Castle (in ruins) — Castleview

Castleisland was described in 1837 as 'this place derives its name from the "Castle of the Island of Kerry", erected by Geoffrey de Marisco in 1226, and which in 1345 was taken by Sir Ralph Ufford, Lord Justiciary of Ireland, from Sir Eustace de la Paor and other knights, who held it for the Earl of Desmond, commonly called "the poet" ' (Lewis 1837, 287-8). In 1841 the castle of Castleisland was described as; ‘The old castle at Castle Island was a very extensive one, but it is now very difficult to determine its original form and characteristics. One square tower is still in tolerable preservation and also the gateway, over which there is another square tower not unlike the one at Kilmallock. The spot of land on which this castle stands is called by the native Oileáin Ciarraighe i.e. the Island of Kerry. The castle is said to have been erected by Geoffrey de Marisicis, Lord Justice of Ireland in the year 1226. The River Mang or Maine was conducted round the walls in a ditch, over which were formerly drawbridges, portcullises & c. The most perfect of the towers now remaining measures on the outside 15 ft. 6 in. [4.7m] from E to W and 15 ft. [4.57m] from N to S and it is about 45 ft [13.7m] in height. This was a flanking tower forming the SW angle of a large castle, which is now in fragments, tumbled and scattered on the ground. The gateway tower had two floors over the gate and is lighted by several small windows formed of cut limestone. Its walls are 4 ft. 2 in. [1.26m] thick. West of this and originally connected with it by a wall now destroyed is a small portion of the ruins of a large castle, the walls of which are 9 ft. [2.74m] in thickness. One vault only remains at present measuring on the inside 16 ft. [4.87m] from N to S and 9 ft. 11 in. [3m] from E to W. This was a very important fortress’ (OSL, MS 14/c/30/20(11) ). Cusack (1871, 401) recorded that in 1231 a letter was sent from King Henry III to ‘the Constable of Catsleisland’ which was translated as follows; ‘We give you to know with grief that William Matreschall, formerly Earl of Pembroke, your liege lord, is dead; there, we command you that you freely deliver up the Castle of the Island in your keeping to the charge of our well beloved and trusty Walerond Fenton, to whose keeping we have committed the castles and lands of the aforesaid earl in Ireland’. In 1942 the castle of Castleisland built by Geoffrey de Marisco was described as; 'the remains of this once famous castle are at the western end of the town and on the roadside on the Killarney road. The tower wall is still in a fairly good state of preservation. The remains of other walls of the castle still standing show it to have extended on a square of about 200 yards' (ITA Survey). The castle of Castleisland was recently described by Salter (2004, 101, 103) as follows; 'Hidden away from the main street behind some houses are the lower part of a bawn corner tower about 8.5m by 6.5m with part of a vault and double splayed loop, and 60m away to the NE is a lofty fragment of a 4m square corner turret of a tower house which may have had a similar plan to that at Listowel. In 1600 Carew described the castle as having been the chief seat of the Earl of Desmond'. The results of archaeological testing carried out by Margaret McCarthy under licence no. 01E0391 in 2001 was summarised as follows; 'Pre-development testing was carried out at Castleview, Castleisland, Co. Kerry, prior to the construction of a new housing development. The site lies just to the east of the constraint area for a ruined Fitzgerald castle. An application for planning permission to Kerry County Council was referred to Dúchas, who recommended that a detailed archaeological assessment be undertaken prior to any considerations of planning approval. The first phase of construction of the castle was begun in 1226 by Geoffrey de Marisco. Ownership passed to the Fitzgeralds through marriage in the late 13th century, and it was subsequently to become one of their most important strongholds. It was completely destroyed during the various wars of the 1600s, and although it was partially rebuilt towards the end of the 17th century, it soon fell into ruins again. The castle was abandoned by the Herberts in 1687 for a smaller and more manageable residence. By 1850 there was just one square tower left and this still survives today. The development site involved the construction of ten townhouses within a walled garden immediately to the east of the castle. An existing house on the property was converted into a mews dwelling, an apartment and offices. Trial-trenching was undertaken over a period of one day. Every effort was made to locate the test-trenches within those areas of the development where maximum ground disturbance was to take place, although their exact placement was dictated by the extant buildings and existing services on the site. In all, three test-trenches were excavated to a depth below the intended level of the foundations in order to ensure that no archaeological material was present. Nothing of archaeological significance was found in any of the trenches' (McCarthy 2003, 163). In 2010-2011 excavations were undertaken by Laurence Dunne under licence no. 10E0228 the results of which were summarised as follows; 'This season’s excavations were undertaken in June and October 2011 as extensions to the work commenced in 2010 (Excavations 2010, no. 375), abutting and in the immediate vicinity of a ruinous corner turret of the medieval castle complex of Castleisland, Co. Kerry. Very little of this once-formidable medieval manorial seat of the earls of Desmond survives above ground today, but the coherent (though largely destroyed) remains of the main keep and the dilapidated remains of two corner turrets survive in the rear gardens of Castleview Terrace. The test excavations relate to a garage redevelopment project abutting and partially included within the proposed development site. In 2010 four linear test excavations were opened before work was halted owing to health and safety considerations relating to the stability of the turret. Following discussions with the Kerry County Archaeologist and the NMS, a conservation report on the turret, including a full 3D laser scan, was submitted in December 2010 in advance of the current season’s excavation works, which were undertaken in two phases in June and October. The corner turret is entirely overgrown and is in a poor, neglected state, with much rubbish dumped in the partially broken barrel vault as well as pervasive vegetation growth. Essentially, three structural areas were identified that required consolidation and restoration works, and all the works needed to be carried out in a sequential fashion for health and safety considerations. Before any physical work was undertaken, the growth on the turret was judiciously cut back in order to inspect fully the relict physical fabric of the medieval structure. The conservation study identified a number of essential key structural areas requiring direct consolidation/intervention works prior to the undertaking of excavation work along the turret’s base. Essentially, all of the quoins and much of the north, east and part of the south elevations had been robbed out or partially robbed out to varying degrees. Furthermore, the upper limits of the turret’s fabric were top-heavy, outwardly disposed and possibly held in place by the strong ivy growth. Virtually the entire thickness of the north elevation was robbed out, leaving only a single course of masonry over much of it, to such an extent that the thickness of the elevation was a mere 0.15m in places. The full results of the conservation works to the fabric of the turret are not discussed here in the interests of brevity. The initial phase of the programme of conservation and excavation, however, addressed the immediate structural issues of the turret and the pertinent health and safety issues for both the publ