Kilcash Castle

The ruins known as Kilcash Castle lie at Kilcash in County Tipperary, Ireland; the main tower was raised in the sixteenth century during a period of local Irish and Anglo-Irish lordship.

Ownership of the manor changed hands early in the modern era when control passed from the Wall family to the Butlers of Ormond. That transfer is dated in some accounts to the sixteenth century and is also associated with events following the Irish Confederate Wars of 1641–1652.

In 1614 Walter Butler, later the 11th Earl of Ormond, took up residence at Kilcash after inheriting the earldom from his uncle Thomas, the 10th Earl. Walter’s claim to the family estates was contested; he was detained in London from 1619 until 1625 while King James sought to force him to give up much of his property. Walter later conveyed the manor to his grandson, Colonel Richard Butler of Kilcash, who died in 1701.

The third Earl of Castlehaven, known for his role as a Confederate Catholic commander during the 1641–1652 wars, was a frequent visitor to Kilcash. His sister Lady Frances had married Richard of Kilcash, and Castlehaven wrote his memoirs at the site, later published under the title The Earl of Castlehaven’s Review.

During the nineteenth century the castle declined after portions of the Kilcash estate were sold around 1800, and the building fell into ruin. In the Irish Civil War the site was occupied by Anti-Treaty forces in an effort to delay Pro-Treaty troops moving toward Clonmel; those occupants were driven out by artillery fire commanded by Commandant-General John T. Prout, an action that caused further damage to the structure.

By the late twentieth century the castle had become dangerous. The property was sold to the Irish State in 1997 for £500 and came into state care. Extensive conservation work to stabilise and repair the ruined building began in 2011.

Kilcash is linked in local cultural memory to the song “Kilcash” (Irish, Cill Chaise), a lament that mourns the decay of the house and commemorates the death of Margaret Magennis, Viscountess Iveagh. The ballad has been attributed to Father John Lane, who died in 1776, but surviving manuscripts do not appear until the mid-nineteenth century and some verses contain details that postdate Lane’s lifetime.