Castle Conway is a former castle and stately home in the town of

Killorglin Killorglin () is a town in County Kerry, Ireland. As of the 2022 census, the town's population was 2,163. Killorglin is on the Ring of Kerry tourist route, and annual events include the August Puck Fair festival, which starts with the crownin ...

County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...

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 ...

. Today only the ruins of one wall remain.

History

Originally called Killorglin Castle, a defensive structure was first built on the site next to the

River Laune The River Laune (; Irish: ''An Leamhain'') is a river in County Kerry, Ireland, which flows from Lough Leane (sometimes written as Lough Lein), one of the Lakes of Killarney, through Beaufort, past Ballymalis Castle, through the town of Ki ...

Maurice FitzGerald, 2nd Lord of Offaly Maurice Fitzmaurice FitzGerald I, 2nd Lord of Offaly (c.1194 – 20 May 1257) was an Anglo-Norman peer, soldier, and Justiciar of Ireland from 1232 to 1245. He mustered many armies against the Irish, and due to his harsh methods as Justiciar, ...

. Following the

Desmond Rebellions The Desmond Rebellions occurred in 1569–1573 and 1579–1583 in the Irish province of Munster. They were rebellions by the Earl of Desmond, the head of the FitzGerald dynasty in Munster, and his followers, the Geraldines and their allies, ...

, the castle was seized by

the Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

and subsequently granted to Captain Jenkin Conway in 1587 as part of the

Munster Plantation Plantation (settlement or colony), Plantations in 16th- and 17th-century Ireland () involved the confiscation of Irish-owned land by the Kingdom of England, English The Crown, Crown and the colonisation of this land with settlers from Great Br ...

. The Conway family were Welsh in origin and through the wife of Jenkin Conway, Mary Herbert, descendants of

Henry I Henry I or Henri I may refer to: :''In chronological order'' * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry ...

and

Aoife MacMurrough Aoife MacMurrough (; – ), also known as Eva of Leinster or Red Eva, was an Irish noblewoman. The daughter of King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough, her marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare on 25 August 1170 is consid ...

through her ancestor Sir Richard Herbert of Coldbrook. This grant was confirmed in 1592. Due to the poor state of the building, the son of Captain Jenkin Conway, also Jenkin, rebuilt the castle in 1613 and named it Castle Conway. The castle passed in marriage to Robert Blennerhassett, a

Cromwellian Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially a ...

officer in the

Irish Confederate Wars The Irish Confederate Wars, took place from 1641 to 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, all then ...

. During the wars, the castle had been damaged and it was in ruins by 1682. Between 1700 and 1710, a new stately home was built by the Blennerhassett family on the site of the ruined castle, including elements of the medieval structure. By this stage, the family estate surrounding the castle was approximately 7,000 acres, and the Blennerhassetts were able to build a large new house, recorded as having tall chimneys, an important library and demesne terraced gardens leading down to the River Laune. The old chapel was repaired and incorporated into the new building. Castle Conway was inherited by Harman Blennerhassett in 1792, but was sold to his relation,

Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry Thomas Mullins, 1st Baron Ventry (25 October 1736 – 11 January 1824) was an Anglo-Irish politician and peer. Biography Mullins was the son of William Mullins and Mary Rowan.Michael C. O'Laughlin, ''Families of Co. Kerry, Ireland'' (Irish Roots ...

in 1795. The castle had been largely demolished by 1842, with much of its stone being used in the construction of other Killorglin buildings. The stone ruins of one of the medieval walls are all that remain of the castle.Killorglin Town, Kerry County Council information http://www.kerrycoco.ie/en/allservices/planning/planspolicies/localareaplans/killorglinfunctionalarealap/thefile,3385,en.pdf (Accessed 25 February 2014)

Ancestry of Conway of Kerry

References

External links

Castle Conway, Killorglin, Co. Kerry
{{coord, display=title Castles in County Kerry Buildings and structures in County Kerry Blennerhassett family