Clontarf Castle ( ga, Caisleán Chluain Tarbh) is a much-modernised

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, dating to 1837, in

Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is a largely affluent coastal suburb on the Northside of Dublin in the city's Dublin 3 postal district. Historically there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the city, and the fishing village of Clontarf Sheds, ...

, Ireland, an area famous as a key location of the

Battle of Clontarf The Battle of Clontarf ( ga, Cath Chluain Tarbh) took place on 23 April 1014 at Clontarf, near Dublin, on the east coast of Ireland. It pitted an army led by Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, against a Norse-Irish alliance comprising the for ...

in 1014. There has been a castle on the site since 1172. In modern times, it has functioned as a bar, cabaret venue, and hotel.

History

deLacy family and the Templars

The first castle on the grounds, of which no trace remains, was built in 1172 by either

Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath, 4th Baron Lacy (; before 1135 – 25 July 1186), was an Anglo-Norman landowner and royal office-holder. He had substantial land holdings in Herefordshire and Shropshire. Following his participation in the Norman Inva ...

, or his tenant Adam de Phepoe. Clontarf was subsequently held by the

Knights Templar , colors = White mantle with a red cross , colors_label = Attire , march = , mascot = Two knights riding a single horse , equipment ...

and, after their suppression in 1308, passed to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, until they were in turn deprived of it at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The last prior, John Rawson was created

Viscount Clontarf A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

in 1541 in return for surrendering the castle and its lands to the crown.

16th century to 17th century

In 1600

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

granted the estate to Sir Geoffrey Fenton, her secretary of state for Ireland, and it passed by marriage from his descendants to the King family. George King of Clontarf took part in the

Irish Rebellion of 1641 The Irish Rebellion of 1641 ( ga, Éirí Amach 1641) was an uprising by Irish Catholics in the Kingdom of Ireland, who wanted an end to anti-Catholic discrimination, greater Irish self-governance, and to partially or fully reverse the plantat ...

and as a result his lands were confiscated.

Vernon family

At the

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland or Cromwellian war in Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the forces of the English Parliament, led by Oliver Cromwell, during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Cromwell invaded Ireland w ...

, the Clontarf estate was given to Captain John Blackwell, on 14 August 1649. Blackwell afterwards sold his interest to

John Vernon John Keith Vernon (born Adolphus Raymondus Vernon Agopsowicz; February 24, 1932 February 1, 2005) was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer ...

, Quartermaster General of Cromwell's army. The Vernon family was to remain in possession for some 300 years. In 1660, John Vernon passed Clontarf Castle to his son, Edward Vernon. Edward died in 1684 and one of his sisters took possession. In 1695 a first cousin of Edward's, also named John Vernon, claimed rights and the estate was granted to him by an Act of Parliament in 1698. The last of the direct male line of Vernons at Clontarf was Edward Kingston Vernon (1869–1967), who succeeded to the estate on the death of his father Edward in 1913. He lived at the castle for only six months, after which time it was let to John George Oulton and his wife Mona, the only daughter of Walter Blades Calverley by Vernon's sister Edyth. The castle was finally sold to the Oultons in 1933. JG Oulton, who took over the Vernon estate, died in the castle on 17 April 1952, and the Castle was left to his son, Desmond, who sold the property to pay death duties and other expenses.

1957 to present

The castle remained vacant until 1957 when it was purchased by Mrs. Egan, who in turn sold it not long after to Eddie Regan in the 1960s. Gerry and Carmel Houlihan purchased the building in 1972 and ran it as a popular cabaret venue until 1998.

Clontarf Castle Hotel

The Castle re-opened to the public as a four-star, 111-room hotel in June, 1997. The hotel is now managed by Tifco.

