You’d think a city of Dublin wouldn’t be the place to hide a castle. Yet many Dublin natives had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned Drimnagh castle. This article describes the history of one of Ireland’s few moated castles.
Before the castle
About 5000 years ago, Neolithic people created burial grounds in the area now known as Drimnagh1.
There is a megalithic tomb not far from here in Kilmashogue.
The land was wild and rugged, sporting wild boar, wolves and deer1. The Bronze Age settlers came next, followed by the Vikings1. Vikings had invaded most of northern continental Europe as well as the British Isles and Ireland. It was a further Viking invasion led by Rollo that conquered northern France. He is better known in French history as Robert I of Normandy. The Normans then attacked and invaded England, before invading Ireland1.
History
Hugo de Berneval was a Norman Knight who built the original castle in 12402. He was given the land called Drimnagh in 12153 for services rendered to Lord Strongbow during the first invasion of Ireland2. The land was prime real estate because it was on high ground, and outside the city of Dublin2.
De Berneval anglicised his family name to Barnewall2. His family continued to be involved in Irish matters for the next 400 years2. In the process the family acquired land between Dirmagh and Balbriggan2. The castle changed hands, first to Sir Adam Loftus in 1607 and then it passed from one family to another till 19042.
Mr Joseph Hatch bought it and spent a considerable amount refurbishing it till 1954 when he left it to the Christian Brothers2. They used the castle but it soon fell into disrepair2.
Current status
In the 1980s local residents set up a committee to restore and maintain the castle2 4. It was Peter Pearson who created this committee after he discovered the castle was earmarked for destruction4. In June 1986 over 200 local tradespeople started restoring2 4.
The whole restoration project took 5 years, and the castle is now open for events and to the public4. (The BBC series The Tudors was filmed here5.)
The castle isn’t visible from the busy Long Mile road which runs past it. If you know what you’re looking for, it is easy to find.
- History; Drimnagh castle; (Retrieved 2020-04-09) [↩][↩][↩][↩]
- One of the few moated castles in Ireland; Curious Ireland; (Retrieved 2020-04-09) [↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Barnewalls; Drimnagh castle; (Retrieved 2020-04-13) [↩]
- Restoration; Drimnagh castle; (Retrieved 2020-04-09) [↩][↩][↩][↩]
- Films; Drimnagh castle; (Retrieved 2020-04-13) [↩]