Mallow Castle is 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 ...
situated off the N72 on Bridewell Lane,
Mallow, County Cork
Mallow (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland, approximately thirty-five kilometres north of Cork. Mallow is in the barony of Fermoy.
It is the administrative centre of north County Cork, and the Northern Divisional Offices of Cork County Cou ...
,
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 ...
.
Description
The site is composed of gardens and parkland on which three buildings sit:
the remains of a 16th-century fortified house, a 19th-century mansion to the north, and the ruins of a 13th-century castle to the east. The fortified house is a long rectangular three-storey building, with two polygonal towers on the north-west and south-west corners. It is early Jacobean in style, featuring high gables, stepped battlements, and mullioned windows.
The wings of the house project from the centre of the south and north walls, with the entrance in the north wing. The design of the house was to provide a field of fire around it entirely.
The 19th-century baronial mansion has parts which date to the 1690s and is situated near the older ruined Mallow Castle. As a refurbished building it features 8 reception rooms, which include a music room, a billiard room and a library, as well as 12 bedrooms.
History
The first castle in Mallow was built on the instructions of
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
in 1185. In 1282, it came into the possession of the
Earls of Desmond
Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, ...
. Following the Geraldine Wars, the estate was confiscated by
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 ...
, who granted it to Sir Thomas Norrey along with the Lordship of Mallow and of surrounding country. The Desmond Castle, as it was known, fell into such bad repair that in 1585 a new castle was constructed on the same site.
[Cork County Council]
Mallow Castle
accessed 13 May 2019
The fortified house dates from the 16th century and is believed to have been built by
Sir Thomas Norreys,
Lord President of Munster
The post of Lord President of Munster was the most important office in the English government of the Irish province of Munster from its introduction in the Elizabethan era for a century, to 1672, a period including the Desmond Rebellions in Munste ...
, who died in 1599. Following his death, his daughter Elizabeth and her husband Sir
John Jephson inherited the house, with
their family remaining in Mallow for almost 400 years. It was placed under siege by
Richard Butler, 3rd Viscount Mountgarret, in 1642 during the
Irish Confederate Wars
The Irish Confederate Wars, also called the Eleven Years' War (from ga, Cogadh na hAon-déag mBliana), took place in Ireland between 1641 and 1653. It was the Irish theatre of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of civil wars in the kin ...
and did not fall. It was captured in 1645 by
James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven
James Tuchet, 3rd Earl of Castlehaven ( - 11 October 1684) was the son of Mervyn Tuchet, 2nd Earl of Castlehaven and his first wife, Elizabeth Barnham (1592 - ). Castlehaven played a prominent role in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms that took pl ...
. The house was badly damaged by fire during the
Williamite War and subsequently abandoned by the Jephsons.
The Jephsons built the new mansion house on the site of the older castle's stable block.
Current use
The fortified house was made 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 ...
in 1928. Commander Maurice Jephson sold the mansion to Mr. & Mrs. Michael & Judith McGinn of
Washington, D.C., in 1984.
The castle and the grounds have been in the possession of
Cork County Council
Cork County Council ( ga, Comhairle Contae Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in County Cork, Ireland. As a county council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. The council is responsible for housing and com ...
since 2011.
See also
*
Castles in Great Britain and Ireland
Castles have played an important military, economic and social role in Great Britain and Ireland since their introduction following the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Although a small number of castles had been built in England in the 105 ...
*
List of castles in Ireland
References
External links
*Cork County Council
Council-owned supported attractions: Mallow CastleDiscover IrelandHistory of Mallow CastleEntry in Landed Estates Database
{{Authority control
Castles in County Cork
National Monuments in County Cork
Ruins in the Republic of Ireland