Clonmacnoise
Clonmacnoise stands along the River Shannon near Shannonbridge in
Offaly. Use of the site dates from 545AD at the latest.
There are still extensive remains of a cathedral, a round tower,
high crosses and no fewer than seven churches, not to mention the
castle. By the eleventh century there were up to 2,000
people living and working at this religious centre. Such a
population demanded Norman control and this possibly led to the
founding of the first motte and bailey castle at Clonmacnoise.
The castle is thought to have been destroyed by fire and replaced
by a stone keep built in
1214 by Justiciar Henry London (d.1228). Apparently this new
military intervention marked the turning point in Clonmacnoise's use as
a monastic centre, with the castle lands being forceably taken from the
abbot. In 1216 Henry London was ordered to compensate the
abbot for the land taken for his fortifications as well as for any
others items that had been lost ot the abbot like animals or fruit
trees.
The castle was subsequently destroyed during the late
thirteenth or early fourteenth century. The castle was apparently
reused and was only finally destroyed by gunpowder in the seventeenth
century.
Description
The castle consists of a large bank and a deep ditch
surrounding the D shaped motte and its attached bailey. On the
height of the motte was a rectangular tower of three storeys.
This apparently suvived until about 1650 when it is said to have
been blown up. Its dimensions were some 62' by 38', it being set
on a fine plinth. Most of the 4 clasping
corner turrets have disappeared, although the one with a stairway
within survives leaning at a dangerous angle. To the west of the
keep at a lower level nearer the Shannon lies the ruins of a
rectangular
bailey. This has a square turret in the W corner and a hole in
the
wall gateway to the north-west.
Copyright©2019
Paul Martin Remfry