Dunamase or Rock of Dunamase is a rocky outcrop in County Laois, Ireland. It rises 46 meters (151 feet) above a plain and has the ruins of Dunamase Castle, an early Hiberno-Norman defensive bastion overlooking the Slieve Bloom Mountains. It is close to the N80 road between the towns of Portlaoise and Stradbally.
Why is the Rock of Dunamase historically significant?
Excavations in the 1990s showed that the rock was first settled in the 9th century, when a fortress or dún was built on the site. The earliest known settlement on the rock was Dun Masc or Masc’s Fort, an early Christian settlement sacked by the Vikings in 842. In 845 the Vikings of Dublin attacked the site and the Abbot of Terryglass, Aed, son of Dub dá Chrích, died there. There is no clear evidence of a settlement from the 10th and 11th centuries.
The Rock of Dunamase castle was constructed in the second half of the 12th century. When the Normans arrived in Ireland in the late 12th century, Dunamase became the most important Hiberno-Norman stronghold in Laois. At Dunamase, Dermot Mac Morrough, King of Leinster, took the wife of O’Rourke, King of Breifne, after kidnapping her. With the help of the O’Connor clan, the O’Rourkes and the O’Connors drove MacMurrough out of Dunamase and he fled Ireland. MacMurrough married Dunamase and his daughter Aoife in to the Norman conqueror Strongbow in 1170 as part of a deal to enlist his help in retaking his lands. Then followed the Norman invasion of Ireland when Strongbow accompanied MacMurrough along with many men to attack and retake MacMurrogh’s lands.
Later, with the marriage of Strongbow and Aoife’s daughter and heiress, Isabel, the castle passed into the hands of the Marshal family. William Marshal, who later became Regent of England in the minority of Henry III, had five sons, all of whom succeeded him in succession and died without issue. Thus in 1247 the Marshal’s lands were divided among William’s five daughters. Dunamase fell to Eva Marshal and then to her daughter Maud, who was married to Roger Mortimer in . The castle remained in Mortimer’s hands until 1330, when another Roger Mortimer was executed for treason. By the time the Mortimer family was rehabilitated, the castle was apparently no longer under Norman control. It seems to have become a decayed shell in 1350.
From the 1400s to the 16th century it was part of the land of the powerful O’More family (now More O’Ferrall) who ruled County Laois for several hundred years until the 16th century when they met great resistance from the English. Rory O’More defied the British. Therefore, County Laois is still nicknamed “O’More County”.
The castle belonged to Rory O’More, Lord of Laois. The O’Mores left the castle and moved to Kildare, on lands granted to them in 1574 by Rory O’More’s cousin, Elizabeth I of England. In 1751, The O’More family became the More O’Ferrall family. The family had been reduced from one of the most powerful Irish families to a standard aristocrat, although they had a peerage in the 17th century and then a baronetcy in the XIX ( the MoreO’Ferralls are still entitled to use their Irish title of Lord of Laois, and the head of the family is sometimes called that).
Despite the change in status, however, the family has played an important role in Irish history since moving. Your old castle did not take part in the Cromwellian Wars. It was despised in 1650 to prevent its use. In the late 18th century, Sir John Parnell began building a banquet hall within the ruins, and the work adopted medieval architectural details from other sites in the area.
Is Rock of Dunamase free?
There is no visitor center or entrance fee and the hilltop location offers beautiful views of the countryside. It is free to wander around the site without a guide and an audio guide of the Rock of Dunamase is available on the Laois City Council website.
How would you like to have the Rock of Dunamase hanging on your wall?
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