The O’Byrnes seem to have been in possession of the castle in the early part of the sixteenth century, but in 1534 it had again passed to the Crown, and Thomas Stevyns was appointed constable. In 1567 Sir Thomas Fytzwylliams began his suit for the fortress, which, in 1575, he offered to re-edify, though his doing so does not seem altogether to have worked in his favour. It seems generally believed that the present ruins represent the stronghold he built, but in 1580 it was reported that Wicklow Castle was razed by the enemy. Nineteen years later the terrible disaster took place in June, 1599, in which the English troops were utterly routed between Rathdrum and Glenmalure by the combined Irish septs of the district. It was this that caused Essex such a sharp reprimand from Oueen Elizabeth. Sir Henry Harrington was in command, and his troops fell back upon Wicklow Castle in the wildest disorder, chased by the Irish within half a mile of the town. Captain Adam Loftus seems to have been the only one who endeavoured to redeem the day. He was wounded in the leg and conveyed to the castle. A surgeon was sent for, though the wound was not considered dangerous at first; but he shortly afterwards succumbed to the effects. In 1610 Sir William Usher, Knight, was made constable of the fortress, and in 1641 Luke O’Toole and a band of insurgents laid siege to the town and castle, but retreated upon the approach of Sir Charles Coote with some English troops. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. Gilbert, “History of Viceroys of Ireland.” Marquis of Kildare, “Earls of Kildare.” O’Toole, “History of the Clan O’Toole.” Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. State Papers. Book of Howth, Carew MSS. _BLARNEY CASTLE_ “There is a stone there whoever kisses, Oh, he never misses to grow eloquent, ’Tis he may clamber to a lady’s chamber Or become a member of Parliament. A clever spouter, he’ll sure turn out, or An ‘out an’ outer’ to be let alone, Don’t hope to hinder him or bewilder him, Sure he’s a pilgrim to the Blarney Stone!” FATHER PROUT. Appropriately built on an isolated limestone rock, the castle of the Blarney (Blarna meaning “little field”) was the chief stronghold of the chiefs of the sept Carty, from Cartheigh, “an inhabitant of the rock.” It is situated some three and a half miles north-west of Cork, near the junction of the Comane (_i.e._ crooked stream) and the Awmartin River. The present ruins show three distinct periods of construction, of which the oldest is a slender tower, or peel, situated at the north-west corner of the larger block of masonry that was built to it, the whole being the great keep of the fortress.