Dromaneen Castle

Dromaneen Castle. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan

Introduction

The current castle was built by the O Callaghan Clan in about 1610 AD and replaced a previous one that was built in the 1400’s. A small section of this old castle has survived. There is no direct evidence as to when the O Callaghans settled in Dromaneen, however, they would appear to have originated in the Barony of Kinnalea in South West Cork and when one of them became High King of Munster, they moved to Cashel and the Suir Valley and ruled from there. They were forced out of the Suir Valley about 1300 AD and it is assumed they settled along the fertile Blackwater Valley about that time. The Normans had advanced from the east as far as Mallow but had not penetrated into Duhallow and this facilitated their settlement in that barony.

The Old Castle

Lohort Castle. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan.

This castle was an old style fortified tower house built to withstand sieges. It was built on top of a limestone cliff face with the Blackwater River at its base, a well protected site. Typical, fortified tower houses, such as Lohort Castle were square, five storey buildings with extra reinforced lower walls up to three metres in thickness. The doors were heavily re-enforced, murder holes were common and the stairs rotated clockwise to give defenders the advantage. Lohort has gun loops lower down but bigger windows higher up and the corners were rounded to improve its defences.

Another notable feature of these older castles was a flat parapet on top with protruding castellated battlements and open spaces to reign down all sorts of unpleasantries on attackers below. The arrival of gun powder and cannons meant these were no longer impregnable. These castles were dark inside with only slits for windows that also served to launch missiles such as arrows and later gun shot and at the same time offered minimal targets to the attackers. They were cold, dark buildings and not comfortable living quarters.

Present Castle Ruin

Dromaneen Castle. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan

By the mid 1500’s castle design changed to offer more home comforts, people wanted better living conditions and these later castles became more fortified houses than castles. One of the big changes was the size of the windows and this is obvious in Mallow Castle which was built shortly before Dromaneen. The large windows are visible on the attached photo of the Dromaneen Castle. Another significant change was the introduction of fire places in most rooms and Dromaneen is typical of this change. Many of these fireplaces were quite ornate and required chimneys to serve each floor and these high chimneys are very prominent in Dromineen Castle ruins. It is obvious that aesthetics and home comforts were becoming important in fortified houses of this period. The castle was protected by an outer perimeter wall that served as a boundary wall of the bawn also with an elaborate, sculptured entrance into an inner courtyard

Another important addition was the inclusion of a wine cellar and Dromaneen had one in a basement room. Toilet facilities were also a necessity and the Dromaneen ruin has at least one survivor which is classed as a guardarobe, a stone chute through the wall to carry the waste out beyond the outside wall. In some castles these chutes were placed in a separate room and people would hang their clothes in this type of cloakroom to be fumigated, hence guardarobe. The one here may be in isolation as a means of emptying chamber pots but more may exist in the inaccessible upper storeys.

The corners of the castle beside the river had protruding, fortified tower blocks to guard against attacks from the river. At the eastern end stands a fortified tower which was part of the bawn and castle defences. The stables were located at the western end of the castle

The Bawn

The ornate, carved doorway at Dromaneen Castle. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan.

Most castles in medieval times had an enclosed compound to keep cattle overnight as cattle raiding was a widespread “sport” in those days and a lucrative sport also. These compounds became known as bawns and got the name from two Irish words bó for cow and dún for fortress and together evolved into bawn. The Dromaneen bawn is one of the finest and best preserved one in Ireland and it is also one of the largest, enclosing about six acres. Normally, bawns were about two acres in area, but became bigger as kitchen gardens and orchards were added later. The reinforced walls in Dromaneen bawns were complimented by round tower fortifications at each corner and also mid way along the boundary walls. These towers had built in gun loops and protruded to allow for covering fire along the walls

Columbarium

A detailed description of the Dromaneen Castle columbarium has survived and indicates a conical shaped building similar to the well preserved one at Ballybeg Abbey that were built to house pigeons for food and fertiliser. They were mainly constructed in monasteries in the middle ages and are quite rare. The Dromaneen one was appraised as belonging to the earlier castle there and had disappeared by about 1906.

War Damage

After the Desmond Rebellion 1579-1583 much of south Munster was laid waste by the British and, even though the O Callaghans did not join the rebellion, they suffered serious damage to their property and this may have prompted them to start afresh with a more modern castle. It is interesting that a loan was taken out by the clan chief, Connogher, who was better known as Connogher of the Rock, from the Lombards, in 1592 and 358 acres of Gortmolire townland were put up as collateral. In 1620 the current chief either refused or could not pay the mortgage and the 358 acres were confiscated by the Lombards which brought them to Lombardstown.

