Remembering a small chapter from troubled local history in Limerick village

ON THE N69 while travelling between Limerick and Listowel along the Shannon Estuary you will pass the village of Glin.

It is a village steeped in history and connected with the famous Knights of Glin as well as the renowned Glin Castle.

But, if while travelling down the N69, you should look to your left just as you approach Adam’s service station, you might notice an old ruin of a building perched beside a small stream, covered in ivy.

This discreet and unobtrusive structure looks no different to any of the other old ruins dotted around the county. But this, the old castle of Glin has an interesting history and marks a fascinating chapter in local history for the area.

On the 9th of July the anniversary of the siege of Glin Castle will have passed and with the opportunity to remember a moment almost lost to memory.

The Siege of Glin Castle, in 1601, was a three-day engagement between Súgan Earl and the President of Munster, George Carew. It occurred within the Nine Years War and saw the forces of O’Donnell and O’Neill against the English crown.

The Súgan Earl was an ally of the O’Donnell’s and O’Neill’s.

On the 6th of July 1601 the castle and its surrounding area was subject to a siege that lasted three days and saw the destruction of this old castle.

The 1600’s was a time of upheaval in Ireland and in Munster in particular with the English crown attempting to exert its influence over the lords of the area. In the middle of the Nine Years War the Súgan Earl attempted to claim the title the Earl of Desmond.

The plantations of Munster were beginning and the Súgan Earl attempted to push back against this campaign. The President of Munster, Queen Elizibeth I’s representative in Munster, was Carew whose methods were intelligent and forceful and had managed to crush the majority of rebellion in Munster by mid-1601.

However, Glin was one of the last few holdouts.

The Nine Years War is famous in Irish history, fought by the O’Donnell’s and the O’Neill’s on one side and the English crown’s forces on the other. It ended in 1602 after the Irish forces lost to the English near Kinsale and many fled abroad. But Munster, Limerick and even Glin had a place in this grand sweeping war that seems so distant now.

The Knight of Glin at the time chose to follow the Súgan Earl. He fought for control over the area of Desmond and rallied an army of a few thousand. Carew was told to secure the plantations in Munster and did so with cunning and intelligence.

He cleaved long-held loyalties, dividing and conquering his enemies. He marched east starting in Bruff taking a castle there and moving on to Croom Castle which he also subdued. Glin was an important location on the banks of the Shannon and with access to the sea and to Limerick upriver.

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He set out to capture it and surrounded the area. Thus began the siege of Glin. In a delicate game of chess, the Súgan army was encamped not more than a couple of miles from Glin and could have broken the siege had the Súgan Earl’s leadership been strong and decisive. But it wasn’t.

Carew closed in around the castle and urged the 80 local defenders to surrender. When they refused the assault began, with heavy cannons and a large number of soldiers, the defenders were beaten back to the keep of the old castle, much of which remains.

Some defenders jumped from the ramparts of the castle into the nearby river that runs along the side of the castle down to Shannon. The only noted survivors of this fray on the defender’s side were reportedly the 5 who jumped and fled.

The names of some of the defenders are still remembered locally and you will find many with the same surnames in the parish still, names like Dore, Guiltinane and Culhane.

Carew repaired the castle and held it. The castle and its title was eventually returned to the Knight of Glin after the war was over. The Knight did have to wait for a pardon from the Queen, for a while hiding in the Sliabh Luachra Mountains.

The modern castle we all recognise on the far side of the village looking over the Shannon was built in the 1700’s and became the home to the remaining Knights for the next couple of years.

This little footnote in history occurred more than 400 years ago but the memory of it still lingers in the area. The old keep still stands and you can find a brass plaque marking the location.

This anniversary of the siege offers us the opportunity to consider the land and the history that surrounds us on a daily basis, even something as simple as the drive from Limerick to Listowel and what stories the landscape holds.

Pádraig O'Donnell is an English and history teacher