17th Century Map of Cork - Extracted and replicated from Pacata Hibernia page 137 - Crop

Shandon Castle, originally known as Lord Barry's Castle, was an early medieval castle in the Shandon area of

Cork city Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...

in Ireland. It was built in the late 12th century by

Philip de Barry Philip de Barry (fl. 1183) was a Cambro-Norman warrior from Manorbier in Pembrokeshire who participated in the colonisation of Kingdom of Desmond following the Norman invasion of Ireland. He was the founder of the Barry or De Barry family in Cou ...

, close to an earlier

ringfort Ringforts or ring forts are small circular fortification, fortified settlements built during the Bronze Age, Iron Age and early Middle Ages up to about the year 1000 AD. They are found in Northern Europe, especially in Ireland. There are ...

. Located outside the city's gates and defensive walls, the castle was a seat of the Cambro-Norman

de Barry family The de Barry family (de Barra/Barri) is a noble Cambro-Norman family which held extensive land holdings in Wales and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The founder of the de Barry family was a Normans, Norman knight, Odo, who assisted in the Norman C ...

for several centuries. From the late 16th century, Shandon Castle became an official residence of the

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 ...

, and a "centre of English administration" in the area. In the early 17th century, during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

, a number of Gaelic Irish lords (and their supporters) were imprisoned there by then President George Carew. Some of those held here, including

James FitzThomas FitzGerald James fitz Thomas FitzGerald, called the Súgán Earl (died 1608), was a pretender to the Earldom of Desmond who made his claim and led a rebellion after the last earl, Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond had been killed in 1583. The preten ...

and Florence MacCarthy Mór, were later transferred to the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. Others, like

Dominic Collins Dominic Collins, SJ (; 1566 – 31 October 1602) was an Irish Jesuit lay brother, an ex-soldier, who died for his Catholic faith. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II, along with 16 other Irish Catholic Martyrs, on 27 September 1993.

who was imprisoned here after the

Siege of Dunboy The siege of Dunboy took place at Dunboy Castle between 5 June and 18 June 1602, during the Nine Years' War in Ireland. It was one of the last battles of the war. An English army of up to 5,000 under Sir George Carew besieged the castle, w ...

, were later executed. Early 17th century maps show the castle as a "two towered structure" with a surrounding bawn wall. A late-17th century description refers to it as "a large round tower with 16 guns and a good entrenchment". Used by the court of James II during his time in Ireland in 1688, Shandon Castle was destroyed (along with much of the city) during the

Siege of Cork The siege of Cork took place during the Williamite war in Ireland in the year of 1690 in Ireland, 1690. It happened shortly after the Battle of the Boyne during James II of England, James II's attempt to retake the English throne from William ...

in 1690. Abandoned thereafter, red sandstone from the castle ruin was later used in the construction of the nearby Church of St Anne (built 1722). A monastic Dominican order occupied the castle site in the late 18th century, until it was purchased by a committee of merchants in the 19th century. A mercantile exchange building (now known as the Firkin Crane and associated with the nearby butter market) was built on the site in 1842. No standing structures of the castle remain.

References

{{coord, 51.9027, -8.4763, region:IE_type:landmark, display=title, notes= (site of) Buildings and structures in Cork (city) History of Cork (city) Former castles in the Republic of Ireland

See also

References