During the great rebellion of 1641 it was the scene of much bloodshed, a gallows having been erected before the castle windows “for hanging the English.” One morning a Richard Mewdon was hanged after two days’ imprisonment, having been bound to a Mrs. Stringer with great cruelty. The rope was then put round her neck, but M’Carthy’s mother looking out of the window, and thinking to save her, sent a priest to know what religion she was. She, however, boldly declared she was a Protestant. The castle was shortly afterwards taken by the Bandonians. Some ancient fir-trees are still to be seen called “M’Carthy’s Bagpipes,” where the executions took place, and the ground beneath having been cursed by one of his victims no grass will grow on it, although there is plenty of light and air. After the confiscation of the M’Carthy estates the castle passed to Colonel Thomas Long, who was left at the head of affairs when Henry Cromwell retired. At the Restoration it reverted to the Crown and James II. bestowed it on Donough M’Carthy, Lord Cloncarty, a relative of its former owner. It was sold in Oueen Anne’s reign to the Hollow Sword Blades Company, and it is now in the possession of Colonel W. St. Leger Alcock-Stawell. To the castle belonged privileges of fairs and markets. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. Smith, “State of the County and City of Cork”; also Copenger, “Historical Notes in New Edition” of same. Gibson, “History of the County and City of Cork.” Bennett, “History of Bandon.” Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.” Carew MSS. Parliamentary Gazetteer. _KILKEA CASTLE_ “And, oh! through many a dark campaign They proved their prowess stern, In Leinster’s plains and Munster’s vales, On king, and chief, and kern. But noble was the cheer within The halls so rudely won, And generous was the steel-gloved hand That had such slaughter done. How gay their laugh, how proud their mien, You’d ask no herald’s sign-- Amid a thousand you had known, The princely Geraldine.” This castle was built by Hugh de Lacy, Chief Governor of Ireland, for Walter de Riddlesford, Baron of Bray, who had been granted the surrounding district of Omurethi by Strongbow. De Riddlesford’s granddaughter, Emelina inherited the manors of Kilkea and Castledermot through her mother, and she, marrying Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Baron of Offaly, the property passed to the Geraldines who still possess Kilkea Castle, which is one of the seats of the Duke of Leinster, where some of the family at present reside. Kilkea signifies the Church of St. Kay, or Caoide, and the barony derives its name from the churchyard situated a few perches north-west of the castle. The fortress is built on the banks of the River Greese, a tributary of the Barrow, about five miles south-east of Athy. Its position was a particularly exposed one, being [Illustration: KILKEA CASTLE.]