Niall C.E.J. O’Brien
Introduction
Lisfinny Castle, or tower house (to give the proper terminology), stands
on a south facing slope overlooking the Bride and the town of Tallow beyond at
the western edge of County Waterford. The castle is a rectangular tower house
with four floors. A barrel-vaulted loft is over the ground floor and a vault
over the second floor. The first and second floors are lighted with rectangular
windows while the third floor had wider windows with dressed surrounds.[1]
The name Lisfinny means Fineen’s Liss or Fort in Irish and is situated
on the ridge called Druimfineen which extends from Helvick Head to Castlelyons
in County Cork. Lisfinny was named for Fingin Mac Luchta, who was king of Munster
The first Normans
The Normans came in 1169 and within a few years had captured most, if
not all of present County Waterford. To secure their new found they built
castles at strategic places. These first castles were of timber construction
raised on a mount of earth and surrounded by a timber fence. We called this
type of castle, a motte and bailey as in this drawing. A good example of this
construction is the small hill called Gallow’s Hill outside Dungarvan. The
Round Hill just east of Lismore possibly had a timber castle upon it but
archaeological investigations have yet to be conducted to determine if this was
so.
The next development of castles occurred when Prince John came to
Ireland in 1185. He had stone castles built at Lismore, Ardfinnan and
Tibberaghny. These castles had a round keep surrounded by a stone wall. The
present Lismore castle is largely a construction of the nineteenth century.
Lisfinny tower house
The land of FitzAnthony
The land upon which Lisfinny was built was part of the honour of
Dungarvan in the mid thirteenth century and the property of Thomas FitzAnthony.
It came to the Fitzgerald family after John Fitzthomas Fitzgerald (died 1261)
married Margaret, one of the daughters of Thomas FitzAnthony. The descendants
of John Fitzthomas Fitzgerald held the manor of Lisfinny until the 1580s.
Resident lord of Lisfinny
In 1520, the 8th Earl of Desmond gave to his fifth son,
Gerard Oge a lease of the manor of Lisfinny, which included the town of Tallow
and its surrounding townlands. Gerard subsequently leased this property to his
fourth son, John Fitzgerald, along with Strancally castle. When John died in
1550, his twelve year old son Thomas should have inherited the property. Instead
the Earl of Desmond seized both manors to avoid the Dublin
Building the tower house
We have no exact
date for when the present tower house was built. Similarly we do not know how
much it cost or how long the construction period lasted. The new castle of
Kirby Muxloe in England was built for Lord Hastings in 1480. It took four years
and one month to build.
A recent
experiment was conducted into tower house security. The main point of access
into a tower house is the doorway. A team of eight used a battering ram at a
rate of twenty hits per minute and knocked the door flat in 54 hits or five
minutes work. A fire experiment on the door took 40 minutes to burn the door.
Most doorways are on the ground floor. It is only in the extreme south-west of
Ireland that you find tower houses with a first floor doorway.[4]
Life in the tower house
We have little record
of life in Lisfinny tower house but a French visitor to Ireland in 1644
described the tower houses in these words = “the castles or houses of the
nobility consist of four walls extremely high, thatched with straw; they are
nothing but square towers without windows, or at least having such small
openings as to give no more light than a prison. They have little furniture,
and cover their rooms with rushes”.[5]
Affane to the first Desmond rebellion
Following the
battle of Affane a great number of people across County Waterford and elsewhere
received pardons for their involvement. In May 1567 Peter liagh Poer of
Lisfinny, horseman and Richard fitzedmund Poer of Strancally got a pardon.[6]
We often think of West Waterford as an exclusive Fitzgerald area but a number
of people called Power lived there.
In 1572 the
properties of Sir John of Desmond were listed as the castles, manors and towns
of Kilmanahan, Lisfinny, Mogeely, Carrignavar, Philipstown, Agh Crossen,
Broghill and Kilcolman.[7]
Living at Lisfinny in 1572 were a number of gentlemen and soldiers of
the Sheedy family. These were Rory (alias Ferdoragh) McSheedy, and his two
sons; Manes McSheedy and Edmund McSheedy, all gents. Also at Lisfinny was
Donill McShane McConemarre, a galloglass. These people received a pardon along
with Eustace FitzThomas Roche of Rosgrelle on February 15, 1572.[8]
At the same time
as the above, James FitzJohn Fitzgerald was living at Strancally. He got a
pardon on September 30, 1572 along with his cousins Maurice Fitzgerald of
Sheanmore and Maurice FitzJames Fitzgerald of Mocollop.[9]
On October 1st, John Fitzgerald of Desmond, lord of Lisfinny
received a pardon.[10]
On that same day the Earl of Desmond, Gerald Fitzgerald also got his pardon.[11]
Late in 1573 Sir John of Desmond, with Donnchadh Mac Brien, conducted four
lightening strikes upon the Earl of Ormond’s property in Counties Tipperary and
Waterford. The purpose of these attacks was to feed the rebel armies and deny the
English an available food supply. At the County
Waterford castle of Derrinlaur
Between the rebellions
Following the
first Desmond rebellion (1569-1573) many of those who took part received
pardons including Thomas Oge Mac Thomas Mac Rory McGrath of Lisfinny in
November 1576. This man was the seneschal or chief steward for Sir John of
Desmond in the manor. Other members of the McGrath family held similar
positions in neighboring manors like Mocollop.
