Norreys was added to the family surname Jephson in 1838, and some years later Sir Denham Jephson Norreys erected a mansion in Elizabethan style close to the old fortress. Sir Bernard Burke remarks of it: “Here are mullioned windows, pointed gables, tall chimneys, and all those various intricacies of building which characterised our noblest seats in the days of the Virgin Oueen; somewhat fantastic, it is true, but picturesque in the extreme.”
The manor and castle are still in the possession of this family, Mrs. Atherton-Jephson-Norreys being the present representative.
| Authorities Consulted. |
| H. F. Berry, “The Manor and Castle of Mallow,” in Journal of Cork Archæological Society. |
| J. O’Flanagan, “The Blackwater in Munster.” |
| Sir B. Burke, “The Seats and Arms of Noblemen and Gentlemen, &c.” |
| Smith, “History of County and City of Cork.” |
| R. Bagwell, “Ireland under the Tudors.” |
| Parliamentary Gazetteer. |
| H. Berry, “Manor of Mallow in the Thirteenth Century,” in Journal of Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland. |
MAYNOOTH CASTLE.
MAYNOOTH CASTLE
“Ye Geraldines! ye Geraldines! how royally ye reigned
O’er Desmond broad, and rich Kildare, and English arts disdained,
Your sword made knights, your banner waved, free was your bugle call,
By Glyn’s green slopes, and Dingle’s tide, from Barrow’s banks to Youghal.
What gorgeous shrines, what Brehon lore, what minstrel feasts there were
In and around Maynooth’s strong keep and palace-tilled Adare!
But not for rite or feast ye stayed, when friend or kin were pressed;
And foemen fled, when “Crom a boo” bespoke your lance in rest.”
Thomas Davis.