Guide to Irish Castles, Manors, and Country Houses

of THE PROVINCE OF LEINSTER for:

-- Co. MEATH --

Notes: (1) -- M. Bence-Jones, A Guide to Irish Country Houses, London, 1988.

Notes: (2) -- Dunsany Castle -- Sir Christopher Plunkett (Lord Killeen), gave Dunsany to his younger son and Killeen, barely a mile away to the elder. The brothers agreed in friendly fashion to draw a boundary between the two properties, and a straight course was marked out from one castle to the other. The dividing line between the estates was to be drawn as the spot where two runners met -- Killeen, having the advantage of being on high ground, was distinctly the winner. Rivalry appears to have deepened between the two brothers... Three centuries later a deeper rift came between the two branches of the Plunkett family, when in 1738 Edward (12th Lord Dunsany) abandoned the faith of his ancestors and conformed to the Established Church. The present Lord Dunsany is the owner of the magnificent ruins of Trim Castle, overlooking the River Boyne in Co. Meath. This was the chief outpost of the Pale; Killeen and Dunsany guarded the approach rd. from Dublin. The Pale was a ring of castles built by the Anglo-Norman invaders to protect the rich flat lands they had seized to the north and west of Dublin.

Dunsany Castle was erected in abt. 1200 by Hugh de Lacy, whose principal stronghold was at Trim. It was originally held by Geoffrey de Cusack, whose G.father had come to Ireland with Strongbow. Sir Lucas de Cusack, 4th Lord of Killeen, had only a dau. Joan, who became the wife of Sir Christopher Plunkett in 1403. Sir Christopher, who was the Deputy Gov. of Ireland under Sir Thomas Stanley in 1432, he had two sons (already mentioned...) The elder son, John, inherited Killeen and is the ancestor of the Earl of Fingall; the younger, Christopher, was given Dunsany and was created the first Baron Dunsany. The 9th Lord Dunsany was imprisoned in Dublin Castle in 1641, where he remained for several years because he was elected from among the Catholic lords to petition the gov't to be allowed to retain their arms In 1653, they were sent to Connaught. At the time of the Restoration, Lord Dunsany regained his property and took his seat in the House of Lords (to 1666). At the Boyne, the 10th Lord Dunsany fought on the side of James II and was outlawed. On his death in 1690, he was succeeded by his brother, who was a Jacobite, and was also outlawed, but being included in the Treaty of Limerick, his estate was restored.... The present Lord Dunsany is the 19th to live at Dunsany Castle.

Notes: (3) -- Slane Castle-- The Castle of Slane stands on an eminence overlooking the River Boyne, built on the foundation of an early Pale Fortress, by the Norman family of Fleming, Lords of Slane. The Flemings were an ancient Catholic family whose lands were forfieited after the insurrection of 1641. The Conynghams, was granted to them by King Malcolm, first came to Ireland from Scotland in 1611 and settled in Co. Donegal. Alexander Conyngham of that family was made Dean of Raphoe; one of his sons became Sir Albert Conyngham and fought beside King William at the Boyne. His son, Henry, was the father of the first Baron Conyngham of Mount Charles (1753), Viscount (1765) and Earl (1781) Conyngham, who died a few months after being made an Earl. Mount Charles ( is the name of a distinguished house of about 1740 in Co. Donegal which belonged to the family until recently). Lord Conyngham was succeeded by his nephew in 1781, who rebuilt the castle to the designs of James Wyatt. Lord Conyngham was made a Marques in 1816, and was appointed Constable of Windsor Castle, and from 1821 to 1830 Steward of the Household.

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