O'Rourke's Castle (historically also Breifny Castle) is a ruined castle in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It was situated in the centre of Leitrim Village c. 30m from the N bank of the Ballinamore and Ballyconnell canal, which at this point is a canalised stream, and c. 400m from its junction with the

River Shannon The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and 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 I ...

History

The castle, undoubtedly a tower house, was originally a MacRaghnall stronghold with references in 1491 and 1499, but by 1540 it was in the hands of Brian Ballach O'Rourke (AFM), probably to intimidate the MacRaghnall and other families of Muintir Eolais and to harass his enemy of the moment, Mac Dermot of Moylurg. The castle was destroyed in 1580 by Brian of the Ramparts O'Rourke to prevent it falling to

Sir Nicholas Malby Sir Nicholas Malby (1530?–1584) was an English soldier active in Ireland, Lord President of Connaught from 1579 to 1581. Life He was born probably about 1530. In 1556 his name appears in a list of persons willing to take part in the plantatio ...

. Sir Nicholas rebuilt and garrisoned it, but the castle was immediately besieged by O'Rourke and abandoned by its garrison shortly afterwards (AFM). In January 1603, after the defeat of

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork (city), Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a populatio ...

, Donal Cam O'Sullivan Beare arrived at Leitrim Castle with only thirty five from the thousand or so followers with whom he had started the long march from Dunboy,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

. Brian Óg O'Rourke, who was the last leader to remain in rebellion, was finally besieged at Leitrim Castle. In April Brian Óg fled to Rosa-Iarla Friary near Lough Corrib, where he died in January 1604.

Modern day

A length of mortared uncoursed limestone masonry (L 13m; H 2.8m; T 0.8m) survives with two small openings (dims 0.3m x 0.25m) which may be part of the bawn wall. Archaeological testing (04E0160) of an extensive area just to the NE produced no related material (Read 2007). (McParlan 1802, 103-4; Lewis vol. 1, 837, vol. 2, 256; O'Flanagan 1929, 105-6; Herity 2012, 402Herity, M. (ed.) 2012 Ordnance Survey Letters: Londonderry, Fermanagh, Armagh-Monaghan, Louth, Cavan-Leitrim. Dublin, Fourmasters Press)

References

{{reflist Castles in County Leitrim Castles in the Republic of Ireland