History of Carey's castle

dirtydiesel

Does anyone know the history of Carey's castle near Clonmel, brought the kids up there today, its an amazing building and still quite solid.
There isnt much info on the net except to say where it is!

Was thw castle built in the woods or were the trees laid afterwards?
I am just curious as to who built it and what it was used for or any history on it.

Vizzy

I did a bit of digging on the net and you are right,the info is very "bitty".

Maybe the County Museum might have some info ?

It's a great place though,I have been visiting it for the last 30 years and if you walk around you will notice that there was a village in the area.I suspect that the village was built much later than the castle. If you approach the castle from the top carpark(the one with the Careys Castle sign)you will see the remains of the village(walls,gable ends etc) if you take the left path just before you get to the Castle and you can then continue on and return to the Castle along the stream.

dirtydiesel

After looking around there today, I could tell a lot about its most recent tenants, they liked to drink dutch gold and eat taytos.
Limited info available suggests monks lived there at some stage, and the Carey family before that.

Ponster

"Carey's castle" isn't a name I've heard in over 30 years. Wow! I had forgotten all about it !

Could you post a Google Maps link of it's exact location please?

dirtydiesel

Ponster wrote: »

"Carey's castle" isn't a name I've heard in over 30 years. Wow! I had forgotten all about it !

Could you post a Google Maps link of it's exact location please?

http://www.toureagle.com/Activities/ie/clonmel/castles

There you go, directions and a small bit of history of thecastle.

Dalmation 1

Such a great place for a country walk.

charlemont

Monks from France set the place up, I know the spot well, Spent many a night up there on the beer..

tipptom

charlemont wrote: »

Monks from France set the place up, I know the spot well, Spent many a night up there on the beer..

Hey,shift your empty cans of dutch gold and Tayto packets!:D

charlemont

tipptom wrote: »

Hey,shift your empty cans of dutch gold and Tayto packets!:D

Ha, It was before Dutch Gold came out, 2 litre bottles of Linden Village more like it..
I found an article about Careys Castle on the web about a year ago explaining its origins, Ill have a root around and see can I find it and put a link up.

dirtydiesel

The castle is mentioned in 1 of the local papers today (south Tipp) it seems some nobs have vandalised it, and from the photos in the paper it looks like they managed to make a hole in one wall.

holystungun9

dirtydiesel wrote: »

After looking around there today, I could tell a lot about its most recent tenants, they liked to drink dutch gold and eat taytos.
Limited info available suggests monks lived there at some stage, and the Carey family before that.

They also loved to tear around on their scramblers and quads too.

Obriel

Careys Castle it is no longer a protected historical site as it has been de-listed. There is a company called Eco-Power that are trying to build 9 wind turbines (each one over 400 ft high) across the Comeragh Mountains and these will be close to carey's castle. Check out the facebook page about this (search for "ccwfag" Comeragh Community Wind Farm Awareness Group) There is an online petition you can sign if you are opposed to these turbines that will impact the views, quietness and all-round pleasure of carey's castle...:(

solerina

I have been in many places with wind turbines and I cant see what people get so hot and bothered about.
As long as they are properly constructed and a proper plan is in place for when they are eventually decomissioned I cant see the problem.
In my opinion they are not noisy or ugly and I cant see them doing any harm to the area close to Careys Castle.

Obriel

Obriel wrote: »

Careys Castle it is no longer a protected historical site as it has been de-listed. There is a company called Eco-Power that are trying to build 9 wind turbines (each one over 400 ft high) across the Comeragh Mountains and these will be close to carey's castle. Check out the facebook page about this (search for "ccwfag" Comeragh Community Wind Farm Awareness Group) There is an online petition you can sign if you are opposed to these turbines that will impact the views, quietness and all-round pleasure of carey's castle...:(

I have to say im not opposed to wind turbines. Actually i quiet like them and are very much in favour of them. I dont think they are noisy to be honest and i would put the question to you would you prefer a nuclear reactor near you because the fuels we burn are finite and the only feasible options is either wind or nuclear power.

dirtydiesel

dirtydiesel wrote: »

Does anyone know the history of Carey's castle near Clonmel, brought the kids up there today, its an amazing building and still quite solid.
There isnt much info on the net except to say where it is!

Was thw castle built in the woods or were the trees laid afterwards?
I am just curious as to who built it and what it was used for or any history on it.

Its amazing i am born and bred in south tipp and never knew about that castle. is it the one on the Waterford road?

i think its an awful pity that this new shower of fraudsters are in government and are banging on about reaping investment through tourism yet will not utilise the little gems like Careys castle. Every single piece of history in this country should have been utilised during the boom to keep responding to the tourist industry.

solerina

Deleted User wrote: »

Its amazing i am born and bred in south tipp and never knew about that castle. is it the one on the Waterford road?

i think its an awful pity that this new shower of fraudsters are in government and are banging on about reaping investment through tourism yet will not utilise the little gems like Careys castle. Every single piece of history in this country should have been utilised during the boom to keep responding to the tourist industry.

Its not on the Waterford road, its actually out the Dungravan road, take the first turn left about a mile out the Dungarvan road and go up the hill, Careys castle is in the woods about a mile up.

dirtydiesel

Deleted User wrote: »

Its amazing i am born and bred in south tipp and never knew about that castle. is it the one on the Waterford road?

i think its an awful pity that this new shower of fraudsters are in government and are banging on about reaping investment through tourism yet will not utilise the little gems like Careys castle. Every single piece of history in this country should have been utilised during the boom to keep responding to the tourist industry.