The O Callaghans did support the 1641 Rebellion and fought at the Battle of Knocknanuss where the Irish suffered a crushing defeat. Donough O Callahnan was clan chief and became an important leader in the Confederation Of Kilkenny war machine during the 1641 Rebellion. He was outlawed as a consequence and had much of his property confiscated. In 1654 Donough was evicted but was allowed to take his family, possessions and cattle etc. to his allocated home in east Clare, an orderly enough eviction. A further 12 O Callaghan families were also outlawed and lost property.

Sir Richard Kyrle

Cromwell needed to grab over 2 million acres of land to pay his debts to his soldiers, backers, and adventurers who now wanted their pound of flesh and he got this by evicting Catholics. Kyrle was one of Cromwell’s generals and was paid for his services by a grant of Dromaneen Castle and about 1,000 acres of O Callaghan land following the Downe Survey published in 1657 which mapped the confiscated areas. He had an estate in Limerick and did not seem to reside in Dromaneen. Kyrle also got extensive property in Clonmeen Parish, now Banteer, and seems to have settle there where he cleared woodland and built iron smelting furnaces. In 1667 Sir Richard Kyrle was appointed governor of the state of Carolina in the USA and died there in 1684. In 1688 the family decided to stay in Carolina and sold Dromaneen to a relative, Richard Newman.

The east gable and fortified tower at Dromaneen Castle. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan

British Army Occupation

After the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, King James’s army retreated southwards with William of Orange’s army in hot pursuit. William placed garrisons in strategic locations on his way south and Mallow was an important cross roads and river crossing that needed guarding. To achieve this a Col. Culliford and a garrison of cavalry were installed in the vacant Dromaneen Castle just a few miles west of the town. This army left its mark especially in the bawn which they covered with cobblestones and some of these are still in place under the soil . They were in possession of the castle for a few years after 1690 when that company returned to England and left the castle in bad shape apart from the officers section that had been maintained.

The Newman Occupation

When the British army left the castle, the Newman family moved in and improved the accommodation but it was still an inhospitable place for a family especially as it did not have a supply of fresh water, however, they continued to live there but started to build a new dwelling in nearby Newberry and moved in there in 1739. The Newmans got the estate upgraded to manorial status and it became known as Newberry Manor, the only one ever in the parish. After the departure of the Newmans the castle was never again occupied. When the Newmans arrived they created a new townland named Newberry from parts of Dromaneen and Kilvealaton West townlands and named it in honour of their ancestors who lost their lives when fighting against Cromwell at the Battle of Newberry in 1643, as part of the English civil war.

Western view of Dromaneen Castle. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan.

Other Information

During the war of Independence IRA Volunteers regularly took up positions in the castle as they had a perfect view across the Blackwater and fields to the main Mallow-Killarney road and it was a favourite place to take pot shots at passing British forces. They had to scamper away quickly as troops would search for them. It is interesting that some IRA graffiti scratched into the window sills from that time has survived

Steps were cut into the limestone cliff overlooking the Blackwater River and this was a favourite place for swimming , for locals, before the advent of swimming pools.

There are strong rumours that some O Callaghan gold is hidden in underwater caves and holes in the limestone cliffs but searches never yielded anything.

There is a an avenue, almost a mile in length, leading into the castle from Kilshannig Church and Graveyard that was known as the Green Road because of the verdant colourings of the vegetation. It was also known as Bohereen na Sprioda or the haunted road and it was believed this was a concocted ruse to keep the locals away from observing whatever shenanigans were going on in the castle.

The Office of Public Works carried out protective work on the castle in 1942 and Dúcas continues to keep a watchful eye on it. The castle is state owned but surrounded by private property. You are advised to make contact with the local landowner prior to visiting the site as there is no public access to the site.

Dromaneen Castle is a significant ruin in the history and heritage of Kilshannig parish and still draws people to view it and only recently a family from the USA visited the area to trace the footsteps of their ancestor who was the clan chief in the 1500’s and to find out more about their roots.

The castle featured in the recent TG4 film, Cois Móire, on the Blackwater River.

A group from Kilshannig Active Retirement Association got a guided tour of Dromaneen Castle by Donie O Sullivan. Photo courtesy of Donie O Sullivan.