Castleisland

Castleisland (Oileán Ciarraí), home of William's Donovans in Co Kerry, got its name from a castle built in 1226 by Geoffrey Maurice (de Marisco) the Lord Justice of Ireland during the reign of King Henry III. The "island" was created by turning the waters of the River Maine into a moat around the castle.

By 1345 it was in the hands of Sir Eustace de la Poer, who with other knights was holding it for the Earl of Desmond.  It was captured by Sir Ralph Ufford, then Lord Justice of Ireland that year and those holding it were put to death.  Today little remains of the castle.

 William's Donovans were in Castleisland at least by 1800.  In 1849 the town tenant book show that John Donovan was a tenant of Richard Meredith, Esq.  The tenancy for the house and garden at #4 Barrack Street dated to 1800 and the rent was "free".

John was about ten in 1800, so it seems likely that the original "free" tenant was his father, although he might have taken over the tenancy of someone else.  John worked for Ordnance Survey, perhaps his father did too?  Obviously there is more  work to be done.




Sitting right next to the tombstone of Williams g.grandparents, Michael and Ellen (Linehan) Donovan is a Shanahan Crypt.  Perhaps this is the family of his g.g grandmother Mary Shanahan, the wife of John Donovan.



Townland.ie - Castleisland
Logainm.ie - Castleisland
Donovan Dropbox File

Cork and the Butter Museum

We did diverge a bit from just visiting family townlands on our trip to Ireland last September.

We spent a few days in Cork exploring such things as the  English Market and the Butter Museum.

I didn't know there was so much to know about butter, but the cute little museum was really fascinating.  We learned about the butter trade, the Butter Exchange and saw the 1000 year firkin of  bog butter.





From the butter museum we wended our way back down to the river and on to the English Market,
Irelands most famous covered Market.




 It was an interesting mix of local and exotic foods.  William sought blood sausage, but only found blood pudding, not the same as he remembered from an earlier trip to Ireland.  I have to say I think the market in Philadelphia was more impressive.

The city is situated on the River Lee which splits into two channels at the western end and divides the city centre into islands. They reconverge at the eastern end where the quays and docks along the river banks lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, which is one of the largest natural harbours in the world by navigational area.^[Wikipedia]

The city's charter dates back to 1185, but the city itself dates at least a few centuries earlier.  Purportedly founded as a monestary by St. Finbarr in the sixth century it was expanded by the Vikings as a trading post in the 10th century.

Today, new and old are interwoven throughout the city.




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