Glin Castle is a Georgian country house and
protected structure located along the
River Shannon
The River Shannon ( or archaic ') is the major river on the island of Ireland, and at in length, is the longest river in the British Isles. It drains the Shannon River Basin, which has an area of , – approximately one fifth of the area of I ...
in
Glin,
County Limerick
County Limerick () is a western Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Reg ...
, Ireland. It was built in the late 18th century to replace an earlier
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 ...
of the same name. The estate has belonged to the
FitzMaurice/FitzGerald family for over 700 years and was the seat of the
Knights of Glin.
History
The
FitzGeralds and FitzMaurices first settled in the area in the 13th century, following the
Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland
The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the late 12th century, when Anglo-Normans gradually conquered and acquired large swathes of land in Ireland over which the List of English monarchs, monarchs of England then claimed sovere ...
, at the nearby
Shanid Castle.
Castle
In the 14th century, the
Lord of Desmond elevated an illegitimate son to the hereditary knighthood of Glin. He built Glin Castle within the village of Glin, which became the permanent seat of the
Knight of Glin. The castle was attacked during 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, ...
in the 16th century, the
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 ...
in the 17th century, the
Jacobite risings
Jacobitism was a political ideology advocating the restoration of the senior line of the House of Stuart to the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, British throne. When James II of England chose exile after the November 1688 Glorious Revolution, ...
and the
Enforcement of the Penal Laws. In 1601, the castle was
besieged by an English army and the Knight's son was kidnapped.
[
]
Georgian house
By the late 17th century, the castle had been abandoned and the FitzGerald family moved into a thatched longhouse adjacent to the castle. John Bateman FitzGerald, 23rd Knight of Glin married Margaretta Maria Fraunceis Gwyn in the 1780s and used her dowry to build a new home in the Georgian style. Later Neo-classical elements were added to the building.
Other structures on the estate, including a gate lodge, agricultural outbuildings, gate house, and follies. were added in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
In 1923, during the Irish Civil War
The Irish Civil War (; 28 June 1922 – 24 May 1923) was a conflict that followed the Irish War of Independence and accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State, an entity independent from the United Kingdom but within the British Emp ...
, a group of Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( ; ; ) is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The History of Sinn Féin, original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Griffit ...
members attacked the castle.[
In 1993, the FitzGeralds decided to turn the castle into a hotel to help pay for the upkeep. The hotel closed in 2008. In 2011, Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin died without a male heir. In 2015, the castle was put up for auction at ]Christie's
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
by Lady FitzGerald. The castle did not sell in an auction. To keep the castle in the family, it was purchased by Catherine FitzGerald, daughter of the last Knight of Glin, and her husband Dominic West. Today they run the castle as both a family home and as a complete-let venue.
Gallery
Castles of Munster, Glin, Limerick (1) - geograph.org.uk - 6276711.jpg, Original castle at Glin (tower house) built within the village in the 14th or 15th century
Glin Castle, Limerick - geograph.org.uk - 6594924.jpg, Later mansion at Glin (country house) built outside the village in the late 18th century
References
External links
Official website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302135021/https://www.glin-castle.com/ , date=2 March 2019
Castles in County Limerick
Country houses in Ireland
FitzGerald dynasty
Georgian architecture in Ireland
Hotels in County Limerick
Neoclassical architecture in Ireland