Castle

The annals record that in 1216 the Justiciar, Geoffrey de Marisco, who had received large grants of land in Ireland from King John, built a castle at Killaloe in connection with his attempt to install an English bishop, Robert Travers, apparently one of his own relatives, in this see (Bradley et al. 1988, 99; Bradley 1994, 172). The latest known reference to this castle is in 1231 when royal assent to the election of Donnchad, bishop of Killaloe, required an undertaking from him not to commit the castle to 'the king's enemies, who would destroy it' (Sweetman 1875, No. 1908). The exact location of this castle is unknown though Westropp has suggested it was built on the site of Ceann Coradh, Kincora, ‘the head of the weir’: this he located on the high ground at the W end of the modern town on the summit of which St Flannán’s (RC) church stands (1911-12, 202-3). Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 2 December 2014

Geoffrey de Marisco, Justiciar of Ireland and a recipient of royal grants from King John, built the Anglo-Norman masonry castle at Shantraud (Killaloe) around 1216 as part of his efforts to assert English authority in the region, particularly in the ecclesiastical sphere. The castle is remembered as a symbol of Norman expansion and the struggle to impose English control over Irish territories during the early 13th century.