Constance Louisa Adams

This castle is situated on the banks of the Barrow in the north-east corner of the Barony of Pornahinch, in the Queen’s County.

The name is sometimes spelt Ley or Leagh, and is said to signify “grey” or “grey land,” though a legend traces its origin to the name of a great chieftainess who lived, and was treacherously slain, on the plain of Lea.

The fortress consisted of a three-storeyed rectangular building 60 feet by 46 feet, flanked by round towers and having walls varying in thickness from 8 to 10 feet. The west side of the structure has been blown up, but the remaining tower contains five rooms, one of them having thicker walls than the rest, i.e., 13 feet instead of 12.

The centre of the castle was built on arches, and the projecting angles of the towers were connected by a curtain wall nearly 8 feet thick.

The approach was by a causeway 100 feet in length. It was surrounded by a ditch 25 feet wide, which could be filled by water from the Barrow. From this it was called Port-na-hinch, or the “Castle of the Island,” from which the barony takes its name. Inside the moat was a low wall, which can still be traced. All the arches are round except one leading from the causeway to the bawn, which is pointed.

Two drawbridges and two bastions defended the gate into the inner ballium, which measured 140 feet by 130 feet. The remains of the barbican can still be seen.

The outer ballium includes the bawn, and the inner one contained a tennis court and tilt yard.

Some authorities state the castle was erected by Baron Offaly, while again it is said to owe its origin in about 1260 to William de Vesey, who had married the Earl of Derby’s daughter, whose mother was heiress to William Mareschal, Lord Palatine of Lea. The daughter of O’More, Prince of Leix, is also said to have built Lea Castle on the Barrow in the marches of Inch, 1260.

LEA CASTLE (INTERIOR).

It appears, however, to have been in existence in 1203, as there is an order to the Justiciary of Ireland to have the castle delivered, as well as other possessions, which had belonged to Gerald FitzMaurice, and in 1257 William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, received a grant of the wardship of Maurice, 2nd Baron of Offaly, and also his castles of Lea and Geashill.

In 1264 a meeting was held at Castledermot to settle some dispute about land in Connaught, but at it Maurice, Baron of Offaly, and his nephew, John FitzThomas, seized Richard de Burgh, heir to the Earl of Ulster, the Lord Justice Richard de Capella, Theobald Butler, and John Cogan, and imprisoned them in Lea.

Thomas de Clare sold the wardship of Maurice Fitz-Gerald’s heirs and the guardianship of Lea Castle to Sir William de Valence in 1270 for 3,500 marks. The wardship had been granted to De Clare by the King’s eldest son. At this time, the Book of Howth states, it was the only fortress held by the English in Offaly. In 1274, however, an order was issued to restore the custody of FitzGerald’s heirs to Roger and Matilda de Mortimer, who had, it seems, inherited the privilege, and De Valence only having paid 2,300 marks was not held liable for the rest of the money in consequence.

The castle was burnt by the O’Dempseys, O’Dunnes, and O’Carrols in 1284, and Theobald Verdon going to avenge the outrage was entirely routed. It was shortly afterwards restored by De Vesey, the Lord Justice of Ireland.

Here, with the assistance of Baron Offaly, he imprisoned the Red Earl of Ulster and his brother in 1294, but they were liberated the following year by order of the Parliament at Kilkenny, and the Pearl’s sons were surrendered as hostages instead. It is said De Vesey then quarrelled with John FitzThomas FitzGerald, Baron Offaly, and fled to France to avoid meeting him in single combat, and by this means Lea Castle lapsed again to the Geraldines.

John FitzThomas was ordered to repair to the King abroad in 1297, and £40 was granted to him to fortify his Castle of Ley.

The castle was besieged and the town burnt in 1307 by the “tories” of Offaly, but the former was relieved by John FitzThomas and Sir Edmund Butler, afterwards Earl of Carrick.

Baron Offaly restored the fortress and erected a church with steeple and bells, but in 1316 Robert Bruce burnt the castle and town, and carried off the bells.

Sir Walter Eustis is said to have been stabbed to death in the castle by his wife’s sister, daughter of the O’More, who had formerly rejected his addresses, but upon the birth of her sister’s child, she murdered Sir Walter in a fit of jealousy, and retired to the convent at Kildare, where she confessed her crime and died penitent.

The O’Dempseys’ seized the fortress in 1329, but the next year it was surrendered to Sir John Darcy, Lord Justice, who restored it to the Earl of Kildare to keep for the King. The O’Dempseys again laid siege to the castle in 1339, but were driven off by the Earl.

