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, Ireland, an area famous as a key location of the
Battle of Clontarf 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, or his tenant Adam de Phepoe. Clontarf was subsequently held by the
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...
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 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
Sir Geoffrey Fenton (c. 1539 – 19 October 1608) was an English writer, Privy Councillor, and Principal Secretary of State in Ireland.
Early literary years
Geoffrey (spelt Jeffrey by Lodge) was born in 1539, the son of Henry Fenton of Sturton- ...
, 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, 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
Current structure
The current building dates to 1837 and was designed by the Irish architect
William Vitruvius Morrison 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 train ...
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 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 turbulen ...
, 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'' by the writer
Cyril Connolly, whose mother was one of the Vernon family.
The castle is referred to by
Phil Lynott of the Irish rock group
Thin Lizzy in his song "The Friendly Ranger at Clontarf Castle", the opening track on their 1971 debut album ''
Thin Lizzy''.
Before reopening as a hotel in 1997 the castle was for many years a popular cabaret venue; comedians
Tom O'Connor and
Maureen Potter 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 Eurovision Song Contest 1970 was the 15th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest and took place in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS), the ...
. 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.
See also
*
List of abbeys and priories in Ireland (County Dublin)
*
Forbes George Vernon
*
John Vernon (of Clontarf)
*
Clontarf, Dublin
*
Parish of Clontarf (Roman Catholic)
Founded in the early days of Irish Christian parish structures, the Parish of Clontarf assumed in 1829 the mantle of Union Parish for a large area of north Dublin, Ireland, a role previously filled by the Parish of Coolock, into which Clontar ...
*
Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf
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 websiteReview of Clontarf Castle Hotel
{{Castles in Dublin
Clontarf, Dublin
Castles in Dublin (city)
Hotels in Dublin (city)