The Lordship of Carlow in 1307
Niall C.E.J. O’Brien
On Saturday after the close of
Easter in 1307 Walter de la Haye, escheator of Ireland assembled his court of
inquiry into the lordship of Carlow and the condition of Carlow castle which was lately owned by Roger le Bigod,
Earl of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England.[1]
Roger le Bigod was the son of Hugh le Bigod who in turn was the younger son of
Matilda Marshal. Matilda Marshal was the eldest of five daughters of William
Marshal, Earl of Pembroke and the most celebrated knight of medieval Europe.
In
1247 the last of Matilda’s five brothers died without leaving a male heir. The
vast Marshal estate in England, Wales and Ireland was divided among the five
sisters in equal portions as was the custom of the time. Yet by the time of the
partition in 1247 Matilda Marshal was the only sister still alive. Matilda
Marshal had married twice, firstly in 1207 to Hugh le Bigod, Earl of Norfolk,
who died in 1225 and secondly to William, Earl Warenne (d. 1240).
Matilda
Marshal died in 1248 leaving her eldest son, Roger le Bigod as heir. This Roger
le Bigod was 4th Earl of Norfolk in succession to his father but
Earl Marshal of England in succession to his mother. The Marshal family had
long held the title of Earl Marshal of England and had even taken their family
name from the title. Roger le Bigod died in 1270 without leaving any children.
He was succeeded by his nephew, Roger le Bigod, son of Hugh le Bigod, as 5th
Earl of Norfolk and Earl Marshal. About one hundred rolls of accounts relating
to the Irish estates of Roger le Bigod survive and they give a rare insight
into the management of an Irish medieval estate.[2]
In 1302 Roger le Bigod
surrendered his Irish estates to King Edward I because Roger was bankrupt and
needed to be bailed out by the government. King Edward granted the estates back
to Roger to be held for life after which they would revert to the crown if
Roger left no heirs of his body. Roger le Bigod had died on 11th
December 1306 leaving no children (no heirs of his body) and his brother, John
le Bigod, as heir general. But because of the clauses in the royal grant John
le Bigod was left with little and the bulk of the Bigod lands in England, Wales
and Ireland reverted to the crown.[3]
The Carlow estates were then
granted by King Edward II to his brother, Thomas of Brotherton, who was created
Earl of Norfolk and Marshal of England. In 1307 the Carlow estates were valued
at £343 0s 1½d which was not too far off the valuation set at the partition of
1247 at £349 2s 11½d But the equal value of the Marshal estate to each sister
was to be £343 5s 6½d thus £5 17s 5d of the vill of Ballsax was given to the
purpaty of Dunamase which was the inheritance of Eva Marshal, the youngest of
five sisters. Eva Marshal left three daughters by her husband William de Braose
and thus her share was divided into three parts. Her eldest daughter, Maud,
married Roger Mortimer of Wigmore and thus the Mortimer’s were lords of
Dunamase.[4]
Carlow castle in 1307
The castle at Carlow was the chief
stronghold of the Bigod lands but by 1307 in was in poor repair. The castle
roof was in a bad condition and the pleas and assizes of the county had to be
held in a hall opposite the castle. But this building was also in poor repair
with many defects in the roof and walls such that nobody would rent the
building.[5] Carlow
castle has a somewhat similar ground plan to the castles built at Kilkenny,
Ferns, Wexford and Enniscorthy though the dimensions vary considerably. It is
possible that work on the castle began under William Marshal the elder and was
completed by his son, William Marshal the younger. A charter granted by the
latter to the town of Carlow in 1223 mentions the castle.[6]
Around the castle there was 68
acres in demesne, 50 acres of arable land and 16 acres of meadow, a moor and an
island. Nearby there were three watermills and three weirs on the River Barrow.
The burgesses of Carlow town held 160 burger plots and rendered £8 0s 16½d for
same. A common oven held by the burgesses rendered years for tolls and taxes 8s
3d while the prise of ale was worth 40s. There were three free tenants paying
rent, namely; Richard Talon 4s for the barony of Tamelyng, Peter Wass 20s for
75 acres opposite the castle and Geoffrey Wade the younger 12s for 20 acres.[7]
Carlow castle was built sometime
between 1207 and 1213 by William Marshal the elder. The structure of a large
square keep with three quarter circular towers at each corner was a new form of
castle building. Similar castles were at Ferns, Lea and Terryglass. After 1307
the castle passed through many owners until reacquired by the crown in 1537. In
1616 the castle was acquired by the Earl of Thomond. By the start of the
nineteenth century the castle was relativity intact. But in 1814 most of the
castle was destroyed by explosives by some lunatic trying to create more space
for the conversion of the building into a lunatic asylum. Today only the west
wall and two round corner towers survive.
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[1]
J.E.E.S. Sharp (ed.), Calendar of
Inquisitions post mortem preserved in the Public Record Office, Vol. IV, Edward
1 (Kraus reprint, 1973), no. 434 (p. 304)
[2]
Goddard Henry Orpen, Ireland under the
Normans 1169-1333 (Four Courts Press, Dublin, 2005), vol. III, pp. 81, 84,
85
[3]
Goddard Henry Orpen, Ireland under the
Normans 1169-1333, vol. III, pp. 84; Edward Alexander Fry (ed.), Abstracts of Inquisitions Post Mortem for Gloucestershire,
part V, 30 Edward I to 32 Edward III, 1302-1358 (British Record Society,
London, 1910), p. 73
[4]
Goddard Henry Orpen, Ireland under the
Normans 1169-1333, vol. III, pp. 84, 85, 103
[5]
J.E.E.S. Sharp (ed.), Calendar of
Inquisitions post mortem, Vol. IV, Edward 1, no. 434 (p. 304)
[6]
Goddard Henry Orpen, Ireland under the
Normans 1169-1333, vol. III, pp. 55, 81
[7]
J.E.E.S. Sharp (ed.), Calendar of
Inquisitions post mortem, Vol. IV, Edward 1, no. 434 (p. 304)
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