Kilbeheny Castle

Kilbeheny Castle lies in the townland of Castlequarter, in County Limerick, in Ireland.

Tradition has it that Kilbeheny Castle was built by a Beithne O’Brien, although I could not find out when. It also was a residence of the White Knights, a title first given to the FitzGibbons by Edward III of England in 1333. As they were related to the FitzGeralds, who were Earls of Desmond, the castle was seen as a Desmond castle.

Even so, because the 11th White Knight; Edmund FitzGibbon, was loyal to Elizabeth I during the Nine Years War, he captured the Súgán Earl of Desmond; his kinsman James FitzThomas FitzGerald, and imprisoned him here in Kilbeheny in 1601, before handing him over to the English. Kilbeheny Castle was finally destroyed by Cromwell in 1650.

The castle was a tower house of 5 stories. It probably had a bawn.

At present, Kilbeheny Castle lies on a grassy meadow rather far from the public road. It is freely accessible, as long as there are no cattle grazing the meadow. A nice tower house ruin, I especially liked the corner window slit.

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