Dromoland Diaries

Conor O’Brien of Lemenagh Castle was killed in battle by the Cromwellian army. His widow Maire Rua or Red Mary O’Brien agreed with General Ireton as a mark of good faith to marry an officer in the Cromwellian army in order to save the family estate. She married Cornet John Cooper thus preserving the Estates…

Sir Donough O’Brien moved the most powerful branch of the O’Briens to Dromoland in the late 17th century. He was an astute man and managed to avoid declaring for either King James II or King William. He was at that time reputed to be the richest man in Ireland.

The IRA leaders in Dublin marked Dromoland Castle for destruction. However, sabotage orders were reversed at the last minute at the urgent request of local IRA leaders in County Clare, who argued that the Inchiquin Lords had been fair and benevolent in dealing with their tenant farmers. Sir Lucius O’Brien, the 13th Baron of Inchiquin…

Dromoland Castle, Lord Inchiquin’s historic seat at Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co.Clare, was one of the few big houses to escape destruction what they facetiously call “The Trouble” in Ireland. This was lucky, because it is one of the show places in the South. Lord Inchiquin is a Senator of the Irish Free State and was elected in…

Although the family’s good reputation saved the castle during the revolution, the later loss of income after the forced sale of the tenant farms made the castle and the 2,000+ acre estate increasingly difficult for the Inchiquins to keep. After the death of the 15th Baron of Inchiquin in 1929, Dromoland was supported mainly by…

The present main building of Dromoland Castle, with its high Gothic-styled grey stone walls, was rebuilt and designed by the Pain brothers, famous architects of that period. The castle was built by the then Lord of Dromoland, Sir Edward O’Brien, 4th Baronet, at great expense. The cost of cutting and hauling its stone from a…

The wealth of the Barons of Inchiquin dwindled after a series of Land Acts started in the 1880s. During this time, landlords were compelled to sell their tenanted farmlands, thus the Inchiquins lost their main source of income. They still considered themselves fortunate, as their castle had survived the troubled times of Ireland’s revolutionary war…