Dunsoghly Castle is a

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 ...

and a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

located in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

of St. Margarets, in

Fingal Fingal ( ; ) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is one of three successor counties to County Dublin, which was disestablished for administrative purposes in 1994. ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

History

The castle was built around 1450 by Sir

Thomas Plunket Thomas Plunket (1785–1839) was an Irish soldier in the British Army's 95th Rifles regiment. He served throughout the Peninsular War and later in the Waterloo Campaign of 1815. He is remembered for killing a French general during the Peninsula ...

Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas The chief justice of the Common Pleas for Ireland was the presiding judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, which was known in its early years as the Court of Common Bench, or simply as "the Bench", or "the Dublin bench". It was one of the ...

. It was occupied by the Plunket family until the 1870s, despite "being a cramped Irish castle and uncomfortable by post-medieval standards". The castle's main tower is four-storey's tall and has tapering (almost square) turrets at each corner, rising above the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

. The roof, which is arch-braced with four oak principals, has served as a model for restorations at

Bunratty Castle Bunratty Castle (, meaning "castle at the mouth of the Ratty") is a large 15th-century tower house in County Clare, Ireland. It is located in the centre of Bunratty village ( ga, Bun Ráite), by the N18 road (Ireland), N18 road between Limerick ...

and

Rothe House Rothe House is a late 16th-century merchant's townhouse complex located in the city of Kilkenny. The complex was built by John Rothe Fitz-Piers between 1594–1610 and is made up of three houses, three enclosed courtyards, and a large reconstr ...

. On each collar-beam of the roof stands a king-post supporting a

purlin A purlin (or historically purline, purloyne, purling, perling) is a longitudinal, horizontal, structural member in a roof. In traditional timber framing there are three basic types of purlin: purlin plate, principal purlin, and common purlin. Pu ...

and cross-pieces below the ridge. The

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associate ...

s are laid flat rather than on edge as in modern roofs and the framework is covered with split

lath A lath or slat is a thin, narrow strip of straight-grained wood used under roof shingles or tiles, on lath and plaster walls and ceilings to hold plaster, and in lattice and trellis work. ''Lath'' has expanded to mean any type of backing ma ...

s. There is a small chapel to the south bearing the year "1573" over the door, the

Instruments of the Passion Arma Christi ("weapons of Christ"), or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with the Passion of Jesus Christ in Christian symbolism and art. They are seen as arms in the sense of heraldry, and also as the weapons Chris ...

and the initials of Sir John Plunket and his third wife

Jenet Sarsfield Jenet Sarsfield, Baroness Dunsany (–1598) was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman who lived in Dublin during the Tudor era. She is chiefly memorable for having married no less than six husbands. Early life, first two marriages She was born in County Mea ...

. Sir John Plunket was the grandson of Sir Thomas Plunket, who built Dunsoghly, and like his grandfather he was Chief Justice in one of the

courts of common law A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accord ...

. On the west and south of the castle are remains of earthwork defences which were reputedly constructed in the mid-17th century.

Popular culture

Dunsoghly was used as Edinburgh Castle set in the 1995 film Braveheart.

References

{{Reflist National Monuments in County Dublin Buildings listed on the Fingal Record of Protected Structures