Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland: Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting RuinsRussell, Thomas O'Neill
History
Beauties and Antiquities of Ireland: Being a Tourist's Guide to Its Most Beautiful Scenery & an Archæologist's Manual for Its Most Interesting Ruins
Russell, Thomas O'Neill
Ireland -- Antiquities; Ireland -- Description and travel
There are few views in Ireland more beautiful than that from the summit of
the mound on which Cuchulainn's mansion stood. It may not be so extensive
as other views in the locality, but for beauty and variety it can hardly
be exceeded. If admittance is obtained into the house that is built on the
track of Cuchulainn's, the view will be still finer. It is said by some
that that house is haunted. It is to be hoped that it is; and that
Cuchulainn's ghost will drive away sleep from the eyes of every one of
Patrick Byrne's descendants who stop in it.
The ancient name of the country round Dundalk was Muirimhne; but it has
not been called by that name for some centuries. It appears to have been
the patrimony of Cuchulainn; for in the tale, in the "Book of the Dun
Cow," from which extracts have been given, Fann calls him, "Great chief of
the plain of Muirimhne." He, probably, or the clan of which he was the
head, owned all that part of northern Louth where the land is level, and
up to the foot of the Cooley hills. All the County Louth is fairly studded
with ruins of one sort or another. It is one of the most interesting
counties in Ireland in an antiquarian point of view. It contains the
remains of nearly thirty castles in almost all stages of preservation. One
of the finest of them is only a few hundred yards from the _dun_ of
Cuchulainn. It is not in the least ruined, but its architecture shows it
to be one of the oldest castles erected by the Anglo-Normans in Ireland.
Its style is almost exactly that of the castle at Trim, which we know was
built before the end of the twelfth century. Like Dunsochly Castle, near
Finglas, in the County Dublin, the one near Cuchulainn's _dun_ must have
been inhabited at a comparatively recent date, for modern windows have
been opened on its front. The only light that was admitted into those old
castles was what came through the narrow slits in the walls, about three
feet long and six or eight inches wide. These served the double purpose of
letting in light and discharging arrows through them. It does not seem to
be known by whom the very fine Norman Keep at Castletown, County Louth,
was built. There are many larger castles of the same kind in different
parts of Ireland, but there are not many of its age in such a good state
of preservation. There is a church in the immediate proximity of the
castle, and the exact date of its erection seems also unknown. It is in a
state of almost utter ruin. The County Louth can boast of having been the
birth-place of St Brigit. She was born at Fachart, only a few miles from
Castletown, but it was in Kildare she spent almost all her life, and it
was there she died and was buried.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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