despite the change in status, the family has still played an important role in Irish history since their move. Their former castle played no part in the Cromwellian wars. It was

slighted Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

in 1650 to prevent it being used. In the later 18th century Sir John Parnell started to build a banqueting hall within the ruins and this work incorporated medieval architectural details taken from other sites in the area.

References

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Notes

External links

Dunamase Archeology

The Rock of Dunamase (Article and Photographs) by Dr. Jane Lyons
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock Of Dunamase Castles in County Laois Ruins in the Republic of Ireland National Monuments in County Laois