It looks quite neglected at the moment, loads of rubbish thrown around the place, maybe the funding is not available to maintain the place.
Just a thought but with all the people on the dole, surely Fas could set something up for someone with an intrest in history to work up there on a fas scheme.

Anniejryan

Hi all, I've never heard of monks living there but maybe I am wrong. I think it was built as a hunting lodge. It doesn't have much historical value but it is a lovely place for a walk if you turn a blind eye to the litter. The path goes along by the Glenary stream, you can also walk along by the side of the stream through the woods. Slippy but worth it.

Ponster

Anniejryan wrote: »

Hi all, I've never heard of monks living there but maybe I am wrong. I think it was built as a hunting lodge.

It think that it was built by Richard Carey about 150 years ago, so no monks but several websites say that it was built on the grounds of an earlier structure but without citing any sources. The townland though is called "Glenabbey" and the castle was originally known as Glenabbey House to the owners/builders so the monk story may not be so far fetched.

Meathlass

The govt website www.archaeology.ie is a great resource for this kind of information. Every historic site is listed on the website and you can hover over the map to get details etc. When you click on the above link select the tab 'Archaeological Survey of Ireland' Scroll down to the Terms and Conditions section and click that you accpet them. This will open up the map page. If the search window doesn't open automatically then click on the 'Query data' tab at the top of the page (open book symbol) to get it. Make sure you look for it in County Waterford, Townland Glenabbey not in South Tipp as I tried to do! Below is the description taken from the listing for 'Carey's Castle'. It was built between 1800 and 1840.


Description: Situated on the N bank of the E-W Glenary River, which is immediately to the S. Traditionally, the name is thought to be derived from a church of the Cistercian monastery of Inislounaght at Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. At the suppression of the monasteries the land in Glenary was granted to Edward Gough, and the Goughs still held land in Glenary in the 1650s. By the 19th century the land was owned by the Carey family, who probably built it. It is described as Glenabbey House on the 1840 ed. of the OS 6-inch map, and is commonly known as Carey's Castle.

The remains consist of two small blocks separated by a gateway into the walled garden which lies to the E. The S block of three storeys is small and has a projecting semi-circular tower attached at the W, which is not a stairs tower but has a cap like a round tower. Nor has the S block any fireplaces, but it has a corbelled false bartizan at the NE angle. Additional rooms in structures to the S do not survive, but they had bay windows on the S overlooking the river. Communication from the S block to the N was at first floor by means of a narrow passage over the gateway below. The N block is as constrained as the S with rectangular windows with stone surrounds and simple false crenellations.

Compiled by: Michael Moore. Date of upload: 26th August, 2010.

dlevick

Dear readers,

I am descended from the Carey family whose home this was. I hope the following snippets bring to life some of the bricks and mortar that still yet remains of this home.

The following is from recollections of the grand-daughter of Edward Carey, who left Carey's Castle in 1841, at age 20:

"Grandfather was born in Ireland. He was one of a family of six; five boys and one girl. His father was the Reverend Langer Carey, of Pallas Green and Clonmel, and his mother was Ann Labarte. [The Rev. Carey is buried in Marlfield Cemetery, a mile or so west of Clonmel, along with his wife and several sons.] It appears Grandfather’s father was dead [he had died in 1930] when Grandfather Ned left for Australia, and his Mother Ann had left the Pallas Green-Clonmel Parish and returned to the Carey family home, Glen Abby Castle, with her family. The castle was about one mile from Clonmel.

[It appears there had been the remains of an earlier Abbey, next to which Reverend Richard Carey had built Carey's Castle, thus giving the home its name.]

"Grandfather was 20 when he sailed to Australia with two brothers – Langer, who was 16, and John, who was 24. They left behind, with their Mother, two brothers, Richard and Peter, and a very much-loved sister, Ann.

"Why did the brothers leave home? Was it the call of adventure, or ambition, or was it a result of the famine and general unrest in Ireland at the time? Grandfather Ned was established as a merchant banker at Pallas Green. John had his medical degrees from the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin (30th December, 1839), and Langer was listed as gentleman farmer. Family tradition says that sad was the parting of Great Grandmother Ann with her three sons. She said goodbye to them at home and, from the castle window, watched as the three boys set off down the driveway – the start of a long voyage, well-knowing that there was little chance of the family meeting as a unit again. The three boys brought with them a photo of their mother waving to them from the castle window. My mother recalls seeing it many times as a child."

The Reverend Richard Carey was a descendant of John Carey, of Careysville, near Clondulane, just outside Fermoy. John Carey's magnificent home is now a hunting lodge and fishery (search Careysville for details). These Careys are a 'planter' family (English who came with Cromwell and 'planted' themselves on Irish lands to displace local Catholic landowners. A Peter Carey had come from Devon in the 1600s.

One of the three brothers who emigrated, Dr John, called his property at Hillville, near Tinonee, New South Wales, 'Glen Abbey'. His family line has died out, but Edward Carey's family has flourished. Two of their brothers -- aged 20 years and 23 years, are buried with their father at Marlfield, having died within six months of each other -- I'm presuming at the time of the famine.

If any of you visit Glen Abbey to enjoy a picnic with your family, I hope you'll imagine my great, great, great, grandmother waving from the top floor window to see her sons off on their adventure!

Any Careys of this line who see this are welcome to contact me at levick(AT)malakutDOTnet [(AT) =@ and DOT = .]