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
authorities.
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

Back to Home Page