Rahinnane Castle

Rahinnane Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Kerry, Ireland.[2][3]

Rahinnane Castle
Native name
Irish: Caisleán Ráthanáin[1]
Typetower house atop ringfort
LocationRahinnane, Ventry,
County Kerry, Ireland
Coordinates52.143050°N 10.383232°W / 52.143050; -10.383232
OwnerState
Official nameRahinnane Castle, Ringfort & Souterrain
Reference no.10045
Rahinnane Castle is located in Ireland
Rahinnane Castle
Location of Rahinnane Castle in Ireland

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
  1. "Caisleán Ráthanáin/Rahinnane Castle". Logainm.ie.
  2. Schorr, Frank. "Rahinnane Castle". www.castles.ancientireland.org.
  3. Alcock, Leslie (27 June 1963). "Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age, and Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan". University of Wales Press – via Google Books.
  4. "Irish Castles - Rahinnane Castle". www.britainirelandcastles.com.
  5. "Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". The Society. 27 June 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford; Hales, Michael (27 June 1980). "Secret landscapes: mysterious sites, deserted villages, and forgotten places of Great Britain and Ireland". Select Editions – via Google Books.
  7. "Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History - Rahinnane Castle, County Kerry, Ireland Rahinnane..." Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History.
  8. Administrator. "Ventry - Ceann Trá". www.dingle-peninsula.ie.
  9. "Rahinnane Castle". irishantiquities.bravehost.com.
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