Tower house atop ringfort in County Kerry, Ireland
Rahinnane Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Kerry , Ireland .[ 2] [ 3]
Location
Rahinnane Castle is located 1.73 km (1.07 mi) northwest of Ventry , in the west of the Dingle Peninsula .[ 4]
History
The ringfort on the site was built in the 7th or 8th century AD. The Irish name was originally Rath Fhionnáin — Finan's ringfort.
Local tradition once claimed that this piece of land was the last in Ireland held by the Vikings , as it was so easily defended.[ 5]
The stone tower house was built in the 15th or 16th century by the FitzGeralds, hereditary Knights of Kerry .[ 6]
In 1602, towards the end of the Nine Years' War , the castle was taken by Sir Charles Wilmot . It was ruined during the Cromwellian conquest (1649–53).[ 7] [ 8]
Building
Another view of the castle
The ancient earthwork featured a 9 metres (30 ft) deep ditch, an entrance in the southwest and a souterrain in the southeast.
The castle was rectangular and three storeys tall. Most of the outer walls remain; on the inside there is some mural stairway, traces of vaulting and a blind arcade . Two corner turrets are also visible.
More than half the outer walls of the three-storey castle remain.[ 9]
References
^ "Caisleán Ráthanáin/Rahinnane Castle" . Logainm.ie .
^ Schorr, Frank. "Rahinnane Castle" . www.castles.ancientireland.org .
^ Alcock, Leslie (27 June 1963). "Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age, and Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan" . University of Wales Press – via Google Books.
^ "Irish Castles - Rahinnane Castle" . www.britainirelandcastles.com .
^ "Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland" . The Society. 27 June 2018 – via Google Books.
^ Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford; Hales, Michael (27 June 1980). Secret landscapes: mysterious sites, deserted villages, and forgotten places of Great Britain and Ireland . Select Editions. ISBN 978-1-85648-080-2 – via Google Books.
^ "Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History - Rahinnane Castle, County Kerry, Ireland Rahinnane..." Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History .
^ Administrator. "Ventry - Ceann Trá" . www.dingle-peninsula.ie .
^ "Rahinnane Castle" . irishantiquities.bravehost.com .