Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight rise overlooking Dublin Bay just SW of a Church (DU019-015001-) and graveyard (DU019-015002-). The present castle is a Tudor-Revival House (1837) with a mock Norman keep attached, designed by Willliam Vitruvius Morrison. It occupies the site of a former castle associated in the 12th-century with Adam de Phephoe and later the Knights Hospitallers (Bence-Jones 1987, 87; Dawson 1976, 124-5, O'Donovan 1997, 17-18)). During the late 17th century the property passed to John Vernon, a quartermaster of Cromwell’s army in 1650. The Civil survey (1654-6) describes a castle with a stone house adjoining a stone bawn at Clontarf (Simington 1945, 176). Rocque's map (1760) shows a large rectangular bawn with circular bastions at the NW and NE angles, which was demolished in 1837. Excavations in 1996 revealed little evidence for the original castle except for a section of wall (W 2.6m) orientated N-S, which extends under the existing building (O'Donovan 1997, 17-18).

Compiled by Geraldine Stout

References

O'Donovan, E. 1997b Clontarf castle, Clontarf. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 1996: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 17-18. Bray. Wordwell.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1945 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. VII: county of Dublin. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Dawson, T. 1976 The Road To Howth. Dublin Historical Record 29, 122-32.

Bence-Jones, M. 1978 Burke's Guide to Country Houses: Volume 1 Ireland. London. Burke's Peerage Ltd.