A Historical timeline of Castleisland Castle
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By Robert Mc Guire
≈ Castleisland Castle was referred to during medieval times as ‘The Castle of the Island’ or more simply as ‘The Island’.
† 1169 The Anglo-Normans arrived in Ireland.
† 1226 The first castle on this site was constructed by a member of the ‘Shanid Geraldines’ , most likely Thomas FitzMaurice or his son John.
≈ These ‘Shanid Geraldines’ spread into north Kerry and were the ancestors of the future Earls of Desmond.
† 1329 The 1st Earl of Desmond, Maurice FitzThomas is said to written a letter from “the Island” to the King of France and Scotland seeking military aid against the Crown.
† 1345 Sir Ralph Ufford attacks the Castle of the Island. The 3 knights commanding the garrison were ruthlessly executed including; Eustace Le Poer, John Coteral and William Grant.
† 1397 The 3rd Earl of Desmond, Gerald Fitzgerald, known as “the poet” is said to have mysteriously disappeared from his castle of the Island of Kerry, supposed to have been murdered. [Annals of the Four Masters]
† 1400s ‘The manor of the Island in Kerry’ was a thriving self-sufficient entity, it was within close proximity to the other great Desmond castle in Tralee, with its prosperous port and wealthy abbey.
≈ The Island castle, the chief castle in the manor, was surrounded by a number of other castles, known as tower houses. These included: Ballymacadam, Kilcusnan, Ardnagragh, as well as Lemercahel and Ballymacdaniel. [Carews map- 1580’s]
† 1422: A peace treaty “In Extenso” was signed at the Castle of the Island, between the 7th Earl of Desmond, James Fitzgerald and Patrick FitzMaurice of Lixnaw.
†1579 The 14th Earl of Desmond, Gerald Fitzgerald is claimed to have described the region as the “sweetest Island of Kerry”.
†1580 The Earl of Desmond, Lady Butler and Dr Nicholas Sanders narrowly escaped capture at the Island Castle by Sir William Pelham. A surviving parchment states that The erle of Desmond being there with his ladie was forced to forsake his horse and betwixt some of his gallowglass to take to the bogg”.
†1583 The Island fortress was described by Nicholas White (The Master of the Rolls) as a high monstrous structure of many rooms, but very filthy and full of cow dung.
†1583 Gerald Fitzgerald, the last great earl of Desmond, was killed in the woods of Glanageenty, near Castleisland. His head was taken and displayed on a spike overlooking London Bridge. The Earl’s body was buried in secret at Kilnanama graveyard in Cordal (bordering Castleisland), by one of the Fitzgeralds of Ardnagragh Castle.
†1585 ‘The Desmond Survey’ records that one stately castle, called Island Castle, built very high with several vaults…which castle, the late earl of Desmond, at the time of his entering into rebellion, demolished and burnt (with the exception of the stone walls and some parts of the roofs.
≈It was common practise for rebels to incinerate their own strongholds, rather than leave them fall into the hands of their merciless enemies.
†1587 Sir William Herbert of Monmouth in Wales, received the forfeited lands of Gerald Fitzgerald. Several of Lord Herbert’s letters were addressed from “the Castle of the Island”.
†1587-90 Over the course of four years, Sir William Herbert and his band of new planters, including skilled masons, carpenters and farmers, undertook substantial repairs on the old Desmond Castle. Besides maintenances to roofs and floor levels, Herbert recorded that I have built a mill, a bruehouse, a kiln house and two stables’ [MS-NLI].
†1590 An extraordinary inventory entitled the household stuff in the Castle of the Island, is recorded and held in the National Library of Ireland.
≈This parchment also proves that Lord Herbert repaired the old Desmond castle and resided in it for a brief period. Lord Herbert understood the local significance of the fortress.
†1589 Lord Herbert leaves Castleisland and returns to Wales, where he died in 1593.
†1600 The Island of Kerry the ancient and chiefest house of the earls of Desmond, and late belonging to Sir William Herbert was razed to the ground (Carew MSS). This act was largely in response to Hugh O Neill’s rebellion, which had spread into Munster.
†1608 The Castleisland estate and castle were leased to a Sir Thomas Roper for three lifetimes.
†1650 Oliver Cromwell’s forces were active in Kerry. Kilmurray Castle in Cordel (an example of a later fortified house) witnessed a bloody siege. Colonel Robert Phaire was active in the area.
†1656/7 In the summer of 1657 and 1558, substantial repairs were undertaken on Castleisland Castle, by the Herbert’s. Roofs and vaults were thatched and wattled [MS – NLW].
†1670- 80s The once powerful Desmond castle was finally abandoned for the last time. The building suffered greatly from storm damage and it was likely condemned as structurally beyond repair, by the 3rd lord Herbert of Cherbury and Castleisland, Edward Herbert. It was decided to built a new mansion instead.
† 1686 Lord Herbert’s new mansion was built next to the old castle [MS – NLI].
†1797 The English explorer John Harden travels throughout Ireland, while in Castleisland he composed a unique sketch of the castle.
†1840’s The ruins of the Island castle were documented in detail by John O’Donovan, as part of the Ordinance Survey of Ireland.
†1900’s Stone from the castle was used in the development of the town, its roads and buildings, as well as a range of other purposes.
≈Only 3 sections of the Island Castle survive today, (I) a flanking tower of the bawn wall (II) a section of a wall, obscured in ivy growth, once a corner of another flanking tower (III) the edifice of a projecting turret of the once ‘monstrous’ Great Tower.
†2017 The voluntary and non-profitable local group, called ‘The Castle of the Island Society’ was established by Robert McGuire, with the goal to preserve the history and legacy of our local castle. Our primary aim was to make a documentary about the castle.
† April 2018 The acclaimed Irish TV show ‘Nationwide’ arrived in Castleisland and recorded a special on the town. The vision of ‘The Castle of the Island Society’ and footage of the old Desmond Castle were recorded and aired on RTÉ later in the month.
† April 2018 The ‘first draft’ of the documentary was screened in the ‘River Island Hotel’ (for free) over the course of a weekend. Over 900 people attended, including local students, as part of ‘The Castle of the Island Festival’. A medieval re-enactment group performed in the local Rugby pitch. [Many thanks to the ‘River Island Hotel’ and the ‘Castleisland Rugby Club’].
† 2022 Phase one of conservation works commence on the Turret, thank to the Community Monument Fund and Kerry County Council.
† 2023 Phase two of essential repairs are undertaken on the SW Flanking Tower.
† 2024 A dramatic mural of the castle is composed on a wall, alongside the River Maine.
† 2025 The final cut of the historical documentary ‘The Castle of the Island’ will be released.
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