Enniscorthy Castle

Enniscorthy town developed around the caput of the manor of Duffry that extended from the River Slaney west as far as the Blackstairs Mountains, and was more or less co-terminus with the original parish of Templeshanbo. This was probably an earthwork castle originally, but it cannot be known when and by whom it was built first (Grattan-Flood 1904; Hore 1905). Duffry was granted before 1172 by Strongbow to Robert de Quincy who married Strongbow's daughter, Basilia. As a widow Basilia married Raymond le Gros in 1175, and he may have built an earthwork castle at Enniscorthy as the stepfather and guardian of de Quincy’s daughter, Maud. A buried ditch was discovered in building the Athenaeum club c. 30m to the W of the castle in the late 19th century which might have been from it (Hore 1900-11, 6, 337). Maud married Philip de Prendergast in 1198, and in 1227 he acquired Templeshannon on the E bank of the river from the Bishop of Ferns. In 1251 the manor passed to the Rochfort family, who are still described officially as owners in 1391, although it had been described in 1326 as destroyed by the Irish. Murtagh (2010, 105) suggests that a strong masonry structure must have been built to withstand Irish incursions during this period. The MacMurroughs seem to have possession of Enniscorthy in the 15th century and in 1460 Donal Reagh founded the Franciscan friary (WX020-031002-). In 1585 Sir Henry Wallop acquired the lease of the town and set about re-building it and developing a timber and iron industry. He probably built the Castle in its present form as a late tower house modelled on Ferns Castle with four corner towers but on a smaller scale and with distinctive late 16th century features such as square-headed doors, windows and fireplaces, and gun-loops. (Hore 1900-11, vol. 6, 335-50; Bradley and King 1990, 34-7; Murtagh 2010)

The castle is situated on an area of rock outcrop on an E-facing slope overlooking the NW-SE River Slaney which is c. 70m to the NE. It is a rectangular building (ext. dims. c. 14m NE-SW; c. 12m NW-SE) with three circular corner towers originally. The entrance is through a granite doorway with an elliptical head and a square hood moulding on the SE side. It is protected by a yett and by a lateral loop in the S tower. A newel stairs in this tower leads through the original pointed doorways to two upper storeys, while an oubliette or hidden chamber in the foundations of the W tower has an image of a soldier in late 16th century attire scratched in the plaster on the wall. The cross-wall on the ground floor is inserted and there is no barrel vault, but the NE wall at ground level contained a mural stairs. There are diamond-shaped chimney-stacks incorporating brick or tile on the SE, SW and NW walls. The castle was restored in 1903 by Mr H. J. Roche, who modernised all the windows and extended the castle with a new block on the NE side. Murtagh (2014, 290) identifies a subrectangular walled enclosure or bawn (dims c. 30m NE-SW; c. 25m NW-SE at NE to c. 40m NW-SE at SW) extending to the N and W that had a large tower at its NE angle which appears in 18th century views (Grose 1791-5, 2, pl. 110, B). This would have been associated with the later phase of the castle. The castle now houses the County Wexford Museum, which has re-opened after a refurbishment in 2010. (Adams 1904, 168–71: Harbison 1975, 246)