Cloughoughter Castle in County Cavan, Ireland

Cloughoughter Castle

Cloch Locha Uachtair

Cloughoughter Castle sits on an island in Lough Oughter

Cloughoughter-Castle-Co-Cavan

Clough Oughter Castle

is situated on an island on

Lough Oughter, County Cavan, Ireland

 

Lough Oughter surrounds the Cloughoughter Castle

 

클로코크터 성은 아일랜드 캐번 주의 암석 노두 위에 서있다. 이 요새가 여러 호수와 물길이 모이는 오터 호수Lough Oughter 가운데 작은 섬에 있다는 것은 매력적이다. 최근의 연구는 이 섬은 성이 지어지기 전에는 크래너그Crannóg였던 것으로 추정한다. 크래너그는 신석기 시대에 물 위에 조성한 섬을 말한다.

 

성의 초석은 13세기초 앵글로-노르만인에 의해 놓여진 것으로 여겨진다. 단순한 원통형 구조는 아름답고 기능적으로 설계되었고 수로를 통제하고 지역을 방어하기 위해 전략적 위치에 지어졌다. 씨족간의 수많은 전쟁으로 성과 주변 땅은 다음 몇세기에 걸쳐 소유주가 바뀌었다.1653년 포격을 당한 이후로 폐허가 되어 지금은 풍화된 성벽만 남아 있다. 그럼에도 불구하고 19~ 10세기 화가들에게는 중요한 배경이자 모티브가 되었다.

 

아일랜드 중세 유산의 상징이라고 할 수 있는 클로코크터 성은 역사 애호가와 성을 좋아하는 사람들이 꼭 한번 방문해 볼만한 곳이다(사진 설명: Bing Wallpaper).

The Ghosts of Clough Oughter -

Fishermen on Lough Oughter have spoken of mysterious lights flickering around the castle on foggy nights,

with no apparent source.

 

Clough Oughter Castle: The Historic Island Fortress of Lough Oughter

 

Nestled in the heart of County Cavan, Lough Oughter is a breathtaking lake system known for its tranquil beauty, rich wildlife, and historical significance. Among its many charms, the most iconic feature is Clough Oughter Castle, a 13th-century Norman stronghold situated on a small island in the middle of the lake.

 

Clough Oughter Castle, standing on a small island in Lough Oughter, is not just a beautiful ruin—it is a monument to centuries of Irish history. Built in the early 13th century, the castle played a crucial role in Norman expansion, Gaelic resistance, and later wars that shaped Ireland’s history.

 

Cloughoughter Castle (Irish: Cloch Locha Uachtair, meaning 'stone castle of Loch Uachtair') is a ruined circular castle on a small island in Lough Oughter, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) east of the town of Killeshandra in County Cavan, Ireland.

 

 

Cloughoughter Castle in County Cavan, Ireland

Cloughoughter Castle in County Cavan, Ireland

All you need for a river is two banks and a steady flow of water, but that only describes part of this Irish river's 80-mile course. Here at Lough Oughter, the River Erne widens into a broad basin—part of a series of loughs that stretches northward almost to the Atlantic, dotted with islands large and small. This one holding Cloughoughter Castle seems so tiny the ruined fortress might flip it right over. Its battle scars from a 1649 siege still visible, Cloughoughter has been a fave of painters (and, of course, photographers) for centuries.

 

 

 

 

 

History

Origins and construction

 

 

The castle is located in the historic Kingdom of Breifne, specifically in the part that would later be subdivided into East Breifne, roughly corresponding to County Cavan. The spot may have been a crannóg, or an artificially created island, and it is possible there was fortification there as early as the sixth century. In the latter part of the 12th century, it was owned by the O'Rourkes, but early in the 13th century seems to have come into the hands of the Anglo-Norman de Lacy family. Architectural elements from the lower two stories show construction may have started as early as the first quarter of the 13th century. 

 

In 1233, the O'Reilly clan took possession of the area and completed the castle. They retained it for centuries in the midst of their ongoing conflicts with the O'Rourkes, and with members of their own clan. It was there that Philip O'Reilly was imprisoned in the 1360s with "no allowance save a sheaf of oats for day and night and a cup of water, so that he was compelled to drink his own urine."

 

 

Post-1610

After the land confiscations that followed the Plantation of Ulster in 1610, Cloughoughter was granted to Captain Hugh Culme. In 1641, Philip O'Reilly, MP for Cavan and a prominent leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1641, seized control of the castle, which he held until 1653. During this phase of its existence, it was used as a jail, with Culme himself being one of the prisoners, along with his son-in-law Henry Jones. Another was William Bedell, Bishop of Kilmore in the Church of Ireland, who died in February 1642, evidently due to inadequate shelter from the cold winter.

 

In 1649 Owen Roe O'Neill, commander of the Ulster Army died at the castle. In March 1653, it was besieged by Commonwealth forces under Sir Theophilus Jones, brother of Henry and thus related by marriage to the Culme family. It was the last major Confederacy position to surrender on 27 April.

 

Jones set up his artillery in the nearby townland of Innishconnell and the damage caused by cannon shot remains to this day.  Left in ruins, the castle became a frequent subject of art in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Its  visual impact was described in a travelogue published in The Dublin University Magazine in 1852:

 

Conservation efforts were begun on the castle in 1987.  The structure is protected under the National Monuments Act