In late 1575 Sir
Henry Sidney, Lord Deputy of Ireland, conducted a tour of Munster by way of
Waterford and Dungarvan and onto Cork via Lismore and Lisfinny. At the later
place, he called upon Sir John of Desmond, the owner and judged him to be a
“good and loyal subject”.[13] Within a few years this opinion would be
radically changed as Sir John became one of the principle rebel leaders in the
second Desmond Rebellion.
For the moment John Fitzgerald received the by now usual pardon for
rebellious activity. On May 5, 1576 he got this along with Gerald Fitzgerald
(alias McRodery) and Johnn oge McGrath of Lisfinny. Manus McSheedy had by this
time moved from Lisfinny to Mogeely. In the wider area of Lisfinny manor,
Thomas McShane McEdmund of Curraghreagh also got a pardon with the others.[14]
Beyond the manor
of Lisfinny a number of attainers and supporters of Sir John of Desmond also
got pardons on May 5th, 1576. These people lived in many parts of
Counties Cork and Waterford
Later in
November 1576 Thomas oge McThomas McRory McGrath of Lisfinny received a pardon
along with a whole host of people across Counties Cork and Waterford. The other
person from Waterford in this pardon was Thomas McEdmond Power of Monatrim.[16]
Second Desmond rebellion
In 1579, Gerald, fifteenth Earl of Desmond, made an attack on Youghal as
the opening action in his final rebellion. Following five days of pillaging
within the town, the amassed treasure was taken to Strancally and Lisfinny
castles, which were at that time garrisoned by Spanish soldiers.[17]
Shortly after, the Dublin government wrote to London that they didn’t believe
they could take Lisfinny Castle without cannon, such was the strength of its
garrison and masonry.[18]
During the Desmond rebellion of 1579-83, the Earl of Ormond adopted a
“scorched earth” policy in the winter of 1579-80. After passing through County
Limerick, Ormond proceeded to Coshmore/Coshbride in December 1579 where he
burnt the lands of Sir John of Desmond at Lisfinny.[19] By
May 1580 a force led by Lord Power, Sir Thomas of Desmond and the sheriff of
County Waterford camped near the woods of Lisfinny to stop the rebels coming
into County Cork via The Vee road from Clogheen.[20]
Lisfinny under Raleigh
During his life, Sir John didn’t care too much for personal property but
his English adversaries did. John’s great castle at Mallow eventually passed to
Captain Thomas Norris (who hoped, unsuccessfully, to get Lisfinny and Mogeely),
Edmund Spenser, the poet, got Kilcolman castle while Sir Walter Raleigh got the
castle and manor of Lisfinny.[21]
The government
had given a three year lease on Lisfinny manor, along with the manors of
Mogeely, Strancally and Shane, to Richard Shee and Robert Rothe of Kilkenny in March
1584.[22] The grant mentions the lands of Twileig,
Aglish, Knocknamuck, Barnenebolegy, Curragh Reagh, Ballingarran and Kilbeg as
part of Lisfinny.[23]
The manor of
Strancally which was previously held with Lisfinny was in 1584 the property of James
fitz John Fitzgerald, who was by then deceased. In the Rothe/Shee grant these
lands included Strancally, Kilnaganagh, Kanemucky, Kilmacnicholas and
Monetrown.
The original
plantation of Munster had planned for four classes of seignory; viz: 12,000
acres, 8,000, 6,000 and 4,000. The planter with 12,000 acres was to have a
demesne farm of 2,100 acres; six farmers with 400 acres each; six freeholders
with 300 acres each and 42 copy-holders with 100 acres each. The remaining
1,500 acres was to be apportioned in smaller tenures on which at least 36
families must be settled.[24]
There were
originally to be three big planters of 12,000 acres in this region, namely: Sir
Walter Raleigh, Sir John Stowell and Sir John Clifton were to get the lands on
the west bank of the Blackwater. They were to populate their new estates with
people from Devon, Somerset and Dorset . But early in 1587 Stowell and Clifton
sold their interests to Raleigh Raleigh
getting 12,000 acres he ended up getting 42,000 acres which made him the
biggest planter in Munster
In March 1587 the manor of Lisfinny, as part of 42,000 acre estate along
the Blackwater and Bride Rivers, was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh.[25] Raleigh got full ownership in fee farm with
only a rent to the crown of one hundred marks sterling.[26] In 1589 Raleigh gave a lease of Lisfinny to his chief local agent,
Andrew Colthurst.[27]
In the summer of 1599, during the Nine Years War, the Earl of Essex
conducted a long march through Munster. The army entered the Bride valley from
the west by way of Fermoy and Castlelyons. Their objective was to take Conna Castle Mogeely
Castle Essex used
the rest day to await further reinforcements.
