Talk:Dunkerron Castle

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Dates[edit]

I'm largely just talking to myself here, but I thought it might be worth adding a note on dates (I guess for any following editors).

  • Date of build - While some sources imply that the Dunkerron castle/tower dates to 1596, this is almost certainly a misnomer. Likely these sources are taking the date from the well-documented 1596 inscription - which attributes "this work" to O'Sullivan Mór and his MacCarthy Reagh wife. However the "work" in question is not the entire/original tower house. Rather, "this work" is likely the Tudor-era court house which was added later (including the fireplace - if the plaque was originally placed there, as suggested by Du Noyer[1]. Or the well - if the plaque was placed/moved there, as suggested by the JCHAS Errata[2]). In any event, whether "this work" was the entire court house, the fireplace of that court house, or its nearby well, "this work" unequivocally did not refer to the tower house. Which is unquestionably Norman in form/origin.
  • Date or ruin/abandon - I'd hoped to add something a bit more concrete on when the castle was abandoned/ruined. However, while it was definitely a ruin by the very early 1800s, and possibly largely abandoned by the early 1700s, whether and when it fell beyond use is not entirely clear. The only academic text that I found (that speaks specifically to ruin/destruction) is Friar O'Sullivan's JCHAS note that Dunkerron and Cappanacush were both "burnt by Lord Musgry". But he doesn't give a date or specifics. It's possible that this burning was at the hands of the castles' own masters - to prevent capture during the Cromwellian/Confederate wars. But that may not align with Lewis's note on the defence of those castles at that time. So I left it out. I'm not happy with the "gap" this leaves. (But it's possibly better to have a "gap" than a "guess").

Unless someone has definitive source on whether/when/how the castle fell to ruin and abandon, I'm not really expecting a response to this thread. I'm just explaining myself (both to myself - and any following editor). Guliolopez (talk) 13:08, 3 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]