Here in 1570 the celebrated Leverus, Bishop of Kildare, sought shelter with the Earl of Desmond. He had been tutor to the young heir to the Earldom of Kildare, when a price was set upon his head after the rebellion of the Lord Thomas. Leverus had saved his pupil, who was ill with smallpox, by putting him in a basket, wrapped in blankets, and taking him from Kildare to Thomond. In 1578 the castle was taken by Sir Nicholas Malby after a siege of eleven days, and garrisoned by English under Captain Carew. Sir John Desmond, the Earl’s brother, shortly afterwards assaulted it in vain. The following year saw continual warfare round the town of Adare between the two parties, and a garrison of English was placed there by the Lord Deputy, who was accompanied by the Earl of Kildare. Desmond made every effort to recover the castle in 1580. He resorted to several stratagems, one of which was to send a beautiful young woman to the constable, by whose means he hoped the castle might be betrayed. But upon hearing from whence she came, the officer tied a stone round her neck and threw her into the river. The following year, however, Colonel Zouch, having disbanded part of his forces, the Earl gained possession of the castle, and put the garrison to the sword. Fresh forces arriving from Cork, Zouch marched on Adare, only to find it deserted; but he pursued the Irish to Lisconnel, where he defeated them in an engagement. Captain Mynce was recommended as custodian in 1585, and in 1598 Mr. Marshal’s castles of Bruff and Adare were reported to have been taken. In 1600 the Sugan Earl of Desmond occupied Adare, but upon the approach of Sir George Carew, in July, the Irish burnt the castle and fled. He reports it as “a manor-house belonging to the Earls of Kildare, wholly ruined by Pierce Lacy.” This Lacy was one of the Earl of Desmond’s supporters. Insurgents seized the stronghold in 1641, but were driven out by the Earl of Castlehaven, and the castle is said to have been dismantled in 1657 by Cromwell’s orders. The lands remained in the possession of the Earls of Kildare until 1721, when they were purchased by the Quin family, now represented by the Earl of Dunraven. AUTHORITIES CONSULTED. J. Dowd, “The County of Limerick.” The Countess and Earl of Dunraven, “Memorials of Adare.” Marquis of Kildare, “The Earls of Kildare.” M. Lenihan, “Limerick: Its History and Antiquities.” J. Ferrar, “History of Limerick.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Calendar of State Documents. Calendar of Carew MSS. [Illustration: ANTRIM CASTLE.] _ANTRIM CASTLE_ “Brown in the rust of time--it stands sublime With overhanging battlements and towers, And works of old defence--a massy pile, And the broad river winds around its base In bright, unruffled course.”