Rahinnane Castle
Native name
Irish: Caisleán Ráthanáin[1]
Typetower house atop ringfort
LocationRahinnane, Ventry,
County Kerry, Ireland
Coordinates52°08′35″N 10°23′00″W / 52.143050°N 10.383232°W / 52.143050; -10.383232
OwnerState
Official nameRahinnane Castle, Ringfort & Souterrain
Reference no.10045
Rahinnane Castle is located in Ireland
Rahinnane Castle
Location of Rahinnane Castle in Ireland

Rahinnane Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Kerry, Ireland.[2][3]

Location

Rahinnane Castle is located 1.73 km (1.07 mi) northwest of Ventry, in the west of the Dingle Peninsula.[4]

History

The ringfort on the site was built in the 7th or 8th century AD. The Irish name was originally Rath Fhionnáin — Finan's ringfort.

Local tradition once claimed that this piece of land was the last in Ireland held by the Vikings, as it was so easily defended.[5]

The stone tower house was built in the 15th or 16th century by the FitzGeralds, hereditary Knights of Kerry.[6]

In 1602, towards the end of the Nine Years' War, the castle was taken by Sir Charles Wilmot. It was ruined during the Cromwellian conquest (1649–53).[7][8]

Building

Another view of the castle

The ancient earthwork featured a 9 metres (30 ft) deep ditch, an entrance in the southwest and a souterrain in the southeast.

The castle was rectangular and three storeys tall. Most of the outer walls remain; on the inside there is some mural stairway, traces of vaulting and a blind arcade. Two corner turrets are also visible.

More than half the outer walls of the three-storey castle remain.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Caisleán Ráthanáin/Rahinnane Castle". Logainm.ie.
  2. ↑ Schorr, Frank. "Rahinnane Castle". www.castles.ancientireland.org.
  3. ↑ Alcock, Leslie (27 June 1963). "Dinas Powys: An Iron Age, Dark Age, and Medieval Settlement in Glamorgan". University of Wales Press – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ "Irish Castles - Rahinnane Castle". www.britainirelandcastles.com.
  5. ↑ "Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland". The Society. 27 June 2018 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Vaughan-Thomas, Wynford; Hales, Michael (27 June 1980). "Secret landscapes: mysterious sites, deserted villages, and forgotten places of Great Britain and Ireland". Select Editions – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ "Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History - Rahinnane Castle, County Kerry, Ireland Rahinnane..." Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History.
  8. ↑ Administrator. "Ventry - Ceann Trá". www.dingle-peninsula.ie.
  9. ↑ "Rahinnane Castle". irishantiquities.bravehost.com.
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