O'BRIAIN CELTIC TATTOO

                                   Daughter and Father and their O'Briain Celtic Knot Bond
 

The Folklore of Leamaneh Castle & The Notorious Maire Rua!

 Maire Rua

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O'BRIAIN CELTIC BELT BUCKLE

O'BRIAIN CELTIC BELT BUCKLE 

IRISH CELTIC Jewelry

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The Ó Briain Knot of Lemenagh

The Ó Briain Knot of Lemenagh Of the many Irish clans and families only a few have a badge that is a Celtic knot in the family's heraldry. The O'Brien's are one of those families. Knot of the O'Brien's is carved on a corbal of the fireplace at Lemenagh (fireplace has been removed to the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis). This castle was the home of the infamous Mary Rue (MacMahon) O'Brien, wife of Conor O'Brien, her second husband, who was mortally wounded fighting Cromwell troops in 1651. This unique knot badge is used by the Inchiquin/Lemenagh/Dromoland branch of the O'Brien Clan. Lord O'Brien as a gift to his new wife gave her a green broach of the O'Brien knot as a wedding gift. The late O'Brien Clan chief, Sir Conor O'Brien 1943-2023, has stated that the symbol may be used by all members of the clan.

The Ó Briain Knot of Lemeneagh

 Lemaneagh Hall. Formerly Ennis Town Jail, it is home to the Lemeangh fireplace with the "O'Brien Knot" on the upper left corbal stone

This September 2024 in Ireland I went to the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis looking for the fireplace from Lemenagh Castle.  I went to the front desk to inquire and the staff did not know what I was talking about but I persisted and found it in a banquet room on the second floor.  Lemenagh Castle is just down the road in Kilnaboy Parish from where my cousins live.  The castle is now closed off but in 1981 my wife and I climbed to the top and took a few pictures of the countryside.

Old Ground Hotel, Ennis, County Clare, Ireland

Old Ground Hotel brochure September 2024

The Ó Briain Knot of Lemenagh

 

Men's and Women Belts

EARRINGS

14K GOLD

SILVER POST EARING

SILVER LOOP EARING

O'BRIEN KNOT POST EARRINGS

 

TIE - LAPEL TAC

14K GOLD SET O'BRIEN KNOT

NECKLACE AND EARRINGS

My visit to Lemenagh Castle

 

In 1981 on my third trip to Ireland my wife, Joyce and I stopped at the Lemenagh Castle in County Clare, Ireland. My fathers, cousins live in the parish of  Kilnaboy, so on all the holidays in Ireland we would drive by the castle to visit the relatives.

Lemenagh Castle is a ruined castle located in the townland of Leamaneh North, parish of Kilnaboy, between the villages of Corofin and Kilfenora at the border of the region known as the Burren in County Clare, Ireland.  It consists of a 15th-century tower house and a 17th-century mansion.

The castle consists of two different buildings. There's an early rectangular tower house five-story high. The size and shape of this tower house is common to other castles in the area, like Dysert O'Dea and Ballyportry.

It was built in 1480 by Turlough Donn O'Brien, King of Thomond, and one of the last kings of Ireland. In 1543, Murrough, his son, surrendered his throne and the castle to king Henry VIII and he was made 1st Earl of Thomond and Baron Inchiquin.

The castle was extended with the building of a new huge mansion in 1648 by Mary McMahon and his second husband Conor O'Brien. Her first husband, Daniel O'Neillan, died and left her an inheritance of 1,000 pounds. This fortune was useful to build the mansion. In 1651 Conor O'Brien fought against the Cromwellian army that was invading the region and was fatally wounded. Mary McMahon married a Cromwellian soldier in order to be able to keep the castle and the lands.

In the following years the castle had different owners, until it fell into disrepair in the 18th century. Some of its ornament were removed and taken to other buildings in the county.  The most elegant of the fireplaces was relocated to the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis . Lemanagh Hall. Formerly Ennis Town Jail, it is home to the Lemenagh fireplace with the "O'Brien Knot" on the upper left corbal stone, from the Great Hall of Lemenagh Castle.  The Lemenagh Castle Gate was brought to the Dromoland Castle Walled Garden.

In when Joyce and I stopped for a picture we decided to get out of the car and take a picture. As we approached the castle we noticed that there were no barriers and we entered the oldest part of the structure through the tower house and climbed the stairway to the parapets of the tower and took in the beautiful view of Irish country side.