Dunkerron Castle
Ruined tower house and former O'Sullivan Mór seat in County Kerry.
Dunkerron Castle is a ruined four-storey tower house located in Templenoe, near Kenmare, County Kerry, in south-west Ireland. It served as the family seat of the O'Sullivan Mór family from the late 16th century.
Quick Facts
- Location
- Templenoe, County Kerry
- Nearest town
- Kenmare
- Country
- Ireland
- Built
- 13th century (Norman tower house), 16th century (Adjoining court house)
- Condition
- Ruin
- Height
- 4 storeys
Facts from the source article.
History
Standing on a limestone outcrop near Kenmare in County Kerry, Dunkerron Castle is a ruined four-storey tower house that began life in the 13th century as a Norman stronghold for the Carew family. Major additions, including an enclosed court, came in the late 16th century when Owen O'Sullivan took the title of O'Sullivan Mór. A stone plaque from 1596 links the castle to both the O'Sullivan Mór and MacCarthy Reagh families. The O'Sullivan Mór clan later moved their main home to Cappanacush Castle in the 1600s. During the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, antiquary Samuel Lewis wrote that both castles were traditionally said to have been defended by their O'Sullivan owners. After that conflict, the lands at Dunkerron and Cappanacush were seized under the 1652 Act for the Settlement of Ireland and given to William Petty, a supporter of Cromwell. Later efforts by the O'Sullivans to reclaim the property failed. By the 1800s, maps showed the castle and court in ruins, and a Victorian manor called Dunkerron House was built on the estate. The castle lends its name to the barony of Dunkerron, which was later split into Dunkerron South and Dunkerron North.
Title
Donal O'Sullivan, the last of his O'Sullivan line, died childless on April 16, 1754. His title, Prince of Dunkerron, ended with him. Later, the British crown granted the title Baron Dunkeron to John Petty, a descendant of William Petty who had received the lands after the Cromwellian confiscations. This new peerage was distinct from the original native Irish title.
More in Ruined Castles in the Republic of Ireland
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