One of Ireland’s most dramatic ruins

The Rock of Dunamase sits high on a limestone outcrop 150 feet above the surrounding plain. This has been a strategic location for thousands of years and was even mentioned by the Greek cartographer Ptolemy in 140AD. It is also mentioned in The Annals of the Four Masters that it was plundered by the Vikings in 843 AD. In 1170, a Norman castle was built here and was part of the dowry of Aoife, the daughter of Diarmuid MacMurrough when she married Strongbow. It passed to William Marshal, Roger Mortimer, and then to the O’Moore Clan who ruled this area for 200 years. The castle was allegedly besieged and destroyed in 1651 by Cromwellian forces (although no records remain). In 1795, Sir John Parnell, chancellor of the Irish Parliament, tried to develop a residence here and added a banqueting hall but later his son allowed the buildings to fall into decay.