This ancient seat of royalty is situated five miles and three-quarters north-by-east of Enniscorthy, on the River Bann, in the County of Wexford. The name comes from Fearna, meaning alders, or “a place abounding in alders.”

The erection of the first stone castle is ascribed to Strongbow, and it is supposed to have been built upon the site of the fortress or dun of his father-in-law, Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster.

The present ruins are the remains of four round towers, which were joined by high curtain walls enclosing a courtyard. The building is one of great strength, and occupies an imposing situation above the town.

The most perfect of the towers contains a chapel, with a beautifully groined roof springing from consoles. Richard Donovan, who inherited the property in 1773, is said to have converted the sanctuary into an Orange Lodge, where high revel was held, and a visitor in 1864 states that an equestrian statue of William III. occupied the site of the altar beneath the east window.

Mr. Baranger, however, writing in 1780, says that the chapel was without a floor, and made one with the under apartment. He describes the room above it as arched, and also remarks that the edges of the stones of the long loophole windows had been cut underneath as if for cannon to be pointed through. A brass fieldpiece found in the castle was used for the defence of Wexford, 1641.

Three kinds of masonry are visible in the construction of the tower, each occupying about a third of its height. The bottom layer consists of small stones, the middle part of larger ones, while those at the top are hewn.

At one time part of the wall connecting the towers was used as a ball-alley (the ground being flagged for this purpose), until the owner of the castle enclosed the ruins with a wall for their preservation.

In 1865 part of the fortress on the north side fell in a thunderstorm, and the tenant of that date procured leave to blast the rest of this wall for fear of accident. The ground is littered with broken masonry.

After Strongbow’s death in 1177, Henry II. bestowed the manor and castle of Ferns upon William FitzAdelm de Burgo. The same year FitzAdelm seized the Black Castle of Wicklow from the three sons of Maurice Fitzgerald, giving them Ferns by way of compensation.

The brothers at once began to rebuild and strongly fortify their new possession, but it was hardly completed before Walter Allemand, a nephew of FitzAdelm, attacked the castle and left it in a ruined condition.

William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, who married the grand-daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, began to erect a much larger fortress on the same site in 1192. He was succeeded by his son, who had married the daughter of King John, and he completed the stronghold in 1224. He then presented it to the Bishop of Ferns as restitution for Church land which his father had seized.

It remained in the possession of the Church from 1224 to 1364, during which time it was used as an Episcopal Palace.

In 1243 Geoffrey St. John, Vicar-General of Ferns, and Escheator of Ireland, came into residence, and was succeeded by Bishop Lambert in 1282, who died in the castle.

He was followed by Richard of Northampton, who had been Canon of Kildare, while in 1304 Robert Waldrond was consecrated, and took up his abode at Ferns. During this time the neighbourhood was much disturbed, and the next Bishop was arraigned for high treason in 1317, but was pardoned the following year.

In 1331 the clan of O’Toole seized the castle, pillaged, and burned it. Next year the Crown took possession again, and three years later they thought it expedient to appoint Lord Gerald Rochford constable of Ferns Castle. He held office for ten years, and was summoned to Parliament as a Baron.

In 1347 Bishop Esmond came into possession of the stronghold, and was succeeded by Bishops Charnels and Denn. The latter prelate was the last Bishop to reside in the castle, for from 1402 to 1530 the stronghold was in possession of the MacMurroughs.

At the end of this period it was captured by Lord Deputy Grey. He was on his way from Kilkenny to Dublin, when he sent word from Leghlyn to Stephen FitzHenry at Kilkea, to meet him at Ferns Castle with his guns and men.

Lord Grey marched by night, and arrived in the morning before the fortress. He demanded its surrender, which was refused by the garrison, “using very spiteful language.” The day was spent in preparing for the attack. He posted his men round the building in the ditches and other cover, so that none of the besieged should escape, and the troops broke down the gate leading to the drawbridge. A Mr. Thomas Allen, who was with the attacking party, noticed that one of the garrison kept watch every now and then from one particular place, and he sent a gunner to hide himself where he could cover the spot with his weapon. This was successful, and the man was shot as soon as he returned. He was the governor and chief gunner of the castle.

The rest of the garrison then asked for a parley, which was granted.

Lord Grey told them that unless they surrendered before the arrival of the ordnance, which was within a mile of the stronghold, he would not accept a surrender, but kill them all. They then agreed to give the castle up, and two of the English were stationed in it during the night.

The next day the Lord Deputy appointed a garrison of the MacMurroughs to guard the stronghold, taking their chief with him to Dublin as a hostage.

A writer of this time describes the castle as the old inheritance of the Earl of Shrewsbury or the Duke of Norfolk, and “oon of the auncientis and strongest castells within this lande.”

In 1536 Cahir Maclnnycross Kavanagh, the MacMurrough, was appointed constable by the Crown, but two years later he was superseded by Sir Richard Butler.

At the time great anxiety was felt for fear of an attack from the Kavanaghs; and in 1550, we learn from the State Papers that Cahir M’Arte Kavanagh had managed to get possession of the castle by treatment.

The next year Richard Kettyng asked the Privy Council to confirm the King’s letter granting him the stronghold, but they refused.

It was considered necessary to have English captains in the castles of the districts to hold the Kavanaghs in subjection, so that a list of constables to Ferns Castle is recorded, the most remarkable being the Mastersons, father and son, the former being accused of conspiring against the Queen in 1569.

Thrilling traditions are related regarding his wife, Catherien de Clare, who was said to decoy the neighbouring chiefs and Irish gentlemen within the fortress under the guise of hospitality and murder them by pushing them down a trapdoor.

In 1588 Masterson entered a petition for land, as recompense for thirty-four years’ service.

His son spent large sums on rebuilding the castle; nevertheless it was granted to Lord Andley in 1608.

Sir Charles Coote occupied the stronghold in 1641, but finding he was unable to hold it against the insurgents, he dismantled the outworks, blew up part of the building, and left the neighbourhood.

It must, however, have been partly repaired, for eight years later, when Cromwell’s commander, Colonel Reynolds, appeared before it, the garrison fled, leaving their arms, ammunition, and provisions behind them.

In 1669 Charles II. granted the castle to Arthur Parsons; while in 1689 it seems to have been in the possession of Alderman Thomas Keiran, who gave it to his brother-in-law, Richard Donovan, in 1694, from whom it descended to its present owner, Richard Donovan, Esq., D.L., of Ballymore House, Camolin.