Dunkerron Castle () is a ruined four-storey

tower house A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, to command and defend strategic points ...

located in

Templenoe Templenoe () is a civil parish in County Kerry, Ireland. It is situated four miles from Kenmare, on the N70 road to Sneem, which forms part of the Ring of Kerry. Templenoe is the location of the Ring of Kerry golf club. There is a Gaelic At ...

, near

Kenmare Kenmare () is a small town in the south of County Kerry, Ireland. The name Kenmare is the anglicised form of ''Ceann Mara'', meaning "head of the sea", referring to the head of Kenmare Bay. It is also a townland and civil parish. Location Ken ...

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 ...

, in south-west

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 ...

. The castle was the

family seat A family seat, sometimes just called seat, is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families t ...

of the O'Sullivan Mór family from the late 16th century.

History

The four-storey tower house was built in the 13th century on a limestone outcrop as a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

( Carew) stronghold. Several later structures of the castle, including an enclosed court, date to the late 16th century, when Owen O'Sullivan became '

Chief of the Name The Chief of the Name, or in older English usage Captain of his Nation, is the recognised head of a family or clan ( Irish and Scottish Gaelic: ''fine'') in Ireland and Scotland. Ireland There are instances where Norman lords of the time like ...

' and acceded to the title of 'O'Sullivan Mór'. An inscribed plaque, dated 1596, recorded the castle's association with the O'Sullivan Mór and

MacCarthy Reagh The MacCarthy Reagh (Irish: ''Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach'') dynasty are a branch of the MacCarthy dynasty, Kings of Desmond, deriving from the Eóganacht Chaisil sept. History The Mac Cárthaigh Riabhach seated themselves as kings of Carbery in ...

dynasties. The castle was the

of the O'Sullivan Mór for some time. The main O'Sullivan Mór familial seat moved to nearby Cappanacush Castle during the 17th century, and antiquary Samuel Lewis noted that both castles were "traditionally said to have been defended" by their O'Sullivan Mór owners during the mid-17th century

Cromwellian conquest of Ireland The Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (1649–1653) was the re-conquest of Ireland by the Commonwealth of England, initially led by Oliver Cromwell. It forms part of the 1641 to 1652 Irish Confederate Wars, and wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three ...

. The O'Sullivan castles and lands at Dunkerron and Cappanacush were confiscated following this conflict under the

Act for the Settlement of Ireland 1652 The Act for the Settling of Ireland imposed penalties including death and land confiscation against Irish civilians and combatants after the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and subsequent unrest. British historian John Morrill wrote that the Act and a ...

, and assigned to Cromwellian supporter

William Petty Sir William Petty (26 May 1623 – 16 December 1687) was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth of England, Commonwealth in Cromwellian conquest of I ...

. Later O'Sullivan attempts to have the lands returned were not successful. By the 19th century, maps record the castle and court as being "in ruins", and a Victorian manor house, Dunkerron House, was built on the estate around that time. Dunkerron Castle - Plaque Inscription of 1596 - Copy by Friar O Sullivan as pub in JCHAS Vol IV 1898

Dunkerron Castle - Plaque Inscription of 1596 - Copy by Friar O Sullivan as pub in JCHAS Vol IV 1898

Dunkerron Castle gives its name to the

barony Barony may refer to: * Barony, the peerage, office of, or territory held by a baron * Barony, the title and land held in fealty by a feudal baron * Barony (county division), a type of administrative or geographical division in parts of the British ...

of Dunkerron, later divided into

Dunkerron South Dunkerron South () is a historical barony in northeastern County Kerry, Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being supe ...

(the southern part of the

Iveragh Peninsula The Iveragh Peninsula () is located in County Kerry in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is the largest peninsula in southwestern Ireland. A mountain range, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, lies in the centre of the peninsula. Carrauntoohil, its hig ...

) and

Dunkerron North Dunkerron North () is a historical barony in central County Kerry, Ireland. Baronies were mainly cadastral rather than administrative units. They acquired modest local taxation and spending functions in the 19th century before being supersede ...

(the area around

MacGillycuddy's Reeks MacGillycuddy's Reeks () is a sandstone and siltstone mountain range in the Iveragh Peninsula in County Kerry, Ireland. Stretching , from the Gap of Dunloe in the east, to Glencar, County Kerry, Glencar in the west, the Reeks is Ireland's high ...

Title

One of the last members of a branch of the O'Sullivans was Donal O'Sullivan, who died on 16 April 1754, without issue or heirs. The title he bore, the "Prince of Dunkerron", became extinct on his death. The British monarchy did issue a peerage title of Baron Dunkeron to John Petty. (John Petty was Sheriff of Kerry from 1732, and a descendant of the William Petty to whom the lands had been given following the Cromwellian confiscations). The title assigned to Petty was not however related to the original title of the native

Irish nobility The Irish nobility could be described as including persons who do, or historically did, fall into one or more of the following categories of nobility: * Gaelic nobility of Ireland: descendants in the male line of at least one historical grade ...

References

{{Historic Irish houses, state=collapsed Castles in County Kerry Ruined castles in the Republic of Ireland