CASTLES OF THE O'BYRNES
by Seamus O'Byrne of Aughrim.
The ancestors of the O'Byme or Byrne came to Wicklow in or about the 1175 from North Kildare, their lands having been overrun by the Anglo Normans under Strongbow whose deeds are well recorded in Irish History. A large portion of the property was granted to a Maurice FitzGerald with Naas as a centre. Having arrived in Wicklow it is widely believed that they first settled in the Aughrim area. One of their first known settlements is at Ballinacor on the site of a ringfort well described by Harry Long in the Glendalough Historical and Folklore
Society Journal. This would account for their spread southward towards the Wexford and Carlow borders and north eastwards towards the coastal areas. They
also founded a monastery later at Ballinabarney and according to tradition they remained patrons of this monastery until its destruction at the hands of the
English in the late sixteenth century. This site is situated one mile northwest of Greenane Bridge opposite Ballinacor House.
In 1303, there were O'Byrnes in the Tullow area of Carlow holding land as tenant farmers of the Butlers of Ormond. It is commonly believed that they also got a footing as tenants at will on the lands of the monastic houses during their early period in Wicklow. Laurence O Toole, later to become Saint Laurence being bishop of Glendalough at
that time may well have had sympathy with their plight. His own Clansmen would suffer a similar fate. The Norse coastal towns of Wicklow and Arkiow provided
the colonists with their first fortified settlements. A series of land grants soon followed from Henry II about 1180 allowing the invaders the opportunity to build mottes or motte bailey castles to protect their ill gotten properties and
so the conquest of Wicklow continued.
Castles were built at Newcastle Mc Kyneghan (beside present Newcastle Village) and Ballyhorsey located about one mile from Newtownmountkennedy on the BalIinastoe side. Newcastle Mc Kyneghan was probably the first to be built most likely by Hugh de Lacy between 1177 and 1184.
Others were also built at Kiltimon (between Ashford and
Newtownmountkennedy about half way on left hand side. Ballymoat,beside Glenealy village, in the direction of Ashford believed to have been built by Meyler.
Castlekevin soon followed built around 1185 for the Archbishops of Dublin who were also Anglo Normans as their Manor.
As my fellow Clansmen would appreciate it is almost impossible to mention the O'Byrnes without making
reference the the O'Tooles who gradually gained control over Castlekevin and surrounding districts as the result of an O'Toole raid on Ballymore Eustace in which four hundred cows were taken away. The Lord Lieutenant the Archbishop and Lord Mayor of Dublin brought a garrison and destroyed the Castle in 1419. From this time the OTooles were in rebellion against the English administration until 1540 when Art Og O'Toole of Castlekevin and his brother Turlough of Powerscourt
submitted to King Henry Tudor VIII and received re- grants of their lands. The OTooles retained control over Castlekevin and surrounding areas and districts of Ferter (later to become Vartry) until 1636. Castlekevin is
situated half a mile on the east side of Annamoe Village.
Kilcommon Castle commonly known as Stump of the Castle was built by Sir Hugh Lawless of Anglo
Norman extraction between 1319 and 1325. After the death of Sir Hugh in 1350 the Byrnes took possession of the castle and adjoining district and remained there
until the 17th Century.
The O'Byrnes and the O'Tooles gradually extended
their control over the Wicklow mountains and eastern seaboard throughout the Middle Ages. They did so
sometimes co-operating with the Crown to establish a
foothold and at times of greater strength over-running and occupying previously built English sites such as Kiltimon. Kiltimon overlooks the coast from Grey stones to Wicklow
town and its capture led to the destruction of the Kings Manor at Newcastle Mc Kyneghan in 1405. This castle was later rebuilt and changed hands more than
once; the O'Bymes had possession of this manor when they finally submitted to the Crown in 1542.
Other manors of castles built by the Normans at
Kindlestown (Greystones), Ballinapark near Hunters Hotel, Raheenrnore near Blainroe, two miles south of Wicklow town. All of the aforementioned manors were
eventually subdued by the OByrnes.
It is also feasible to believe that the O'Byrnes also occupied the massive pre-historic hilltop fort of Rathgall in
the fourteenth century. This settlememt commands excellent views of the surrounding countryside. Rathgall is half way between Coolkenno and Tullow on the right hand
side. It is protected by the Office of Public Works. By the
late sixteenth century the OByrnes and the OTooles had control over the entire area from Powerscourt to the southern border of the present Co. Wicklow, comprising
153,000 acres. This area included the entire area of the Wicklow mountains and the coastal areas from Newcastle to Arklow.
By the last decade of the sixteenth century the Gabhal Raghnaill Junior Branch of the Clan were the most
powerful of the O'Byrnes and continued to defy the Crown
From the time of their expulsion from Kildare the O'Byrnes
settled in the Glenmalure/Glendalough areas. Specific expeditions against the OBymes in Glenmalure are recorded from 1274 right through to the sixteenth
century. All available evidence suggest that the residence of the Gabhal Ragnaill OBymes in Glenmalure was at Ballinacor on the site of an ancient ringfort. It is also believed it may have been a wooden structure. The site is
situated half way up the Priests Hill on the right hand side of the edge of Tates field as it is locally known. This settlement was burned by Mountjoy on Christmas Eve 1600 in a surprise attack on Feagh McHugh. It was probably abandoned as soon as Phelirn's Castle further up the hillside was built.
Ballincoris described in poems of the leabhar Branach (Book of The O'Bymes) as a hunting haven and a place of harp music, feasting wine and drinking.
Phelim's castle or the upper Castle at Ballinacor was built about 1601 or 1602. Two more castles were built about the
same period; one at Knockrath, the other at Killaveny, known as Redmond's Castle. Redmond son of
Feach McHugh who occupied this manor between 1602 and
1641. Killaveny is situated about half mile north of the present Tinahely town.
Tradition tells us that when Phelim 's Castle was finally destroyed and left to ruin, the rubble was used at a later date to build Ballinacor House which still stands in
perfect shape. The last remains was cleared away in the interests of agriculture in the late 1960s. No trace of Phelim's Castle remains.
Only the terraced landscape of Knockrath Castle remains today. Knockrath Castle is located one mile north-west of Clara bridge on the Knockrath/Cullentra raod via
the Burned House.
In conclusion, it must be said that the building of
these stone castles in the seventeenth century is an indication of the wealth and power of the O'Byrnes at that time. The politics, wars and treachery of the seventeenth century were to finally destroy the Gaelic way of life, along with the economic power and land titles that supported it.
Four centuries later O'Byme and Byrne are still the most common surname in Wicklow.
The family motto of the O'Byme is
Certavia et Vici, meaning I strive and I succeed.
By SEAMUS F. BYRNE 1991
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