Rockfleet Castle
Rockfleet Castle outside Newport, Co. Mayo, Ireland. 03.09.2014
Rockfleet Castle, or Carrickahowley Castle (Irish: Carraig an Chabhlaigh), is a tower house near Newport in County Mayo, Ireland. It was built in the mid-sixteenth century, and is most famously associated with Gráinne O'Malley, the pirate queen and chieftain of the clan O’Malley.
Rockfleet Castle has four floors and is over eighteen metres in height. It can be open to the public year round. If the huge doorhandle on the heavy wooden door cannot be opened, the key can be borrowed and returned to the nearby farm. The tower house castle is built in the sea and at high tide the water makes it very difficult to get into or out of the door without getting wet.
Grace O' Mally Castle Carrickahowley, Mayo. by Drone.
Historical information outside Rockfleet Castle
Rockfleet Castle, or Carrickahowley Castle (Irish: Carraig an Chabhlaigh), is a tower house near Newport in County Mayo, Ireland. It was built in the mid-sixteenth century, and is most famously associated with Gráinne O'Malley, the pirate queen and chieftain of the clan O’Malley.
Rockfleet Castle has four floors and is over eighteen metres in height. It is open to the public; the key is available at the nearby farm. The castle was installed with a metal walkway in 2015, from its adjacent grassland surrounding to its door, due to the sheer inconvenience of accessing its entrance during high tides.
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Grace O’Malley Spirits Keep Her Lit At Rockfleet Castle for #BelieveInGrace
Lighting At Rockfleet Castle for Samhain Keeps the Spirit of Grace O’Malley Alive
November 1st, 2019: Last night, as Ireland was alight with the traditional bonfires that herald the arrival of Samhain, Rockfleet Castle (or Carraigahowley Castle as it is also known), was ignited in its own vibrant glow that may have puzzled some of the local residents around Newport, Co. Mayo. Lit up in bright green and emblazoned with the Grace O’Malley Irish Pirate Queen crest on one side and #BelieveInGrace on another, the illumination can now be revealed as the work of Grace O’Malley Premium Irish Spirits, creators of Grace O’Malley Irish Whiskey and Heather Infused Gin, dedicated to the legendary Irish pirate queen, Granuaile, born in Co. Mayo in 1530.
As Samhain is a time when the door between this world and the next is believed to become more fluid and spirits flow freely from the afterlife to earth, this transitional time from light to dark is one of remembrance of the departed and also a time for mischief and surprises. How better to celebrate the life of the legendary Irish Pirate Queen than to light up the iconic tower synonymous with her name and her army of men, the mooring place for her galleys and the place where she passed in 1603.
Carrickahowley Castle - County Mayo - Ireland
Carrickahowley Castle. A random small castle I found while driving down the road. Its got character lol. Enjoy!
Rockfleet Castle or Carraigahowley Castle (Carraig-an-Cabhlaigh) is a tower house 1km northwest from Newport. It was built in the mid 16th century, and is renowned for its links with the legendary Grainne ni Mhaille, Grace O'Malley, the pirate queen and chieftain of the clan O'Malley. It is one of five along the shores of Clew Bay that are associated with Grace O'Malley. Legend has it that she received her nickname Grainuaile, which came from Gaelic “Gráinne Mhaol” Mhaol meaning bald, by cutting her own hair so she could join her father on a trading expedition to Spain. Her father had refused to let the young Grainne accompany him citing that her long hair would get caught in the ships ropes. She lived in the castle after she married her second husband Sir Richard Burke (Richard the Iron, 'Iron Dick') in 1566, whom she had married on the understanding that after one year either could divorce the other. Tradition maintains that, at the end of the years’ duration, she locked him out of his castle and, from the ramparts, shouted down “Richard Bourke I divorce thee”. Thereafter, the castle would be indelibly linked with her legend, and she would live here. Grace expanded her clan's efforts from trade to piracy. She then set up her own army and had a fleet of privateers, with which she harried the coastal trade from her island, and extracted pilotage fees and cargo levies from all the passing shipping until she had a virtual monopoly on the sea trade of the west coast of Ireland. So fearless was she that when she was shut out of Howth Castle because his Lordship was having dinner, she kidnapped his son, only restoring him to his family when she was assured that the doors would always be kept open at mealtimes, a custom maintained to this day. It is known that Rockfleet Castle remained in the possession of Grainne until her death in this Castle in 1603. Today she is buried at her home on Clare Island and the Castle remained in the O'Malley Clan for centuries to follow.
Rockfleet Castle has four floors and is over 18m in height. There are some interesting features in the castle. The middle two floors are of wood and the top floor is stone flagged, the barrel vaulted ceiling is a fine example of this construction technique. The stone floor may have been included here as a fire safety device. A wooden ladder is used to access the second floor and from there to the top there is a spiral stone stairway.
Today it is freely open to the public.
Grace O'Malley
Grace O'Malley (c. 1530 – c. 1603; also Gráinne O'Malley, Irish: Gráinne Ní Mháille) was Queen of Umaill, chieftain of the Ó Máille clan following in the footsteps of her father Eoghan Dubhdara Ó Máille. Upon his death, she inherited his large shipping and trading business (sometimes accused of being a piracy trade). The income from this business, the land inherited from her mother, and the property and holdings from her first husband, Dónal an Chogaidh Ó Flaithbheartaigh, allowed her to become very wealthy (reportedly owning as much as 1000 head of cattle and horses). In 1593, when her sons, Tibbot Burke and Murrough O'Flaherty, and her half-brother, Donal-na-Piopa, were taken captive by the English governor of Connacht, Sir Richard Bingham, O'Malley sailed to England to petition Elizabeth I for their release. She formally presented her request to Elizabeth at her court in Greenwich Palace.
Commonly known by her nickname Granuaile in Irish folklore, she is a well-known historical figure in 16th-century Irish history, and is sometimes known as The Sea Queen of Connacht. Biographies of her have been written primarily in the 20th and 21st centuries by the historian Anne Chambers. Her name was rendered in contemporary documents various ways including Grany O'Maly, Graney O'Mally or Grany Imallye, Granny Nye Male, Grany O'Mayle, Granie ny Maille, Granny ni Maille, Grany O'Mally, Grayn Ny Mayle, Grane ne Male, Grainy O'Maly, and Granee O'Maillie.
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