During Sunday night, Essex got four hundred troops into the bawn and
outhouses of Lisfinny Castle. This was a very benefitual move as a large rebel
force shadowed Essex ’s army while it marched
to Affane to cross the Blackwater. The rebels threatened to attack near
Lisfinny but with the castle in English hands, their escape route as closed and
they didn’t wish to get boxed in. Essex successfully crossed the Blackwater and
proceeded on to Dungarvan and Waterford while subduing the countryside along
the way.[28]
In the following year of 1600, Henry Pyne (who leased Mogeely from
Raleigh) petitioned the government to put garrisons in many of the castles on
the Bride including Kilmacow and Lisfinny. Pyne’s own castle already had fifty
troops from the Lord President of Munster
In May 1601 a great number of pardons were given out to people who took
part in the Nine Years War. A few local people got such pardons like Donagh
McTeige of Lisfinny, husbandman, along with William Brown of Lisfinny, yeoman
and Dermod O Dolan, a labourer of same. These were joined by James fitz William
Roche and Morish McConogher boy of Kilwatermoy, (both yeomen) along with Philip
McDonnell I Donortie of Mocollop, yeoman.[30]
Lisfinny under Boyle
In 1602, Sir Richard Boyle purchased Sir Walter Raleigh’s Irish estates
including Lisfinny. The manor at that time covered six ploughlands and included
the townlands of Aghanbrogue (Ahaunboy), Ballygarran, Croghrew (Curragh Reagh),
Kilcalf, Kilmore, Kilowen (Coolowen) and Knocknamuck along with Tallow town. At
an inquest the following year, the manor was measured at five and a half
ploughlands but included a salmon weir on the Bride and the townland of Aglish.[31]
By the time of the Civil Survey in 1654, Lisfinny had declined so much
that it failed to get a mention. Instead we are told of the ruined castle in
the townland of Knocknamuck which was the former stronghold of the Desmond
Fitzgeralds. The manor of Lisfinny had been so developed over the past fifty
years that it now measured seven and a half ploughlands.[32]
Later times at Lisfinny
Over the
centuries the castle was left as a ruin while a new Georgian house was built
beside it. However, in 1888, the castle once again fulfilled one of its original
functions. Douglas Pyne, the lessee of Lisfinny, for M.P. for the consistency
of West Waterford and choose to support the
tenants in the Land War. The authorities didn’t like his actions of support and
attempted to arrest him under the Coercion Acts. But Pyne was one step ahead of
the government and before they could arrest him, he had barricaded himself into
the castle. Here he had a big store of provisions to see out a long siege. The
police erected tents in the garden and settled down for the long wait. Pyne
observed how relaxed they were and took advantage of this by escaping early one
foggy morning. Before the police knew what had happened Pyne was long gone.
Sometime later, whilst returning from England, Pyne fell, or was pushed,
overboard from the Cork steamer and was drown.[33]
In all this history, and the history unrecorded, Lisfinny tower house
still stands as a monument to all the preceding and a credit to the builders
who erected it some 500 years ago.
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[2] Redmond, G. O’Connell, ‘The castles of North-East Cork and near its
borders’, in the Journal of the Cork
Archaeological and Historical Society, vol. xxiv, (1918), p. 148 [accessed
1st June 2013]
[3] Heffernan, K. & Billensteiner, F., The History of Strancally Castle and the Valley of the Blackwater
between Lismore and Youghal (Strancally Castle Library, 1999), p. 16
[7] Calendar of Carew manuscripts
at Lambeth (Liechtenstein, 1974 reprint), vol. 1 (1515-1574), p. 417
[12] O’Dowd, M. (ed.), Calendar of
State Papers Ireland, Tudor period 1571-1575 (Dublin, 2000), no. 774.9
[17] Redmond, ‘The castles of North-East Cork and near its borders’, in
J.C.A.H.S., vol. xxiv, (1918), p. 148
[22] Redmond, ‘The castles of North-East Cork and near its borders’, in J.C.A.H.S.,
vol. xxiv, (1918), pp. 63, 149
[27] Redmond, ‘The castles of North-East Cork and near its borders’, in J.C.A.H.S.,
vol. xxiv, (1918), pp. 63, 149
[32] Simington, R. (ed.), The
Civil Survey County of Waterford AD 1654-1656 (Dublin, 1942), pp. 4, 5, 10,
27, 29
[33] Redmond, ‘The castles of North-East Cork and near its borders’, in J.C.A.H.S.,
vol. xxiv, (1918), p. 150
