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Drumcondra Castle, Drumcondra – Currently used as a school for the blind, the current building sits on the site of an Elizabethan castle built by a John Bathe, c1560 (apparently there is a tablet in the basement bearing the date of construction). The castle is famous for (1/6)
being the setting of the marriage between Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone (leader of Irish forces during the Nine Year War) & Mabel Bagenal, in what was O’Neills 3rd marriage. Due to great opposition to their union (her family considered O’Neill & all Gaels, as rebellious (2/6)
traitors to the crown), they eloped & married in the grounds of Drumcondra Castle, 3rd Aug, 1591. Just to highlight this family division, in May 1595, Mabels brother, Henry, led an army of 1,750 men when his forces were attacked by O'Neill & sustained heavy losses. Henry (3/6)
was mortally wounded by O'Neill's forces during Battle of the Yellow Ford in 1598! The marriage is a major theme in Brian Friels play “Making History”.
The castle has had many owners over the centuries: the Catholic Lady Warren (Jenet Finglas), was vehemently anti-English; (4/6)
The castle has had many owners over the centuries: the Catholic Lady Warren (Jenet Finglas), was vehemently anti-English; (4/6)
Captain Chichester Phillips, who took the side of William of Orange after the Glorious Revolution; Sir Edward Newenham, MP in the Irish parliament, who spoke out against concessions to Catholic Emancipation, and James Butler, 1st Marquess of Ormonde, & a passionate advocate (5/6)
for the Irish people! The ghosts of the castle have plenty to argue about!
Im uncertain when the present structure was built, but in 1870 it became St. Joseph's Asylum for the Male Blind when the Carmelites purchased the lands of Drumcondra castle. It is now run by Childvision.
Im uncertain when the present structure was built, but in 1870 it became St. Joseph's Asylum for the Male Blind when the Carmelites purchased the lands of Drumcondra castle. It is now run by Childvision.
