Timogue
Castle, County Laois
Niall
C.E.J. O’Brien
The 1st
edition of the Ordnance Survey map marks the site of a castle in a plot on the
south side of the road from Timogue Church of Ireland church. The site of the
castle is presently (August 2019) occupied by the ruins of Timogue creamery. No
surface remains of what looks like a castle survives. The creamery is
surrounded by a stone wall of uncertain date which could be interpreted as the
bawn wall around a medieval or early modern castle. A 15th/16th
century tower house at Kilmacow in the barony of Kinnatalloon, County Cork,
existed in 1746 but had disappeared a few years later with the site now (2019)
an empty field. A nearby three storey house (Springdale House) was built about
1750 and the house owner suggested that the tower house was used as an easy
quarry for stone to build the new house.[1] At
Timogue there is a late 18th century corn mill located just a few
hundred feet south of the castle site and the supposed castle may also have
been used as an easy quarry of stones to build the mill. Therefore the type and
form of the castle cannot be easily determined or when it was built or what
remodelling was done to it over the centuries.
The possible bawn wall of the castle
The
name of Timogue
The small parish of
Timogue lies sandwiched between the two large parishes of Stradbally to the
north-east and Timahoe to the south-west. Its name is said to derive from a
church built by St. Maedoc of Ferns and so called teach Maedoc. Other writers
discount this and say the name comes from the Anglo-Norman family of Madoc who
held it in the 13th century. In the 1290s Meyler Madok was chief
serjeant of Leys (Laois).[2] The
location of the parish church across the road from the medieval Timogue castle
would support the latter explanation for the parish name. Where a medieval
castle is built beside a medieval church it is more usually the case that the
castle was built first and the church built later as a chapel for the castle
that later was elevated into a parish church. The early octagonal medieval
limestone font shows Timogue to be a parish church as only such a church was
allowed to have a font.[3]
Timogue
in medieval times
In the 1170s Meiler
fitz Henry was granted the cantred of Leys by Richard de Clare ‘Strongbow’ and
built a castle near Timahoe. Shortly before 1202 Meiler fitz Henry granted some
of the churches in his cantred to the new priory of Great Connell. Other
churches, like at Timogue were outside this grant. Paul MacCotter suggested
that Timogue was already church land and so outside Meiler’s control.[4]
Later records show that Timogue parish was held by the Cistercian house of
Abbeyleix.[5] Conner
O More founded Abbeyleix in 1184 possibly as a reaction to Meyler fitz Henry
building a castle at the old religious centre of Timahoe.[6] It
is possible therefore that Timogue parish was granted to Abbeyleix sometime
between 1184 and 1202.
De
la Zouch family at Timogue
In the second half of
the thirteenth century Timogue was acquired by the de la Zouch family. Alan de
la Zouch, or more likely his father Roger de la Zouch, could have acquired
Timogue and Morett from his cousin, Alan de la Zouch was the son and heir of Roger
de la Zouch and in 1288 succeeded to his father’s Irish property.[7]
William de la Zouch of Haryngworth, who in 1298 acquired a share of Laois from
his mother, Melicent Cantilupe, daughter of William Cantilupe and granddaughter
of Eva Marshal (daughter and co-heiress of William Marshal).[8]
Although this line of acquisition is possible it is more likely that Roger de
la Zouch got Timogue and Morett from his marriage to Ela Longespee and her
inheritance from Walter de Ridelisford.
Roger de la Zouch was
the husband of Ela de Longespee, daughter of Stephen de Longespee, seneschal of
Gascony and justiciar of Ireland, by his wife Emeline (widow of Hugh de Lacy,
Earl of Ulster), daughter and co-heir of Walter de Ridelisford.[9]
Another daughter of Stephen de Longespee was Emelina de Longespee who
quitclaimed Timogue. She was the second wife of Maurice Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald
and mother of Juliana Fitzgerald (wife of Thomas de Clare).[10]
De
Ridelisford at Timogue
In 1247 Walter de
Ridelisford held Castledermot and Kilkea from Roger de Mortimer, the new lord
of Leix.[11]
But it is unknown if Walter de Ridelisford held Timogue and Morett and the
properties passed down to Alan de la Zouch by marriage or Roger de la Zouch had
acquired the property by other means. In 1540 the Crutched Friars of
Castledermot (founded by Walter de Ridelisford) claimed £4 of tithes from
Timogue parish but couldn’t collect as the land was under O’More control.[12]
The creamery at Timogue on the possible site of the castle
Fitzgerald
family at Timogue
In April 1298 John
Fitzgerald (Baron of Offaly), son of Thomas Fitzgerald, gave Emelina de
Longespee peaceful possession of the manor of Maynooth in return for John
