Wexford Ireland

Enniscorthy Castle

When the Normans built a castle they built it to last. Enniscorthy Castle, in the centre of the town and overlooking the Slaney River, proves the point. Nearly 800 years after its construction, the huge castle is still in remarkable condition. Though restored and modernised in recent times many original features remain. The three drum towers which flank the castle are classics of their kind.

Down the centuries the castle had many owners, including the poet Edmund Spenser. It is said that he was given the castle by Elizabeth 1 of England in gratitude for his epic ‘The Faerie Queen‘ which said many flattering things about her.

Nowadays, Enniscorthy Castle is the home of the County Wexford Historical and Folk Museum which features a fascinating collection of artifacts. One of its nicest features include the 1798 and 1916 rooms for memorabilia of those famous uprisings.

Enniscorthy Castle, a square towered castle rebuilt about 1586, is in perfect preservation and is now a folk museum which is open to the public. The original castle here may have been erected by Raymond le Gros. Later it came into the hands of the MacMurrough Kavanaghs, who granted it to the Franciscan monastery.

After the suppression of the monasteries the castle and lands were held by a succession of owners, including the poet Spenser. The castle was damaged by Cromwell’s guns in 1649. During the 1798 Rising it was used as a prison, and in the nineteenth century it was restored for use as a residence.