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History
Clontarf became a significant location in Irish History, more
than a century before the Castle was built. Brian Boru, the High
King of Ireland, and the famous Battle of Clontarf, on Good Friday,
23rd April 1014, will always be associated with and central to
the history of the Clontarf area. At the time of The Battle of
Clontarf, the Clontarf area was wooded with a river flowing by.
Many of the rivers in the history of Dublin no longer flow through
the same area, as they were re-routed when the city was walled.
It all began when Mael Morda,
King of Leinster, began to plot against Brian Boru. Mael Morda
made an alliance with Sitric, the Viking King of Dublin, who
was assisted by the Vikings of the Orkney Islands and the Isle
of Man. Brian Boru marched against them and the great battle
was fought at Clontarf. It ended in victory for Boru's army.
However, on the night of the victory, Boru was praying in his
tent, surrounded by five men, who were guarding him. A small
group of Vikings, who were retreating from the battle through
a wooded area, close to the site of what is now Clontarf Castle,
came across the guarded tent. Realising who was being protected;
they killed all five guards and went on to kill Brian Boru, who
by now was 72 years of age.
In 1172 Adam de Phepoe or Hugh
de Lacy built the Castle as an inner circle of defence sites
protecting Dublin.
In 1641 Luke Netherville of
Corballis (near Donabate) and an army of 12,000 men took possession
of Artane Castle and village in defence of their religious beliefs.
George, King of Clontarf, the then owner of Clontarf Castle joined
in the rebellion. Netherville and the King seized a vessel believed
to contain the weapons and ammunition of the enemy. After they
seized the weapons they returned to Swords and a lot of the local
farmers and fishermen joined Netherville's rebellious army.
On 15th December 1641, the
Puritan Republic General, Sir Charles Coote, led a troop of soldiers
into Clontarf to quell the rebel activities. He found most of
the ships cargo of weapons and ammunition in George King's Clontarf
Castle. Then the massive sum of £400.00 was put on the
King's head and the Castle was confiscated. Coote marched on
to Swords and defeated Netherville and his rebel army.
On 14th August 1649 Oliver
Cromwell granted the estate to John Blackwell, who sold it to
John Vernon, who was Quartermaster General of Cromwell's army
here in Ireland. The Vernons were in Clontarf for almost 300
years, with a family motto of 'Vernon Semper Viret', which means
'Vernon always flourished'. In 1660 John Vernon passed the Castle
on to his son Edward Vernon. Edward died in 1684 and one of his
sisters took over the Castle. In 1695 a first cousin of Edward's,
also named John Vernon claimed rights to the Castle. The estate
was granted to him by an Act of Parliament in 1698.
In 1835 the original building
was unsafe and a distinguished Irish architect, William Vetruvius
Morrison, was called in to survey the building. He perceived
the problem as sinking foundations and the building was demolished.
It was rebuilt and the Castle as we know it, was completed in
1837.
The male line of the Vernons
failed and the estate was passed on to George Oulton, through
one of John Vernon's nieces. JG Oulton took over the Vernon estate
and became President of the Clontarf Cricket and Football Clubs.
He had five children, two of whom are still alive and living
in England. He died in the Castle on April 17th 1952 and the
Castle was left to his son, Desmond Oulton, who sold it to pay
death duties and other debts. The building was vacant for a number
of years until 1957 when Mrs. Egan bought it. She sold it to
Eddie and Gerry Regan in the 1960's. The Regans extended the
Castle to cater for the Wedding trade and growing cabaret trade,
which was run throughout the year. In 1972, Gerry and Carmel
Houlihan bought the Castle and ran it as one of Ireland's best
cabaret venues until April 1997, when the last cabaret show was
staged. The Castle was reopened in June 1998 as a superb four
star hotel, with deluxe bedrooms, conference and banqueting facilities,
Templar's Bistro, The Knight's Bar and The Drawbridge Tavern.
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