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The Fourteenth Century
'A splendid ruin and a grand specimen of a Norman
castle, its history buried in the mists of antiquity.'
The name Greencastle is thought to date from the sixteenth century,
and possibly comes from the colour of the local rock, green Dalradian
schist, from which the castle was built.
The old Irish name was Caisleán Nua, which means New Castle,
and it was thus known in the district a century ago, although over
five hundred years had passed since it really was the new castle
of Inishowen, built by Richard de Burgh, Earl of Ulster and Lord
of Connacht, known as the 'Red Earl.'
John O Donovan adds this note to his edition of the Annals:
'Greencastle, near the western margin of Loch Foyle, barony of
Inishowen and county of Donegal, is, even at the present day, called
Caisleán Nua, i.e. Newcastle. The magnificent ruins of this
castle sufficiently show that it as a fortress of great strength
and importance, and in every respect worthy of the princely Earl
by whom it was erected in so important a situation, to subdue the
O Neills and O Donnells, and check the incursions of the Scots.
This castle is shewn on Mercator's map of Ireland under the name
of Newcastle...the Annals of Ulster and Clonmacnois agree in placing
its first erection in the year 1305.'
Richard de Burgh had most of Ireland in his power, but in the north
west, in Tír Conaill and Inishowen, the O Donnells and the
O Doherties remained free and independent. Their great strength
was due to the help they received from the adventurous fighters
of the old Norse kingdom of Argyle and the Hebrides, founded by
Somerled, the 'summer' farer,' from whom came the romantic names
of Clandonnell, Clanranald, and the Lord of the Isles. These professional
soldiers came across the sea to the lonely bays and strands of Donegal,
where they entered the service of the Irish chiefs, in return for
pay or land. They fought in helmets and heavy mail, with famous
axes as long as themselves, and were known as 'gallow-glasses,'
from the Irish word meaning foreign soldiers. Milford Haven, further
to the west, is an Irish Port na nGallóglach, the port of
the Gallow-glasses.
The Normans had been raiding the country on the south side of Loch
Foyle for over a hundred years before they finally took possession
of the land from Coleraine to Derry. In 1188 De Courcy built a castle
on the Bann known as Kinsantail or Mount Sandal, in order to threaten
Inishowen.
At the beginning of the fourteenth century the Earl of Ulster acquired
land from the Bishop of Derry in the neighbourhood of that city,
or abbey as it was then, and in the parishes of Fahan, Inch and
Moville. In 1305 he established a garrison at the mouth of Loch
Foyle, on the opposite side to his Manor of Roe, in the County of
Coleraine: and there he built a great stone castle, which was called
Northburg by the English.
We may image it towering on a lofty rock forty-five feet above
the level of the sea, with probably two octagonal gate towers facing
west. The fortress covered the entire surface of the rock; it was
inaccessible from the Loch, and strongly fortified on the inland
side, toward the mountain. The castle is now in such a ruinous state
that one can only conjecture what it looked like originally.
In The Book of Inishowen Mr. H.P. Swan says that 'The castle
as it stands now, measures about 280 feet long from east to west,
exclusive of the projection of the great tower about 36 feet beyond
the line of the northern wall. The great tower or Keep is the strongest
part of the castle. It measures externally 51 feet long by 45 feet
wide, and at the ground level the walls are 12 feet wide. In the
north of the keep is a hollow rectangular pillar 8 feet by 7 feet,
and a well in the outer western wall.'
In The Castles of Inishowen, by the same writer in collaboration
with Mr. O. Davies, the writers consider that the castle must have
been altered from time to time, and the projecting square Keep possibly
added at a later date. They described the structure thus:
'The walls, with a slight batter at the base, recall those of Inch,
Elagh and Buncrana. The method of vaulting resembles that of Inch.
In both cases the vault was built up horizontal to a certain level,
at which the stone became nearly vertical, though at Greencastle
the construction is more primitive, the vertical part of the arch
being set back slightly from the edge of the horizontal courses.
In both castles the centering was sometimes with sloping beams,
those sockets remain; at Greencastle those beams sloped at about
45 deg., and there were no horizontal beams below them to steady
them, while at Inch horizontal beams were used, and the sloping
ones were steeper. Technically this method of centering would be
the transference of a mediaeval wooden roof to a barrel vault. Wicker
centering was used for the loop-hole recesses at Inch, Greencastle
and Buncrana.'