having peaceful possession of the manors of Timogue, Morett and St. Fintan’s.[13] Sometime
between 1298 and 1312 Alan de la Zouch made a grant to John Fitzgerald of the
castle and lands of Timogue (Taghmodoc) along with the castle and lands of
Morett.[14]
At about the same time of 1298 Emelina de Longespee quitclaimed any rights she
had on Timogue, Morett and St. Fintan’s to John Fitzgerald. Jordan de Coventry
was named as Emelina’s attorney to give seisin of Timogue manor to John
Fitzgerald.[15]
In February 1302 King Edward granted John Fitzgerald free warren in numerous
properties in Ireland including Tathmothoc and Ballyfugnon in County Carlow.[16] By
the time Alan de la Zouch died in 1314 he had disposed of all his Irish
property.[17]
Timogue
in the sixteenth century
In the Kildare rental
of 1518 the Earl of Kildare possessed some property rights in Timogue but was
also subject to expenses for the same property. The Earl paid half the tithes
of Timogue in support of the vicarage by an indenture made on 20th
February 1517 between Donagh, abbot of Abbeyleix, and the Earl of Kildare. In
1518 the Earl had the advowson, nomination and right of presentation for the rectory
and vicarage of Timogue.[18] In
1518 the Earl’s manor of Timogue, known as the lordship of Taghmooghe,
contained the lands of Ballyanlia, Ballyantyskiyn, Bally Conlyn, Ballyprior,
Bealatha Cuyllean, Cloyth an puka, Curragh, Inchenaleakaghe, Killfyacla, Neall
beag and Neaymneagha.[19]
An early folklore story
of Timogue castle recounts the property as belonging to Fergus O’Kelly of
Timogue and Luggacurren in the region of Farran-O’Kelly. Fergus O’Kelly had an
only child and heiress named Ellinor who married Gerald Fitzgerald, 11th
Earl of Kildare. Their son Gerald Fitzgerald was born at Timogue castle in 1546.[20] This
story sounds good but only for the fact that the 11th Earl of
Kildare fled Ireland for Europe in March 1540 and didn’t return England until
1549 and to Ireland until November 1555.[21]
Although the Earl was associated with womanising it would be difficult to fit
the birth of Gerald Fitzgerald of Timogue into the flight of the Earl. The 11th
Earl of Kildare had only one officially wife, Mabel Browne, daughter of Sir
Anthony Browne, who he married in May 1554.[22]
The Earldom of Kildare
was seized by the government after the Earl left and only returned piece meal
after he was restored as Earl of Kildare and Baron of Offaly in May 1554. Interestingly
although Morett is listed among the confiscated property of the Earl of Kildare
in the 1540s Timogue is not mentioned.[23] In
1564 the Earl of Kildare was restored to the manor of Timogue in Ferann
O’Kelly. The rectory and vicarage of Timogue was restored in 1568.[24]
In 1584 Gerald the
Younger received a lease of 101 years from his father of 2,745 acres in Queens
County (County Laois) including Moret castle, Timogue castle, Luggacurren,
Ballyprior, Allybeg and other places.[25]
In 1585 Gerald the Younger married Margaret Bowen, eldest daughter of Robert
Bowen of Ballyadams castle. In 1600 Gerald the Younger was murdered by a member
of the O’More family of Laois and a memorial lies to his memory in Timogue
church.[26]
Location map
Timogue
in the seventeenth century
Gerald Fitzgerald the
Younger left two sons and three daughters. The second son, William Fitzgerald,
was granted Timogue castle and lived there until his death in 1627 without
issue when the property reverted to his elder brother Gerald Fitzgerald of Moret
castle. This Gerald was known as Gearoid Garrultagh-buy (Gerald of the yellow
hair) and in 1637 was High Sheriff of Queen’s County. Gerald Fitzgerald joined
the Irish side in the 1641 Rebellion and had his estates confiscated when the
English side won the war in 1653. Gerald Fitzgerald died in 1667 and was buried
at Timogue.[27]
During the Interregnum
the Commonwealth government leased Timogue castle to Sir William Whelan.[28] At
the Court of Claims in 1663 Gerald Fitzgerald said that he had the manor of Timogue
with its lands of Ballinreskin, Ballyprior, Ballycullen, Corragh, Culine,
Fallibeg, Inshenallogh and Meanagh in Timogue parish from his mother, Margaret
as administrator of her husband, Gerald Fitzgerald the Younger. Margaret had
Timogue by the lease of 101 years made in 1584 in which she and her husband
paid the Earl of Kildare ten pounds for Timogue during the Earl’s life and five
pounds thereafter per year. But Gerald Fitzgerald’s claim for restoration of
Timogue along with Morett and Shangenagh was dismissed as during the war Gerald
manufactured pikes and held guns at his residence at the start of the Rebellion
and his wife entertains rebels there.[29]
It was not made clear if this residence was at Morett or Timogue.
In 1660 Benjamin
Worsley and John Rawlins were the tituladoe (or chief) persons at Timogue which
then had 8 English taxpayers and 35 Irish taxpayers.[30]
The later history of Timogue castle is uncertain.
