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.
| Authorities Consulted. |
| 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). |
LOHORT CASTLE
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:—