Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument No. 63. ‘Rinn an Chaisleáin', a small headland on the NE side of the island, is reputedly the site of a castle (Flower 1944, 86). There are no known documentary references to any fortifications here and the site does not appear on any of the early maps. The Blasket Islands were leased from the Earl of Desmond by the Ferriters from the 13th century (Westropp 1910, 204) and it is possible that a garrison may have been kept there intermittently. The castle is traditionally associated with the poet, Piaras Firtéar, who sought temporary refuge here c. 1641 but was subsequently captured and executed in Killarney (OSNB Dunquin, 20).

The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 1008. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 6 August 2013

References

Cuppage, J. 1986 Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne.

OSNB - Ordnance Survey Name Books. Pro-forma books arranged by Civil Parish for recording townland and other name-forms and compiled in the course of the OS 6-inch survey 1824-1841. The name books also include minor names and incidental references to antiquities. National Archives of Ireland.

Westropp, T.J. 1910 Promontory forts and similar structures in the County Kerry. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 40, 179-213.

Flower, R. 1944 The Western Island. Oxford.