The village of Bunratty is situated in the Barony of Lower Bunratty, County Clare, and the castle stands on the banks of the Ougarnee River, a little above its juncture with the Shannon on its northern bank, about six miles below Limerick.

The former name of the river was Ratty, and the name, therefore, signifies the end or mouth of the Ratty.

The fortress is still in a very fair state of preservation and shows many signs of alterations during its existence.

It consists of an oblong structure, flanked by four square towers built into the angles, which are joined at the head by depressed arches.

The north-east tower contains an oratory. It has a piscina, and the ceiling is a handsome specimen of richly moulded seventeenth-century stucco work, probably executed when the “great Earl” of Thomond restored the castle in 1610. Out-offices and servants’ quarters formerly surrounded the main building, but were removed by the late Mr. Studdert to supply material for the modern manor house.

An inscribed stone at the summit of the castle states that the present building was erected by O’Brien in 1397. There are marks of shot still visible on the walls.

The cantred of Tradee was granted in fee farm to the Norman Robert de Muscegros, at a yearly rent of £30.

Henry III. remitted him two years’ rent in 1251 to enable him to fortify Bunratty Castle, which he had built. Shortly after he surrendered it to the King on condition he was allowed for the repairing, provisioning, and defending of it. It was taken by the Irish in 1257.

De Muscegros exchanged his lands of Tradee, in Thomond, with Sir Richard de Clare in 1275 for property in England, and the following year Bunratty Castle was taken for the King by Geoffry de Gyamul, Lord Justice.

The same year King Brian the Red granted to de Clare the district he had acquired by exchange, and he at once began to repair the castle. It is recorded he built “a defensive thick-walled castle of lime and stone, which was a sheltered, impregnable fortress, and a wide white-washed mansion which he founded in the clear-harboured Bunratty,” and that he resided here with English retainers whom he purchased “for love or money.”

Torlough O’Brien invaded Thomond, and its King, Brian, fled to Bunratty. Among those who opposed the invaders was de Clare’s brother-in-law, Patrick Fitz-Maurice, who was slain in the conflict. When news of his death reached Bunratty there was great lamentation, and his sister, de Clare’s wife, denounced King Brien, who was then at dinner, as the cause of the disaster.

He was thereupon dragged from the table, bound to wild horses, and literaly torn to pieces. This act of treachery was rendered even more horrible from the fact that he and de Clare had sworn friendship with the most solemn rites.

Among the State Documents of 1298 is an entry for expenses and wages of horse and foot soldiers in an expedition to relieve Bunratty, which was besieged by Turlough O’Brien. This attack probably took place at an earlier date.

The castle was besieged again in 1305 by Coveha MacConmara and the outworks burnt, which is thus picturesquely described: “Yea, at this bout, the open-spaced Bunratty, when it was gutted, fed the flames; and by the Wolf-dog’s pertinacity, not once, but twice, were many of the lime-white towers burnt.”

The fortress was not taken, and Lord Burke persuaded MacConmara to raise the siege.

At this time Maurice de Rochford was custodian.

The Earl of Ulster marched into Clare with a great army in 1311 to besiege Bunratty. Richard de Clare sallied out to meet him on the hill behind the fortress, but was obliged to retreat. William de Burgo, pressing too far in pursuit, was taken prisoner, as well as John, son of Walter de Lacy.

In 1313, de Clare was about to hang O’Brien’s son, who was hostage for the tribe of Coileau, but his wife, with the clergy and nobility, interceded for him.

De Clare and his son Thomas were killed in 1318 in the battle of Dysert O’Dea, and upon his wife, Lady Johan de Clare, hearing of the disaster, she set fire to the castle and sailed for England.

The following year it was spoiled by King Mortogh.

It was immediately repaired, and the Government assigned it to Matilda, wife of Robert de Wills, and Margaret, wife of Bartholomew de Badlesmere, sisters to Richard de Clare, and appointed Robert Sutton constable.

In 1326 it was held for the Crown by James de bello Fago, and in 1332 it was besieged and taken by the Macnamaras.

There is an order dated 1356 to liberate Thomas, the son of John FitzMaurice, who had been imprisoned as accessory to the loss of the castle.

The Lord Deputy recovered the fortress in 1558 by firing across the river until the garrison of Donnell O’Brien surrendered it.

The Earl of Thomond was proclaimed rebel in 1570, and fled to sea; the Earl of Ormond meantime garrisoned Bunratty with his own men, but in 1585 the castle was confirmed to the Earl of Thomond.

The “Great Earl” of Thomond restored it in 1617.

Some authorities say Lord Forbes seized the castle in 1642 in a buccaneering expedition.

When the rebellion broke out in 1641 the Earl of Thomond of the time found himself in a difficult position, for by religion he might have been supposed to side with the Government, while at the same time he was closely related to many of the prominent Confederates, being uncle to Lord Muskerry who commanded their troops in the south. He, therefore, remained quietly at Bunratty taking neither side, but he was too powerful to be allowed to presevere in neutrality.

The Supreme Council of the Confederates entrusted the seizure of both the castle and Earl to his relatives, the O’Briens, but in the meantime the Earl of Ormond had entered into a treaty with the Earl of Thomond whereby the latter was to surrender the castle of Bunratty to a governor they mutually agreed upon.

The choice fell upon Colonel Adams, “a stout officer,” who, with upwards of six hundred men, took possession of the stronghold in 1645. The governor was a Scotchman whose family name was Adam, but upon settling in Ireland he seems to have been called Adams, and sometimes MacAdam. He was married to the Hon. Catherine Magennis, granddaughter of Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, therefore his wife was first cousin to Owen Roe O’Neill, which, no doubt, guided his selection as commander of Bunratty garrison.

Before the castle was surrendered the Earl of Thomond built all his plate and money into the walls to the amount of £2,000, and had the place plastered and rough cast. Some of the servants betrayed the fact to the soldiers, and they seized the Earl and threatened to kill him unless he showed them the treasure, whereupon they took it before his face. He afterwards tried to recover it as a debt from the Government in vain.

The castle was provisioned at the cost of £1,200 by John Davies.

The Earl of Thomond left his fortress in the hands of the soldiers and sailed for England. Colonel Adams at once set to work to put the place in a state of defence by raising earthworks and fortifying outlying positions, as well as mounting cannon in the garden, his was much helped in his operations by the marshy character of the surrounding country.

The Confederates sent an army to besiege the castle, which encamped in the park. They were shortly afterwards joined by Lord Muskerry, who seems to have been only half-hearted in attacking his uncle’s property, and it required the persuasion and presence of the Nuncio to push the siege to a victorious issue.

Cardinal Rinuncini must have been much impressed by the beauty of the spot, as later he had scenes of the siege painted on the walls of his Italian palace.

After some weeks a dam about half a mile from the castle was captured, but only held a few hours when deserted by its guards, who were hanged for the offence.

Two pieces of cannon were then directed upon a small outlying castle, and at the end of two days’ firing Colonel Adams repaired to the place to see if it could be held any longer. A chance shot at the upper window mortally wounded him, and being carried out he died that night.

When Muskerry heard this he decided to attack in force, “knowing how much discouraged they were at the loss of so valiant a person.”

The Irish gradually gained position, and at length the garrison capitulated for their lives, and the officers their swords, and returned to Cork by water. This was in 1646.

In 1712 Henry, 8th Earl of Thomond, disposed of his estate, and the castle passed to the Studdert family, who lived there until the neighbouring mansion was built.

For some years afterwards it was partly used for a police barrack, and now it is in the hands of a caretaker.