What is recorded here

Tarbert Castle may have been a manor rather than a fortress, yet Desmond, Herbert and Hollies all wanted it on the Shenant river. That much is clear. The rest has thinned to shadow, leaving a house that men still argued over long after its walls stopped answering back.

Tarbert Castle (site of). Apart from the fact that it was built around 1450 by the Earl of Desmond, very little is actually known about this castle. It is possible that it was more of a manor house than a castle, as neither Pelham nor Carew mentioned it during their expeditions in North Kerry in the Desmond wars. Tarbert Castle was mentioned in the Carew manuscripts in 1574, when the Earl of Desmond included it among a number of castles that he handed over to James Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald. In 1579 the Countess of Desmond resided there for a short period before she accompanied her husband during his retreat into Kerry. Sir William Herbert held the castle for some time after 200,000 acres of Desmond's lands had been confiscated in 1584. In 1589 the O'Connor seigniory of Tarbert was granted to John Hollies, but he encountered some difficulties retrieving it from Herbert, who desired 'to have a dwelling upon the river of Shenant'. The above description is derived from C. Toal, ‘North Kerry Archaeological Survey’. Dingle. Brandon in association with FAS Training and Employment Authority (1995), no. 992. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 3 August 2013

Built around 1450 by the Earl of Desmond, Tarbert Castle is remembered as a possible manor house that reflects the regional influence of the Desmond dynasty in the 15th century.

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