Brief History

The history of the castle records the fortunes of the O'Sullivan Beare Chieftains and traces the decline of the old Gaelic aristocracy through the Desmond Rebellion, The Munster Plantation, The Battle of Kinsale and the Flight of the Earls. The main character is Donal Cam O'Sullivan whose portrait as a titled Spanish nobleman hangs in Maynooth College.

Carriganass tower house was built by the O'Sullivan Beare Chieftain, Dermot O'Sullivan around 1540. It was located at the eastern end of the Sullivan Beare territory, the main castle being at Dunboy. Following his death in 1548 there was a struggle for leadership within the clan resulting eventually in a division of the clan territory between Owen O'Sullivan who accepted a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth and Donal Cam. Each of them occupied Carriganass Castle at different periods. At the time, Munster was in bloody turmoil with the Desmond Rebellion being put down by Henry VIII and later by Elizabeth I. King Philip III of Spain sent military help to the Irish clans and this led to the Battle of Kinsale between the English forces under Mountjoy and the combined army of the Spanish forces and the soldiers of the Munster and Ulster chieftain clans. Donal Cam was in command of the Munster soldiers having sworn allegiance to King Philip. His cousin, Owen O'Sullivan was on the English side which won the battle decisively on December 24th 1601.

After the Battle of Kinsale Donal Cam abducted the wife of his cousin Owen O'Sullivan from the castle and she was held captive on Dursey Island. Dursey was attacked by the English and the entire population was butchered. In June 1602 Dunboy Castle was captured by the English forces and Carriganass Castle also surrendered. Donal Cam and his followers were declared outlaws and he decided to retreat to Leitrim to try and link up with his northern allies. With a thousand followers he left Glengarriff on December 31st 1602 passing north of Carriganass Castle and on through Ballingeary. For the entire journey, the fugitive group was attacked by both English forces and Irish clans loyal to Elizabeth. Only thirty five reached the Leitrim destination in mid-January 1603.

After making contact with the Ulster leaders, Donal Cam realised that there was no hope of the Gaelic Chieftains continuing the military struggle. He went into exile in Spain where King Philip III gave him the title of Count of Bearehaven and Knight of Santiago. He was murdered in Madrid in 1618. His younger son, Dermot, became a very influential figure in the Spanish Court.

The castle does not appear to have been occupied as a fortress after 1650 but was used for farming purposes till quite recently.

For a more information on the history of Carriganass, you can download a pdf document (200 kbits) by clicking here.

Folk History

Carriganass Castle has a very strong presence in the folk-memory of the local community down the years. It is said that the building stone for the castle came from a quarry in nearby Ahilmore called Póc an Tairbh and that the cut stone was brought from this quarry to Carriganass by way of a human chain of workers. Much more dramatic and legendary is the story of Donal Cam avenging the murder of his wife, Aoife. According to this story, St. Leger, a commander in the English army discovered Aoife in hiding in Gougane Barra and killed her.
 

I tore her from Finbarr's Shrine
Amid her tears and she was mine.
I wooed her like a lovesick swain
I threatened - would have forced - in vain.
She proudly scorned my fond embrace,
She cursed my hand and all my race.


These words are from the poem The Revenge of Donal Cam which graphically records how the chieftain, hunted and desperate after the Battle of Kinsale, managed to get admission to Carriganass Castle disguised as a monk and pretending that he had information on the outlawed chief. That very night, the wedding of St. Leger to the daughter of a local McCarthy chieftain was being celebrated. But St. Leger was uneasy:

Some demon haunts me since my pride
Urged me to stab that outlaw's bride.
Each form I see, each sound I hear
Her dying threat assails my ear.

When the festivities were over St. Leger questioned the monk about the whereabouts of Donal Cam. He told the disguised chieftain how he had murdered Aoife, whereupon Cam grabbed him and hurled him into the rocky Ouvane Falls from an upper room in the castle-tower.

"Saxon, 'tis Aoife gives this grave"
He said, and plunged him in the wave.
One piercing shriek was heard, no more
Up flashed the billows dyed with gore.

The poem concludes with Donal Cam's escape by jumping from the tower across the river to the south bank.

Local tradition also maintains strong associations with the Retreat to Leitrim route passing over the Ahil hills and through the Borlin valley.

To view the poem "The Revenge of Donal Cam" in its entirety, please click here