Colonel Hunks, one of the three deputed to execute the death warrant of Charles I., was granted the lands of Monkstown by the Commonwealth before the demise of John Archdeacon, who lost his estate on account of loyalty to the Stewarts. Hunks sold it to Primate Boyle, brother of the Earl of Cork, for £400. But it evidently returned to the Archdeacon family upon the Restoration, for it was again confiscated in 1688 on account of the family’s loyalty to King James. It then passed again into the hands of the Boyles, and through two granddaughters of the Primate it descended to the present owners, the Lords De Vesci and Longford. In 1700 Dive Downes writes: “Mr. O’Callaghan, a Protestant, lives in Monkstown, in a good square castle with flankers.” Later in this century it was rented by the Government as a barrack. Lord De Vesci leased the castle to Bernard Shaw in 1861. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. Smith, “County and City of Cork.” Gibson, “History of Cork.” J. Windele, “Historical Notices of City of Cork,” &c. Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries. Parliamentary Gazetteer. _PORTUMNA CASTLE_ There have been three consecutive castles at Portumna, which is situated in the Barony of Longford, Co. Galway. The town stands at the head of Lough Derg, about eleven miles west of Birr. The name signifies “the bank of the oak.” The territory formerly belonged to the O’Maddens, and was included in the grant to De Burgo 1226. Soon after this the first castle was erected close to the River Shannon. The ruins were removed some years ago, but its position can still be traced. The second fortress, which was an imposing castellated building of the Tudor period, was burnt in 1826. The chief apartments were the great hall, handsome state drawing-room, and library--a beautiful long room in the upper storey. They were all completely destroyed, only the walls being left. Some of the out-offices were fitted up as a residence for the Dowager Countess of Clanricard shortly afterwards. Since then the Earl of Clanricard has erected a magnificent modern residence in the demesne, but on a different site. The manor passed, by the marriage of Elizabeth, daughter of William de Burgo, Earl of Ulster, to Lionel, Duke of Clarence, through whom it passed to the Mortimers, and later to the Earls of Clanricard. In 1582 it was held by Ulick Burke, Earl of Clanricard, to whom Portumna and the earldom were confirmed, as his brother John disputed his right. In 1608 it was granted to the Earl, with other houses, to be held by knight’s service _in capite_. The Earl of Strafford held a council in the castle in 1634 to establish the King’s title in Connaught. The jury, however, negatived the matter, whereupon the Earl arrested them and the sheriff, and sent them prisoners to Dublin.