Dunboy Castle
Encyclopedia
Gaels
The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....
clan leader and 'Chief of Dunboy'. The 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...
is located on the Beara Peninsula
Beara Peninsula
The Beara Peninsula is a peninsula on the south-west coast of Ireland, bounded between the Kenmare "river" to the north side and Bantry Bay to the south. It has two mountain ranges running down its centre: the Caha Mountains and the Slieve Miskish Mountains...
in south-west Ireland near the town of Castletownbere
Castletownbere
Castletownbere is a small town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the southwest coast of Ireland, in West Cork, on Berehaven harbour near the entrance to Bantry Bay. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. The name of the town comes from the no longer extant MacCarty Castle, and not...
and was built to guard and defend the harbour of Berehaven. Its presence there enabled O'Sullivan Bere to control the sea fisheries off the Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
coast and collect sizeable taxes from Irish and Continental fishing vessels sheltering in the haven. It was also a centre for the import/export trade to and from the Continent. Today, much of the castle is destroyed but the ruins
Ruins
Ruins are the remains of human-made architecture: structures that were once complete, as time went by, have fallen into a state of partial or complete disrepair, due to lack of maintenance or deliberate acts of destruction...
are open to the public.
Dunboy Castle was the scene of the famous Siege of Dunboy
Siege of Dunboy
The Siege of Dunboy took place at Dunboy Castle on 5–18 June 1602, during the Nine Years' War in Ireland. It was one of the last battles of the conflict and was a victory for the English Army.-The Castle:...
in the summer of 1602 which ultimately led to its destruction and the breaking of the power of the O'Sullivan Bere. At that time Donal Cam O'Sullivan Bere was in rebellion against the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
crown and Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
had sent a 5000 strong army under the command of Sir George Carew to suppress the insurgents. Even with its small garrison of 143 men Dunboy Castle was thought to be impregnable but following a fierce artillery bombardment the walls were smashed and after some desperate hand-to-hand fighting amid the rubble the defenders were finally overcome. The 58 survivors of the two week siege were executed in the nearby market square.
Near the castle ruins stands Puxley Mansion, a nineteenth-century manor house. It was burnt to the ground by the IRA in 1920 in reprisal for the destruction of houses that harboured IRA men and weapons by the Crown Forces. Plans to refurbish the mansion were halted in 2011.