After a siege of eight days, the Earl’s sons, Lords Dungarvan and Broghill, landed at Youghal and made a treaty with Lord Muskerry for a six days’ truce. Of the besiegers twenty were killed, while the defenders escaped injury.
The great Earl died in 1644. The following year the castle was again besieged, this time by troops under Lord Castlehaven. Major Bower, with a garrison of a hundred of the Earl’s tenants, managed to kill five hundred of the besiegers and to make terms before they surrendered.
The 4th Earl of Cork died without male heirs in 1753, and Lismore Castle passed to his eldest daughter, Lady Charlotte Boyle, who had married the 4th Duke of Devonshire in 1748. It thus passed to its present owner, the 8th Duke of Devonshire, who entertained King Edward VII. and Oueen Alexandra at the castle in 1904.
Boyle, “Lismore Papers.” C. Smith, “State of Waterford.” R. Ryland, “History of Waterford.” Egan, “Waterford Guide.” Proceedings of Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. Parliamentary Gazetteer. W. Flood, “Lismore” (_Journal of Waterford Archæological Society_). Windele Manuscript (_Cork Archæological Society’s Journal_). MacMahon, “Lismore Castle” (Historic Houses).
This fortress is situated in the Barony of Duhallow, four miles and a half east-south-east of Kanturk, County Cork.
The name was sometimes spelt Loghort, and means literally “herb-plot” or “garden,” from _luibh_, “herb,” and _gort_, “an enclosed field.”
The central tower is circular, and measures about 80 feet in height. It was strongly machicolated, and had only a few apertures for light and air. The walls are about 10 feet thick at the base, diminishing to 6 feet.
The castle was formerly surrounded by a moat, which was crossed by a drawbridge, but this has been removed.
Richard Sainthill, writing in 1831, describes the castle thus:--
“Six miles from Liscarroll is Loghort Castle, the residence of Lord Arden when he visits his Irish estates. It is a square keep about 90 feet in height. The ground floor is now the kitchen. The first floor was the armoury, and contained arms for 100 soldiers, which were removed and lost in the year 1798. This is now the dining-parlour; above this is the drawing-room. We then rise to the state bedroom, beside which there are six others. From the battlements an extensive prospect is commanded.”