Nineteen miles south-by-west of Kilkenny, in the Barony of East Iffa and Offa, County Tipperary, stands the old town of Carrick on the left bank of the Suir. The name Carrick is derived from a rock in the Suir at the point where the town is built. The castle was erected by Edmond le Bottiller in 1309, he being created Earl of Carrick six years later. Upon his son receiving the title of Earl of Ormond the old title fell into disuse.

The present remains consist of two great towers of the Plantagenet castle, rising behind the Tudor mansion which was erected by Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond, in the reign of Elizabeth. Although not now inhabited it is preserved from further decay.

The two quadrangular towers of the older fortress stand on the river bank, and are separated by a courtyard which was entered on the north by an arched gateway from the river front. In one of these towers is situated the chapel, which is connected with the banqueting hall by a narrow passage. A strong light from a double window falls upon the altar, round which is the remains of a carved stone canopy supported by the figures of angels.

The Tudor house which connects the older buildings is a many-gabled mansion, and said by O’Donovan to be the most perfect specimen of that period’s architecture in Ireland.

The ceiling of the Great Hall is a beautiful example of stucco work. It is divided by richly-moulded ribs enclosing Tudor emblems, and arms and mottoes relating to the Ormond family. This apartment is 63 feet in length by 15 feet in breadth, and is lighted by mullioned windows, that on the north side being large and deeply recessed. It also contains several handsome chimney-pieces.

The walls were richly hung with tapestry, which was removed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, some of it being transferred to Kilkenny Castle.

Little is known of the history of the early feudal fortress. Several charters granted by the Ormonds as Lords Palatine of Tipperary are dated from Carrick, showing that the family were occasionally in residence.

There is a tradition that Anne Boleyn was born in the castle. Thomas, Earl of Carrick and Ormond, who died in 1515, had two daughters, one of whom married Sir William Boleyn, a London merchant, and she was grandmother to the future Oueen. History is uncertain where Anne Boleyn was born, as several places are mentioned; it is, therefore, not impossible that at Carrick Elizabeth’s mother first saw the light. Henry VIII. created Anne’s father Earl of Ormond and Wiltshire, but the former title afterwards reverted to the Butlers.

In 1571 Perrott visited Carrick Castle during his campaign in Munster, and it was plundered by the seneschal in the Desmond rebellion of 1582.

In the time of Thomas, 10th Earl of Ormond, it became the chief residence of the family. Thomas Dubh, or the Black Earl, was the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, who used to call him her “black husband,” to the annoyance of his rival the Earl of Leicester. He was a great statesman and chivalrous nobleman, and enjoyed the full confidence of his Sovereign during her long reign.

In the latter years of his life he lived almost entirely at Carrick. A glimpse of his loyal love for England is given by Sir John Davys in the following observations of his on a journey in Munster in 1606:—

“And because I was to pass by the Carricke, a house of my Lord of Ormond, where his lordship hath lain ever since his last weakness, I went thither to visit his lordship and to rest there upon Easter Day; but because the feast of St. George fell out in the Easter holidays, I was not suffered in any wise to depart until I had seen him do honour to that day. I found the Earl in his bed, for he was weaker at this time than he had been for many months before; so that upon the day of St. George he was not able to sit up, but had his robes laid upon his bed, as the manner is. From thence I returned to Dublin at the end of Easter week.”

Towards the end of his life, Earl Thomas was quite blind, and a quaint old MS., discovered at Brussels in 1822, gives a graphic account of a prophecy supposed to have been delivered by him at a Christmas family gathering in Carrick Castle shortly before his death, which took place in 1614.

Among those present at the feast were Sir Walter Butler, of Kilcash, brother to the Earl, and also his son and grandson, James. The latter was only four years old, and there being no room at the table, he was let play about, and “being a sprightly boy, entertained himself with a whipping of his gigg” (a kind of top) behind his great-uncle’s chair. Black Thomas asked what the noise was, and being told, he took the child (afterwards the great Duke of Ormond) between his knees and said:—

“My family shall be much oppressed and brought very low; but by this boy it shall be restored again, and in his time be in greater splendour than ever it has been.”

Viscount Tullogh, who was the Earl’s son-in-law and heir, pushed back his chair angrily from the table, and again the blind Earl asked who made the noise. Upon hearing, he said—

“Ah! he is a flower that will soon fade.”

Shortly afterwards the Viscount died without children, and later events proved the strange truth of the prophecy. A long law suit, manipulated for political purposes, impoverished the earldom, but it was brought to a satisfactory termination by James Butler of Kilcash marrying Lady Elizabeth Preston, the other claimant to the estates through her mother’s rights.

The young couple began their married life at Carrick, where Walter, Earl of Ormond, joined them, and died in the castle in 1632.

When civil war broke out in 1646, James, then Marquis of Ormond, was appointed Chief Governor and hastened from France. He landed at Cork, and proceeded to Carrick. Here a deputation from the Confederate Assembly of Kilkenny waited on him.

Three years later Cromwell’s troops, under Colonel Reynolds, took the town of Carrick, and about a hundred of the garrison fled to the castle, but surrendered the following day. It was well provisioned with stores, and Cromwell, it is said, intended to winter there. Ormond, hearing of its capture, despatched Lord Inchiquin to retake it. He was, however, repulsed with great loss.

In the time of the Commonwealth Carrick Castle, with its demesne, deer park, and 16,000 acres, were granted to Sir John Reynolds, brother-in-law to Lord Henry Cromwell. Upon the Restoration it reverted to its former owner, who was created Duke of Ormond. He spent much time at Carrick, and did a great deal to improve the trade of the town.

In 1816 Mr. Wogan was the tenant of the castle, and he carried out some restoration. After he left the place was dismantled, and for many years was allowed to go entirely to decay. It is now, however, better preserved.

In 1876, when the present Marquis married Lady Elizabeth Grosvenor, daughter of the Duke of Westminster, a great feast for the Ormond tenantry was held in the castle.

The fairy “Leather Apron” is said formerly to have haunted the kitchen department and chastised servants who did not do their work.

A local legend foretells the fall of the fortress upon the wisest man. An underground passage is said to connect the building with Edenderry Castle.