O'Dea Castle
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox historic site
O'Dea Castle, also known as Dysert O'Dea Castle, is an Irish fortified tower house, loosely described as a castle<ref>Ua Croinin and Breen comment in The Other Clare, 1985: "The castle itself is more correctly designated a tower-house as it falls easily in the category of such fortified houses built in great numbers throughout the southern part of Ireland between 1400 and 1600." (Detailed reference below.)</ref> at Dysert O'Dea (Template:Irish place name), the former O'Dea clan stronghold, Template:Convert from Corofin, County Clare.<ref>Caisleán Uí Dheá Placenames Database of Ireland. Retrieved 22 November 2011.</ref> It was built between 1470 and 1490 by Diarmaid O'Dea, Lord of Cineal Fearmaic, and stands some Template:Convert high on a limestone outcrop base measuring Template:Convert.<ref name="otherclare">Dysart O'Dea Castle, Co. Clare by Risteard Ua Croinin and Martin Breen, The Other Clare, Volume 9, page 17. Shannon Archaeological and Historical Society, April 1985.</ref> The tower is adjacent to Dysert O'Dea Monastery, close to the R476 road.
HistoryEdit
The Battle of Dysert O'Dea, which drove the Anglo-Normans from the region for over 200 years, took place at this site on 10 May 1318. The castle was built between 1470 and 1490 by Diarmaid O'Dea, Lord of Cineal Fearmaic. The Earl of Ormond took the castle from the O'Dea clan in 1570 by force. By 1584, however, they had regained it. At that time, Domhnall Maol O'Dea was listed as owner. Domhnall supported the northern Chiefs in the Nine Years' War of 1594-1603 and subsequently Dysert Castle fell to the Protestant Bishop of Kildare, Daniel Neylon, who in 1594 bequeathed it to his son, John. The castle soon returned to the O'Dea clan. Conor Cron O'Dea supported the Confederates and participated in the successful siege of Ballyalla Castle in 1642.
After the fall of Limerick in 1651 to the Cromwellian forces, they maintained a small garrison here. When they left, the soldiers demolished the battlements, upper floors and staircase. The Neylon family then returned but during the reign of Charles II, Conor Cron O'Dea regained the castle. Conor's sons, Michael and James, supported the cause of James II and once again lost the castle. The lands passed to the Synge family but the castle eventually and gradually fell into ruin.<ref name="Dysert">Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1970, John O'Day of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin (USA) purchased the tower and had it restored. The castle was then leased to the Dysert Development Association, which, with support from the Irish Tourist Board, opened it as "The Dysert O'Dea Castle Archaeology Centre" in 1986. It showed an exhibition of local artefacts from the Stone Age to 1922.<ref name="Dysert"/>
TodayEdit
Today, the castle is known as the Dysert O'Dea Castle and Archaeological Trails, and is open to the public from May to August. The archeology trails include sites around the tower, including the remains of the Dysert O'Dea Monastery.
See alsoEdit
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
- O'Dea: Ua Deághaidh: The Story of a Rebel Clan, by Risteárd Ua Cróinín (Richard Cronin), Ballinakella Press, Whitegate, Co. Clare, Ireland, 1992. Template:ISBN.
- Irish Battles – A Military History of Ireland, by G.A. Hayes-McCoy, Appletree Press, 1990, Template:ISBN
External linksEdit
- Dysert O'Dea Castle – official site
- O'Dea Clan Site
Template:Dalcassians Template:Historic Irish houses Template:Tourism in County Clare