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[1] https://celtic2realms-medievalnews.blogspot.com/2017/04/kilmacow-castle-and-notes-on-its-history.html
[accessed on 26th August 2019]
[2] Mills, J. (ed.), Calendar of the Justice Rolls of Ireland,
1295-1303 (Dublin, 1905), pp. 169, 170
[3]
Kennedy, J., The Monastic Heritage &
Folklore of County Laois (Roscrea, 2003), pp. 139, 140
[4]
MacCotter, P., Medieval Ireland: Territorial,
Political and Economic Divisions (Dublin, 2008), pp. 33, 35
[5] Fuller, A.P. (ed.), Calendar of entries in the Papal Registers
relating to Great Britain and Ireland: papal letters, volume X, 1513-1521, Leo
X, Lateran Registers, part one (Dublin, 2005), no. 141
[6]
Gwynn, A., & Hadcock, R.N., Medieval
Religious Houses Ireland (Blackrock, 1988), p. 124; Stalley, R., The
Cistercian Monasteries of Ireland (Yale University, 1987), p. 241; Orpen, G.H.,
Ireland under the Normans 1169-1333
(Dublin, 2005), vol. II, p. 65
[7]
Sweetman, H.S. (ed.), Calendar of
Documents relating to Ireland (London, 1879, reprint Liechtenstein, 1974),
vol. III (1285-1292), no. 543
[9]
The Complete Peerage (), vol. XII/2, p. 935
[10]
Orpen, G.H., Ireland under the Normans
1169-1333 (Dublin, 2005), p. 499
[11]
Orpen, G.H., Ireland under the Normans
1169-1333 (Dublin, 2005), vol. III, p. 104
[12]
Gwynn, A., & Hadcock, R.N., Medieval
Religious Houses Ireland (Blackrock, 1988), p. 211; White, N.B. (ed.), Extents of Irish Monastic Possessions,
1540-1541 (Dublin, 1943), p. 169
[13]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), The Red Book of
the Earls of Kildare (Dublin, 1964), no. 69
[14]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), The Red Book of
the Earls of Kildare (Dublin, 1964), nos. 80, 81
[15]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), The Red Book of
the Earls of Kildare (Dublin, 1964), nos. 82, 84
[16]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), The Red Book of
the Earls of Kildare (Dublin, 1964), no. 35
[17]
Sharp, J.E.E.S. (ed.), Calendar of
Inquisitions Post Mortem (London, 1908, reprint Liechtenstein, 1973), vol.
V, no. 458
[18]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), Crown surveys of
Lands 1540-41 with the Kildare rental begun in 1518 (Dublin, 1992), pp. 235, 260, 278
[19]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), Crown surveys of
Lands 1540-41 with the Kildare rental begun in 1518 (Dublin, 1992), p. 287
[20]
Dix, M.L., ‘The Fitzgerald’s of Queen’s County’, in Patrick Meehan (ed.), The Laois Millennium (Portlaoise, 2000),
pp. 29-47, at p. 29
[21]
Carey, V.P., Surviving the Tudors ‘Wizard’
Earl of Kildare and English Rule in Ireland, 1537-1586 (Dublin, 2002), pp.
49, 53, 59
[22]
Cockage, The Complete Peerage
(Gloucester, 1987), vol. VII, p. 239
[23]
Mac Niocaill, G. (ed.), Crown surveys of
Lands 1540-41 with the Kildare rental begun in 1518 (Dublin, 1992), p. 171
[24]
57, , 223
[25]
Dix, M.L., ‘The Fitzgerald’s of Queen’s County’, in Patrick Meehan (ed.), The Laois Millennium (Portlaoise, 2000),
pp. 29-47, at p. 29; Tallon, G. (ed.), Court
of Claims: Submissions and Evidence 1663 (Dublin, 2006), no. 362. Moret was already leased to
Richard Fitzgerald in 1584 and the 101 years were not to commence until the
expiration of Richard’s lease. Timogue was held by a separate lease in 1584 and
so Gerald Fitzgerald the Younger had immediate possession of that manor.
[26]
Dix, M.L., ‘The Fitzgerald’s of Queen’s County’, in Patrick Meehan (ed.), The Laois Millennium (Portlaoise, 2000),
pp. 29-47, at p. 29
[27]
Dix, M.L., ‘The Fitzgerald’s of Queen’s County’, in Patrick Meehan (ed.), The Laois Millennium (Portlaoise, 2000),
pp. 29-47, at p. 30
[28]
Dix, M.L., ‘The Fitzgerald’s of Queen’s County’, in Patrick Meehan (ed.), The Laois Millennium (Portlaoise, 2000),
pp. 29-47, at p. 30
[29]
Tallon, G. (ed.), Court of Claims:
Submissions and Evidence 1663 (Dublin, 2006), no. 362
[30]
Pender, S. (ed.), A Census of Ireland
circa 1659 with essential materials from the Poll Money Ordinances 1660-1661 (Dublin,
2002), p. 504
