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.