Building

The Clontarf Castle Hotel, Dublin - geograph

Current structure

The current building dates to 1837 and was designed by the Irish architect

William Vitruvius Morrison William Vitruvius Morrison (1794 – 16 October 1838) was an Irish architect, son and collaborator of Sir Richard Morrison. Life He was born at Clonmel, County Tipperary, second son of Sir Richard Morrison (1767–1849) and Elizabeth Ould, a gran ...

for John Edward Venables Vernon, the then owner, when the previous building was found to be unsafe. As the Clontarf Castle Hotel, it has been significantly enlarged by the addition of modern wings. Most of the former estate lands are long since sold for housing, but there remains a modest curtilage, with an ornamental gatehouse; most of this is laid out for car parking.

Art, music and literature

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

was a frequent visitor to the castle during his stay in Dublin for the premiere of ''

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

'' in 1742. The lady of the house at that time, Dorothy Vernon, was from

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and "particularly intimate" with the composer, who wrote a piece called ''Forest Music'' for her, said to combine German and Irish melodies. The neighbouring area of

Dollymount Dollymount (), often known as "Dollyer" to Dubliners, is a coastal suburban area on the north coast of Dublin Bay, within Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin, Ireland, just east of Saint Anne's Park. Dollymount Strand The famous Wooden Bri ...

is traditionally said to be named after this lady. Clontarf Castle was painted by

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

, although he never visited (it is said to be his only Irish subject); his patron

Walter Fawkes Walter Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes (2 March 1769 – 24 October 1825) was a Yorkshire landowner, writer and Member of Parliament (MP) for Yorkshire from 1806 to 1807. Biography Walter Fawkes was born at Hawkesworth Hall, near Guiseley, into an ...

was married to Maria Sophia Vernon of Clontarf and one of her sketches is believed to have been the basis of the finished watercolour. The work was mislabelled 'Caltarf Castle' and the subject was only positively identified in 1998 – it depicts the castle building previous to the present structure. Some childhood memories of the castle in the early years of the 20th century appear in ''

Enemies of Promise ''Enemies of Promise'' is a critical and autobiographical work written by Cyril Connolly first published in 1938. It comprises three parts, the first dedicated to Connolly's observations about English literature and the English literary world of ...

'' by the writer

Cyril Connolly Cyril Vernon Connolly CBE (10 September 1903 – 26 November 1974) was an English literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine '' Horizon'' (1940–49) and wrote ''Enemies of Promise'' (1938), which comb ...

, whose mother was one of the Vernon family. The castle is referred to by

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and b ...

of the Irish rock group

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or som ...

in his song "The Friendly Ranger at Clontarf Castle", the opening track on their 1971 debut album ''

''. Before reopening as a hotel in 1997 the castle was for many years a popular cabaret venue; comedians Tom O'Connor and

Maureen Potter Maria Philomena Potter (3 January 1925 – 7 April 2004), known as Maureen Potter, was an Irish singer, actress, comedienne and performer. Early life Potter was born in Dublin and educated at St. Mary's school in Fairview. She had a long caree ...

and accordionist Dermot O'Brien have each released live recordings made there. Dana was crowned Queen of Cabaret there in 1968, prior to winning the 1970 Eurovision Song Contest. The 1997 building works included the construction of a new conference and banqueting centre which hosts conferences and product launches, a regular antiques fair, and is a popular wedding venue. In 2014 Clontarf Castle Hotel was awarded the 2014 Best Hotel Event Venue award at the 2014 Event Industry Awards.

Notes and references

Sources

* D'Alton, John. ''History of the County of Dublin''. Dublin, 1838 *McIntyre, Dennis. ''The Meadow of the Bull: a History of Clontarf''. Future Print, Dublin, 1987. *'Vernon of Clontarf Castle' in ''Burke's Landed Gentry of Ireland'' (1912) pp. 722–3
A Study of Vernon and Venables Families and Their Connections

External links

Official website

Review of Clontarf Castle Hotel
{{Castles in Dublin Clontarf, Dublin Castles in Dublin (city) Hotels in Dublin (city)