Dunsoghly Castle

Location

Dunsoghly Castle is found in St. Margarets, Co Dublin.

History

Dunsoghly Castle was built around 1450 by Sir Rowland Plunkett, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, and was continuously occupied until the 1870s by descendants of the same family, despite being cramped Irish castles and uncomfortable by post-medieval standards. The lofty four-storey tower of the castle has tapering corner turrets rising above the parapet.

The roof, which has served as a model for restorations at Bunratty Castle and Rothe House, is arch-braced with four oak principals; on each collar-beam stands a king-post supporting a purlin and cross-pieces below the ridge. The rafters are laid flat rather than on edge as in modern roofs and the framework covered with split laths.

There is a small chapel to the south bearing the year "1573" over the door, the Instruments of the Passion and the initials of John Plunkett and his wife Genet Sarsfield. On the west and south are remains of earthwork defences put up during the warfare of the 1670s.