Huntington Castle, also known as Clonegal Castle, is a castle in

Clonegal Clonegal, officially Clonegall ( ; ), is a village in the southeast of County Carlow, Ireland. It is in a rural setting, close to the border between counties Wexford and Carlow, 5 km from Bunclody, County Wexford and 22 km from Carl ...

, County Carlow,

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 ...

, built in 1625. The structure was originally a "plantation castle", used for defensive purposes during the

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

of the area in the early 17th century. The original tower house, which served as a garrison, was built in the 15th century as a stronghold for the Caviness family, an old Irish clan. Later Baron Esmonde. Due to the strategic importance of the village of Clonegal during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland because of its location on the road between

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 ...

, the castle was captured 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 ...

as he marched on Kilkenny in 1650. It is now a private house open to the public for guided tours throughout June, July, August and September. It was the setting for Stanley Kubrick's film '' Barry Lyndon''. Its basement has been the base of a religion, the

Fellowship of Isis The Fellowship of Isis (FOI) is an international spiritual organisation devoted to promoting awareness of the Goddess. It is dedicated specifically to the Egyptian goddess Isis because the FOI co-founders believed Isis best represented the en ...

, since 1976, The castle hosted the Solas Festival in August 2008. co-founded by Olivia Robertson, her brother Lawrence Durdin-Robertson and his wife Pamela. The castle is now owned by Alexander and Claire Durdin Robertson.

Gardens

The Esmonde family laid out most of the gardens in the 17th century. This includes the French limes on the Avenue, the

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the part of ...

or lawns to the side of the house, the fish ponds on either side of the centre walk through the wilderness and the majority of yew trees which comprise the Yew Walk. Larger plantings have resulted in Huntington possessing a number of great Irish trees, including varieties of hickory, a cut leaved oak, Siberian crab and buckeye chestnut. A lake at the bottom of the wilderness was built for ornamental purposes but next to it is one of the earliest

water turbine A water turbine is a rotary machine that converts kinetic energy and potential energy of water into mechanical work. Water turbines were developed in the 19th century and were widely used for industrial power prior to electrical grids. Now, ...

houses in Ireland, providing Huntington with its own electricity as early as 1888. The River Derry, which forms the boundary between Counties Wexford and Carlow, flows along the bottom of the wilderness, providing a pleasant setting for woodland walks.

Ghosts

There have been various myths that Huntington castle has been plagued by ghosts of druids in the fields and even in the castle. It is said that the druids could, at a stroke, create a mist; start fires at will; and bring down showers of blood. They were feared because they would sacrifice men and women to please their gods.

References

External links

Huntington Castle's websiteHoliday accommodation at Huntington Castle
{{Historic Irish houses, state=collapsed Castles in County Carlow Buildings and structures in County Carlow

Gardens

Ghosts

See also

References

External links