Irish Castles

Cahir castle sits on a rocky outcrop in the middle of the river Suir at the foot of the Galtee mountains.

The castle dates to the 12th century when Conor O'Brien built a keep less courtyard castle on a rocky island in the river Suir. In 1375, an Anglo-Norman family, the Butlers came into the possession of the castle, after they were granted a Barony in Cahir for their loyalty to the English crown. The Butlers have been associated with the castle ever since.

The high gatehouse tower was converted into a keep sometime in the fifteenth century by walling up the arched entryway, at the same time the the curtain wall was extended. It consists of a huge keep a furnished great hall and two courtyards. Despite its solid appearance it frequently fell to besiegers, the most notable when it surrendered to Cromwell without recourse to battle.

From 1375 until the eighteenth century the castle was occupied by a junior branch of the Butler family. Although the castle was considered impregnable, it was captured in 1599 after three days of artillery bombardment by by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth. In 1647 it was again taken by Murrough O'Brien, Lord Inchiquin, and after Inchiquin's defection to the royalists it was retaken by Cromwell in 1650