Drimnagh Castle
Encyclopedia
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
located in Drimnagh
Drimnagh
Drimnagh is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the Southside of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordering the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12.-Early to Medieval:...
, a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It is the only remaining castle in Ireland with a flooded moat
Moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, other building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
around it; this moat is fed by a small local river, the Bluebell. Drimnagh Castle Christian Brothers Schools located next to the site of the castle.
History
The earliest recorded owner of Drimnagh Castle was Sir Hugh de Bernival (his name is recorded in state papers relating to ireland in 1216). His family, owners of Drimnagh Castle for centuries, were later known as Barnewell, sometimes Barnewall. The last occupants of Drimnagh Castle were the Hatch family.In the very early 1900s, the castle and its lands were bought by Joseph Hatch (b.1851), a dairy man, of 6 Lower Leeson Street. Joe Hatch was a member of Dublin City Council, representing Fitzwilliam Ward, from 1895 to 1907. He bought the castle in the first instance to provide grazing land for his cattle. He restored the castle, which became a summer home for his family and a splendid location for the celebration of the silver wedding anniversary of Joseph Hatch and his wife, Mary Connell, as well as the marriage of their eldest daughter, Mary, in 1910.
Upon his death in April 1918, ownership of the castle passed to their eldest son, Joseph Aloysius (b.1882), known as Louis. Together with his brother Hugh, Louis managed the dairy farm and the dairy shop in Lower Leeson Street. Louis (who never married) died in December 1951. (Hugh, who did not marry until the age of 60 in 1944) died in 1950.
Drimnagh Castle was left by Louis Hatch to Dr. P. Dunne, Bishop of Nara (‘Castle Bequest to Bishop’, The Irish Times, 9 January 1953), who sold it (reportedly for a nominal sum) to the Christian Brothers to build the school that now stands there.
The buildings within the moat consist of a 15th century great hall with an attached 16th century tower, also a large early 20th century stone building used as a stable and a ballroom at one time and a coach house. Initially the brothers lived and ran a school there until 1956 when they moved to their new schools and monastery close by. By the mid 1980s the castle was a ruin with fallen roofs, missing windows and partly collapsed masonry.
In 1978 the local GAA Club. An Caisleán GAA, took possession of the Castle Coach-house and renovated it to give them a clubhouse of Community hall, kitchen and changing rooms with adjoining showers.
In 1986 Peter Pearson, a well known artist with An Taisce, the national trust for Ireland, set up a local committee and got FAS the state training authority, involved in a conservation and restoration programme. All work was carried out by hand; the construction of a 15th century medieval oak roof over the great hall, mullioned stone windows, lime mortars for building stone and plastering and wood carving in oak. A formal 17th century style garden was also created.
By 1996 the work programme finished although the castle was far from being restored.
Today the castle provides tours to the public and can be hired as a venue for weddings and other events. Dry stone walling courses are also run there.
A note of interest
A number of movies and TV productions have been filmed at Drimnagh Castle, most notably 'The Abduction Club' 2002 directed by Stephen Schwartz, 'Ella EnchantedElla Enchanted (film)
Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre...
' 2004 directed by Tommy O'Haver
Tommy O'Haver
Tommy O'Haver is an American film director and screenwriter. He grew up in Carmel, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Journalism and Comparative Literature. During the mid-nineties, he attended the MFA Film program at the University of...
and 'The Tudors
The Tudors
The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...
' 2007 created by Michael Hirst
Michael Hirst (writer)
Michael Hirst is an English screenwriter, best known for his films Elizabeth and Elizabeth: The Golden Age ....
.