Cloughoughter Castle: A Medieval Anglo-Norman Island Fortress in Ireland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.9
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Norman
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page9 sections
History
Cloughoughter Castle is a ruined island fortress in Ireland, built by the Anglo-Normans around 1220 or during the first quarter of the thirteenth century in the medieval kingdom of Breifne. The castle stands in East Breifne, a region that broadly corresponds to present-day County Cavan, and served as a strategic stronghold in a landscape contested by Gaelic ruling clans and Anglo-Norman lords.
Anglo-Norman Foundation
The site may have contained an earlier crannog, an artificial or partly artificial island settlement used for occupation and defense, or another early fortification as far back as the sixth century. This possibility remains uncertain. The castle itself was built for the de Lacy family, the powerful Anglo-Norman lords of Meath, with William Gorm de Lacy identified as its patron. The precise beginning of construction is not known, but the lower two stories contain features consistent with work from the first quarter of the thirteenth century.
O’Reilly Control
In 1233, the O’Reilly clan took possession of the Lough Oughter area and its castle. The O’Reillys, Gaelic rulers of East Breifne, retained Cloughoughter for most of the medieval period, until about 1600. Control of the fortress formed part of wider conflicts with the O’Rourkes of West Breifne and with rival branches of the O’Reilly family. During the 1360s, Philip O’Reilly was imprisoned there under exceptionally harsh conditions, reportedly receiving only a sheaf of oats and a cup of water each day.
Plantation and Rebellion
Following the Plantation of Ulster, the early-seventeenth-century redistribution of lands taken from Gaelic powers to English and Scottish settlers, Cloughoughter and its lands were granted to Captain Hugh Culme. Culme built a new residence on the nearby lakeshore rather than occupying the medieval castle. The fortress was strengthened and converted for use as an arsenal.
During the Irish Rebellion of 1641, a Catholic uprising and political crisis that led to the formation of the Irish Confederacy, Philip O’Reilly seized Hugh Culme and took control of both the castle and Culme’s lakeside house. Cloughoughter then became a prison for Culme, his son-in-law Henry Jones, and other captives. William Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore in the Church of Ireland, was also imprisoned there. He died in February 1642 after his release, apparently as a consequence of the exceptionally cold winter.
Siege and Ruin
Owen Roe O’Neill, commander of the Ulster Army during the Confederate Wars, is said to have died at the castle in 1649. Philip O’Reilly held Cloughoughter as an island stronghold of the Irish Confederacy for approximately twelve years.
In March 1653, Commonwealth forces, the republican armies of the English Commonwealth, besieged the fortress under Sir Theophilus Jones. Artillery placed in the nearby townland of Innishconnell battered the castle, leaving it in ruins. Cloughoughter was the last major Confederate position to surrender, on 27 April 1653, and the castle was recorded as demolished that year.
Preservation
The ruined fortress became a frequent subject for artists during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Conservation work began in 1987, and Clough Oughter Castle is protected under Ireland’s National Monuments legislation as a National Monument of Ireland.
Remains
Island Setting and Circular Plan
Cloughoughter Castle occupies a small rocky island in Lough Oughter, approximately 4 kilometres east of Killeshandra in County Cavan. The island is less than 300 feet in diameter, leaving room for the castle and a narrow margin of exposed rock. Very deep water surrounds it, while the shores, about a mile away, are wild and densely wooded. This isolated setting forms the physical context for the castle’s role as a defensible island fortress.
Stone Structure and Siege Damage
The castle is circular, an unusual plan in comparison with the predominantly square castles described in the surrounding region. It is built from rubble stone, with exceptionally thick walls, embrasures, and coved windows. Architectural elements in the lower two stories correspond to construction during the first quarter of the thirteenth century. Cannon-shot damage from the 1653 bombardment remains visible in the ruined masonry. In 1852, the remains were described as massive and weathered, with parts of the structure heavily covered by Irish ivy.
