Blarney Castle, Blarney, Ireland
Blarney Castle is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of the Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The Blarney Stone is among the machicolations of the castle.
The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However, after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty.
During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.
In the next two centuries, Blarney Castle changed ownership many times. The Hollow Sword Blade Company of London purchased the land soon after the McCarthy Clan left. In 1703, Sir Richard Payne, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland bought the land from the company. Afraid of that the McCarthys would return, Payne sold the land to Sir James Jefferyes, governor of Cork City. The family turned the property into an estate village with 90 houses, a small church and three mud cabins. In the 1800, the Jefferyes family married into the Colthurst family. Their descendants maintain ownership of the castle today.
Blarney Castle, Blarney, Ireland
Blarney Castle is a medieval stronghold in Blarney, near Cork. Though earlier fortifications were built on the same spot, the current keep was built by the MacCarthy of Muskerry dynasty, a cadet branch of the Kings of Desmond, and dates from 1446. The Blarney Stone is among the machicolations of the castle.
The castle was besieged during the Irish Confederate Wars and was seized in 1646 by Parliamentarian forces under Lord Broghill. However, after the Restoration the castle was restored to Donough MacCarty, who was made 1st Earl of Clancarty.
During the Williamite War in Ireland in the 1690s, the then 4th Earl of Clancarty (also named Donough MacCarty) was captured and his lands (including Blarney Castle) were confiscated by the Williamites.
In the next two centuries, Blarney Castle changed ownership many times. The Hollow Sword Blade Company of London purchased the land soon after the McCarthy Clan left. In 1703, Sir Richard Payne, the Lord Chief Justice of Ireland bought the land from the company. Afraid of that the McCarthys would return, Payne sold the land to Sir James Jefferyes, governor of Cork City. The family turned the property into an estate village with 90 houses, a small church and three mud cabins. In the 1800, the Jefferyes family married into the Colthurst family. Their descendants maintain ownership of the castle today.