Gorteens Castle is a ruined castle situated on private land in south-east

County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...

near the village of

Slieverue Slieverue, officially Slieveroe, () is a village in South County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the historical barony of Ida. Despite the name, the land is relatively low-lying and fertile. Slieverue's population, as of the 2016 census, ...

close to

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

city. It is in the historic parish of Rathpatrick in the south-east of the Barony of Ida. Along with the ruins of Rathpatrick church and another church, it is one of several ruins in Rathpatrick Parish. The ruin consists of a gatehouse that may have belonged to a larger structure. ''Gorteens'' comes from the Irish ''na goirtinsdhe'' which means little gorts or gardens. Archaeological excavations near the castle in 1993 indicated that the site was used between the 16th and 18th centuries, with further excavations in 2003 identifying additional castle walls and outbuildings.

Owners

The castle was originally built upon lands acquired by

Raymond FitzGerald Raymond (or Redmond) Fitz William Fitz Gerald (died 1185–1198), nicknamed ''Le Gros'' ("the Large"), was a Cambro-Norman commander during the Norman invasion of Ireland. Raymond was among the first of a small band of Norman knights who l ...

, who died in the late 1100s. The

FitzGerald Fitzgerald may refer to: People * Fitzgerald (surname), a surname * Fitzgerald Hinds, Trinidadian politician * Fitzgerald Toussaint (born 1990), former American football running back Place Australia * Fitzgerald River National Park, a nati ...

s were the most powerful

Norman-Irish Norman Irish or Hiberno-Normans (; ) is a modern term for the descendants of Norman settlers who arrived during the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in the 12th century. Most came from England and Wales. They are distinguished from the native ...

aristocratic dynasty in

medieval Ireland Ireland in the Middle Ages may refer to: * History of Ireland (400–795), Ireland in the early Middle Ages * History of Ireland (795–1169), Ireland in the high Middle Ages *History of Ireland (1169–1536), Ireland in the late Middle Ages See ...

until the 1500s. Gorteens was included in the

Down Survey The Down Survey was a cadastral survey of Ireland, carried out by English scientist William Petty in 1655 and 1656. It was created to provide for precise re-allocation of land confiscated from the Irish. The survey was apparently called the "Do ...

of Ireland in 1656 as being in the Baronys of Ida, Igrim or Ibercon and in the Parish of Rathpatricke. John FitzGerald, a Catholic, is recorded as being the last FitzGerald holder of Gorteens. Following 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 ...

, FitzGerald forfeited Gorteens under the

Cromwellian Settlement 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 was initially transplanted to Connaught in December 1653, before being assigned lands in Turlough and later in Carra,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

by 1677. The duellist

George Robert FitzGerald George Robert Fitzgerald, aka Fighting Fitzgerald (c.1748 – 12 June 1786) was a celebrated Irish eccentric, duellist and landowner, who was hanged for conspiracy to murder in 1786. Biography FitzGerald came from Turlough, near Castlebar, ...

was descended from this family. By 1670, the castle at Gorteens was reputedly in the hands of Samuel Skrimsheire or Skrimshaw, a Protestant. In 1700, it was owned by members of the Forstall family.

References

{{coord, 52.27037, -7.04473, format=dms, type:landmark_region:IE, display=title Castles in County Kilkenny Ruins in the Republic of Ireland