HISTORY OF CARRICKMINES CASTLE

CARRICKMINES CASTLE- A BRIEF HISTORY

Carrickmines Castle was a site of great importance during its 400 or so years of existence. It was a major focus of military activity down through the years due to its highly strategic location at the base of the Wicklow Mountains. The pass through The Scalp, only a short distance from Carrickmines, was one of the major route ways for such Irish Clans as the O’Byrnes and O’Tooles who delighted in burning and plundering the good agricultural land surrounding Dublin. These clans had to get around, or sometimes go through the Castle’s garrison to attack the vulnerable areas behind. As a result, it is to this threat that we find most of the historical references to the castle.

 Unfortunately, Carrickmines did not escape the devastation to early Irish Medieval records caused by the shelling of the Four Courts during the Irish Civil War. We can, however, piece together some of the early history. One of the earliest references to the area was when Archbishop O’Toole granted the Church of “Carrickmayne”, with all its tithes to Christchurch in 1178. The Walsh’s, a family of Normans, founded the Castle probably in the 13th Century.

The major problems began to start for Carrickmines in the 14th Century. Beginning with Edward Bruce’s invasion of Ireland in 1315-1318, a major resurgence occurred among the Gaelic Irish. This led to increased Irish raids on Norman controlled areas, and Carrickmines suffered with the rest. In 1326, it is referred to as being “waste”. The increased problem with the O’Byrnes in particular led to the Justiciar of the area, Thomas de Rokeby, attempting to stem the tide by garrisoning a number of Castles around the Wicklow/Leinster Mountains in the 1350’s. Carrickmines was one, and the programme also saw the Castle being refortified. From now on we see an abundance of records relating to troops being stationed at the castle:

1359: Body of light horse under Sir John Bermingham.

1374: John Colton, Dean Of St.Patrick’s commands troops there.

1387: Forty mounted archers and light horse at Carrickmines.

The late 15th Century saw the physical manifestation of what became known as the Pale Ditch, a boundary rather haphazardly constructed around the area of complete English control in the Dublin region. Carrickmines Castle was right on this Pale line, and indeed a portion of the original Pale Ditch still exists off the Ballyogan road. It also, however, provided a handy demarcation zone for the Irish tribes who wished to attack the area. The basic rule of thumb for these Irish Clans seems to have been to kill and burn anything they found within this boundary. The ditch seems to have never been fully completed, and it was quite easy to pass in and out of the Pale at will.

Much of the surviving records for the 15th and 16th Centuries pertain to the passing of  Carrickmines and its associated holdings from father to son within the Walsh family. It once again jumps forward to front-page news in the late 16th Century during what became known as the Nine Years War (1594-1603). The O’Byrnes of Wicklow had risen in rebellion in support of Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and they proved a serious threat so close to the area of centralised English control, namely Dublin and its Pale. An attack on Carrickmines in 1599 was reported to none less then the English Secretary of State, Sir Robert Cecil by John Clifford on June 13th.

“ Threescore horse and upwards of the Earl of Southampton’s troop were placed at Carrickmayne, within five miles of Dublin. Last night the enemy (Irish) came thither, and took away the prey of the town, and burned it, and went away without any harm, the horsemen being all in town.”

The Earl of Southampton was William Shakespeare’s patron, and was seriously implicated in a rebellion against Elizabeth after his return to England, although he escaped with his head.

The 17th Century saw the last phase of activity at Carrickmines, and arguably its most dramatic. The Castle was the focus of a Siege during the 1641 Rebellion. It is worth describing the background to this event. The rebellion was not aimed directly at the Crown, but rather against the evildoings of the Crowns administrators in Ireland. The rebels claimed to be loyal, and even forged the Kings signature on their declaration of rebellion. The Walsh’s, an old Anglo-Norman family, had been loyal to the Crown throughout the Castles history prior to 1641. However, following the defeat and confiscation of lands of the more powerful Catholic Irish Lords following the Nine Years War, increased pressure was put on the Catholic Anglo-Norman families which remained. This led to most of these families within the Pale declaring for the Irish in 1641.

The final days of the Castle went thus; early in 1642 the rebels suffered a reverse in the vicinity of Deansgrange, and fell back past Carrickmines Castle, probably garrisoning it at this time. On the 26th of March 1642 a notable English Commander, Sir Simon Harcourt led a detachment towards Co. Wicklow. En route he discovered that Carrickmines was garrisoned against him. The rebels reportedly lit a fire on the top of the Castle, which was responded to from the nearby hills. Fearing relief of the Castle, Harcourt sent back to Dublin for reinforcements and artillery to reduce the Castle. On receipt of these he surrounded the Castle and began to lay siege. All three of the surviving English accounts are extremely biased towards the attackers, although much information can be gleaned from them. During the attack, insults were reportedly thrown at the English forces from within the Castle, which greatly enraged them. To compound this, Sir Simon was fatally wounded by an Irish sniper, and was carried away to Merrion House where he later died. Lieutenant Colonel Gibson assumed command, and after three days, following one abortive attempt, they eventually managed to take the castle. The first officer in was Robert Hammond, who later became the Cromwellian Commander of the Isle of Wight in the English Civil War and held the deposed King Charles I there prior to his execution in London. What happened when the Castle fell differs between the sources. The government sources list between 16  and 40 English casualties and 200-350 Irish deaths (supposedly massacred after the Castles fall). The Irish say there were only 15 people in the Castle and 500 of the besiegers were killed. We will probably never know the actual figures. It has been reported that the Castle was razed to the ground following the siege, thus ending its long and turbulent history.

The history of the area does not end there, however. The Walsh’s, not in The Castle at the time of its fall, fled to Austria and became Von Wallis. One of their line later rose to General and suffered defeat at the hands of none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. The area had not seen the last of unrest though. The Mooney house, erected on the former site of the Castle, was burnt by a handful of Militia forces in 1798 who were looking for food. A subsequent Court-Martial of these men saw them condemned to life service abroad in His Majesties forces.

The ongoing excavations at the site are revealing much of this areas troubled history, and the end result will hopefully provide a richer knowledge of the goings on in the vicinity, not only during the Castles lifetime but also previous and subsequent settlement in the immediate surroundings.

Damian O’Siadhail.