O’More, Chief of Leix, burnt Lea in the spring of 1346, but in the following November he was defeated by the Earl of Kildare, who rebuilt the town, castle, and church, but not the steeple.

The fortress was again taken by O’More and O’Dempsey in 1414. Seven years later they were defeated near Kilkea Castle by the 6th Earl of Kildare, nicknamed “Shaun Cam,” or Hump-backed John.

Lea Castle was restored to the Earl after the battle of the Red-bog of Athy.

The Four Masters mention the castle in 1452.

In 1533 the Earl of Kildare furnished the stronghold with guns and ammunition out of the King’s store, and in direct opposition to his commands, which the Master of the Rolls pointed out to him in the presence of the Bishop of Meath.

The following year it is reported to have been one of the six best castles of the Geraldines, and it was the chief stronghold of Lord Offaly, the “Silken Thomas,” during his rebellion, after the fall of Maynooth.

There is a letter from the former constable of this latter fortress, written in 1535, to Cromwell, saying that Lord Thomas had removed the Countess’s apparel to Ley, as well as other valuables, and that he, Boyce, had resigned his office in consequence of the insurrection.

The Carew MSS. record the Castle of Ley was of “no value” in 1537, and state it was granted to James FitzGerald after the attainting of the Earl. In 1548 he required two gunners at the King’s charge, and powder and shot.

Thomas Scotte petitioned to lease it in 1549.

In 1554 the Lord Deputy, Thomas Earl of Sussex, is said to have taken it from Patrick O’More, but it was regained by Anthony O’More in 1598, after which he defeated Essex at the Pass of Ballybrittas, called the “Pass of Plumes” from those worn by the gay English soldiers.

Lea was held by the Irish in 1641 upon the breaking out of the rebellion, but afterwards the loyalists took possession under the command of Lord Lisle. They planted an ash-tree to commemorate the event which lived 170 years, and had a girth of from 29 to 33 feet, while its shade had a diameter of 60 feet.

In 1642 Lord Castlehaven retook Lea, and at this time some of the brass money known as St. Patrick’s halfpennies was struck here. These coins have the letter L on them and are very rare.

O’Neill is said to have lodged in the castle.

The Parliamentary Colonels, Hudson and Reynolds, took and dismantled the fortress in 1650.

It was repaired and held by lease under the Crown by an O’Dempsey until confiscated after the fall of the Stuarts. In 1695 it was granted to the Earl of Meath as part of Sir Patrick Trant’s estate.

A horse stealer called O’Dempsey and nicknamed “Shamas a Coppuil,” or “James the Horse,” inhabited it at the beginning of the eighteenth century until the Government interfered.

Hampden Evans owned it in 1791, and it afterwards passed to Viscount Carlow.

The following legend was related by Widow Gorman in 1818 to Miss French of Glenmolire, and noted by her:—

Redmond M’Comon O’Byrne, chief of Donamace and Leagh, had two gigantic sons named Roderick and Maurice. The latter was married to a daughter of The O’Neill and had one son called Connell.

Upon the death of the old chieftain O’Byrne, he divided his territory between his sons, leaving Donamace to the elder, Roderick, and Leagh to the younger, Maurice.

Roderick, believing he should have inherited all his father’s possessions, determined to murder his brother.

One stormy night he set out alone from Donamace, and having tied his horse beneath a grove of ash-trees near the castle of Lea, he let himself in by the postern, with the key of which his unsuspecting brother had entrusted him.

Reaching Maurice’s chamber he murdered him in cold blood, but not before his victim had cried out to his son to revenge his death by a brother’s hand.

Roderick seized the body and, carrying it to where he had left his horse, put it into a leather bag that he had brought with him. Arriving at Dunamace he threw the body into a very deep well, thinking it would never be discovered.

Maurice’s son, Connell, had heard his father’s cry for vengeance in his dreams, but upon awaking and finding his father gone, with blood stains on the floor and stairs, he knew he had actually heard his voice.

The young chieftain, armed with two great sabres of equal size, proceeded to his uncle’s stronghold, and presenting himself before him, demanded satisfaction. In the duel which followed both combatants were killed, and it is said no grass grows in their footsteps on the rock until this day.

The old well is still shown, and if two friends visit it together one is said to die within the year.

There seems to be no historical record of the fortress ever having been in possession of the O’Byrnes.