According to Mr. H.G, Leask author of Irish Castles, it
was built at the end of a great castle-building period during which
most of the great stone castles in Ireland were built. He classifies
it as one with a rectangular Keep incorporated in the outer defences.
In the Ulster Journal of Archaeology for February and May
1910 (vol. XVI) there is an article by the Rev. Samuel Ferguson,
B.A., called 'A Short Account of Northburg (Greencastle) in Inis
Eoghan,' and in it he refers to a castle being there before the
Normans came, but there is no definite record of its existence.
There was a Norman church attached to the castle of Northburg,
and we read in the Calendar of Patent Rolls for 1310 of a
'Licence for the alienation in mortmain by Richard de Burgh, earl
of Ulster, of 60 acres of land in Northburg in Incheon to Thomas
de Stanes, parson of the church of St. Mary, Northburg,and his successors.'
Thomas de Stanes seems to have been quartermaster as well as parson,
as there are documents in Dublin which record instructions for corn
to be sent to him, 50 crannocs, or over 1,000 bushels.
The ruins of the mediaeval church can be seen in a field on the
left-hand side of the road leading from Greencastle village to the
mountains, possibly on the site of an older church. There is supposed
to be a tunnel from the castle to this church, and it is said to
have been explored for about 100 yards.
In Lewis' Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) those
ruins are described as extensive, and are called 'Capal Moule.'
In a History of Inishowen by 'Magtochair' (1867) the writer
tells an old fairy story in which some of the O Doherties come to
'Tapal Moule' near Greencastle, and while supper was being prepared,
one of them retired to 'the old ruin behind the inn, to say a prayer.
'Capal Moule and Tapal Moule probably come from the Irish Teampall
Moule - a ruined church -and the present house close to the ruin
is called Kilmoyle, which has the same meaning.
De Burgh did not do more than obtain a foot-hold in Inishowen,
as from 1315 to 1318 he was trying to repel Edward Bruce, brother
of King Robert Bruce of Scotland, who, after the Battle of Bannock-burn,
sent his brother to win the crown of Ireland. He as welcomed with
joy by the Irish chiefs, an according to the Annalist Grace, 'He
took possession of Northburg, and put his ward into it.' Some historians
say that he held his court there, but this has been disputed by
others. Unfortunately there is a Greencastle in Co. Down, which
was also called Northburg,and the two places may have been confused.
Bruce was killed near Dundalk in 1318 and the de Burghs recovered
Northburg.
Eight years later Richard, the 'Red Earl,' retired to his abbey
of Athassel, near Cashel, and we read in the Annals that 'Richard
Burke, the Red Earl, Lord of Ulster and Connacht, and the choicest
of the English in Ireland died at the close of the summer.'
He was succeeded by his grand-son, William known as the 'Dun' or
Brown Earl, who was married to Maud Plantagenet, great grand-daughter
of Henry III.
In Connacht, a cousin of the Brown Earl, Walter Burke, rebelled
against his powerful, though youthful relative, he was only twenty-one
years of age. Walter was captured by his cousin, in either Connacht
of Inishowen, and the Brown Earl brought his prisoner back to his
stronghold of Northburg; there he threw him into the dungeon of
the castle, and left him to starve to death. This event was recorded
in many of the Annals: 'He died in that prison of want.' Tradition
says that Walter Burke was confined in the hollow rectangular pillar
mentioned in the description of the castle, but it is more probable
that he was kept in a wall chamber at the top of the Keep. Vengeance
soon overtook de Burgh,and brought about the downfall of the Earldom
of Ulster.
Walter Burke had a sister, Gyhe, and, a year later, when the Brown
Earl was returning to his castle of Carrickfergus, some of her husband's
family were waiting for him at the fords of Belfast, and stabbed
him to death. His widow returned to England, with her infant daughter,
and eventually the titles of Ulster and Connacht came to the English
royal family.
The power of the Normans in Ireland was ended; O Doherty regained
the lordship of Inishowen, under the rule of O Neill or O Donnell;
in Connacht, Walter Burke's brothers and cousin divided the land
between them, and became more Irish than the Irish. The manner in
which Walter Burke was put to death is supposed to have made such
an impression on the citizens of Derry, that a skeleton was introduced
into the Coat of Arms of that City.
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