Carrigafoyle Castle: Guardian of the Shannon Estuary
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Ireland
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Irish
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
On this page7 sections
History
Foundation and Strategic Role
Carrigafoyle Castle is a late-fifteenth-century Irish tower house in Ireland, at Carrigafoyle near Ballylongford in County Kerry. The fortified residence was built around 1490 by the Irish chieftain Conor Liath O’Connor, its original owner, and was regarded as one of the strongest Irish castles of its time.
Its position beside the Shannon estuary, a tidal river mouth where freshwater meets the sea, allowed the castle to control shipping routes into and out of the estuary. It also protected supplies travelling upriver towards Limerick, about 20 miles away. This strategic role gave Carrigafoyle the name “Guardian of the Shannon.”
The Second Desmond Rebellion
During the Second Desmond Rebellion, a late-sixteenth-century Munster uprising against English rule led by Gerald Fitzgerald, 15th Earl of Desmond, Carrigafoyle was held for the Catholic rebels. Its garrison consisted of 50 Irishmen and 16 Spanish soldiers who had landed at Smerwick in 1579. Women and children were also sheltering within the castle.
An Italian engineer known as Julian spent several months improving the defenses under the direction of Eleanor Desmond, the earl’s wife and countess. Before the siege, Eleanor left for her husband’s position at Castleisland, about 64 kilometres away, while Julian remained at Carrigafoyle.
The Siege of 1580
During Easter 1580, Sir William Pelham led 600 English soldiers against the castle, supported by Sir George Carew. Three ships commanded by Sir William Winter anchored in the bay and supplied Pelham with three guns and a large naval gun. The attacking force was described as the largest English army yet seen in western Ireland.
The English established their position southwest of Carrigafoyle. Their artillery bombardment, the use of heavy guns against defensive works, continued for two days and included fire from the ships’ broadside guns. The defenders initially repelled repeated assaults, but the western wall eventually collapsed under the artillery attack.
Many defenders died when the wall fell. English troops shot survivors who tried to withdraw, and several prisoners, including a woman, were hanged. Julian was hanged three days later. The castle was left in ruins after the siege and was never repaired.
The fall of Carrigafoyle affected the fate of other Desmond strongholds. The garrison at Askeaton blew up its castle, while Newcastle West, Ballylongan, Rahin, and Ballyduff continued to resist until they were stormed. The rebels then turned to guerrilla warfare, and the rebellion ended in 1583 after the earl was killed at Glenaginty in the Slieve Mish Mountains near Tralee. Carrigafoyle is designated a National Monument of Ireland.
Remains
The Tower House
Carrigafoyle Castle survives as a ruined tower house beside a small bay of the Shannon estuary, standing on a rock near Ballylongford. A tower house was a fortified residence centred on a tall masonry tower used for both domestic and defensive purposes. The principal tower rises slightly more than 24 metres, or approximately 86 feet, and has five storeys. Its spiral staircase contains 104 steps and reaches the top.
Fortifications and Water Defenses
The tower was enclosed by defensive walls and a moat arranged as a double line of fortification. The inner wall formed a complete enclosed circuit, while the eastern side of the outer wall was open. Smaller towers stood along the walls. At high tide, the moat was large enough for a vessel of up to 100 tons to enter, linking the castle’s defenses directly with the water.
A wooded island protected the bay on its northern side. Together with the castle’s position beside the estuary, this created a defensible approach for maritime traffic entering the Shannon. The surviving ruins still carry marks from the artillery bombardment that brought down the western wall in 1580.
