The grant of land consisted of 15,441 acres of all sorts, English measure, 12 miles from Dublin, with a castle called Kevin, and a fine river full of salmon and trout.
It does not appear, however, that Luke O’Toole was easily dislodged, and when Oliver Cromwell left Dublin to march to Wexford in 1649 he proved a source of constant annoyance to the troops. At this time he was encamped at Glenmalure with his four sons, one of whom managed to seize Cromwell’s favourite steed. Its owner offered £100 to Luke for its return, “but for gold or silver he would not give him back, but preferred to keep him as a monument.”
It is said that in revenge for this Cromwell ordered his cannon to level Castle Kevin. Local tradition supports this statement by pointing out a furze-covered rath from which the castle is supposed to have been shelled by Ludlow, while the blocks of adhering masonry round the foundations are unlike the crumbling of age alone.
Against this it is remarked that Castle Kevin does not appear in the list of Leinster castles reduced by Cromwell. This, however, might be accounted for from the fact that (as it appears) only a part of the castle walls were standing at the time, and that its final destruction had no strategical value, but was merely private revenge for the theft of a horse, and so was not recorded.
Luke O’Toole was afterwards captured and executed.
The land upon which the remains of the castle stand is now in the possession of the Rev. Charles Frizell, who also owns the modern manor house of Castle Kevin, some quarter of a mile distant, on a hill above the ancient building.
| Authorities Consulted. |
| D’Alton, “Archbishops of Dublin.” |
| O’Toole, “Clan of O’Toole.” |
| State Papers. |
| Carew MSS. |
| Murphy, “Cromwell in Ireland.” |
| O’Clery, “Hugh Roe O’Donnell.” Introduction by Murphy. |
| Gilbert, “History of the Viceroys.” |
| Stokes, “Anglo-Norman Church.” |
| Reeves, Pamphlet on Swords. |
| Rev. W. Stokes, Pamphlet on Derrylossory. |
CASTLE SALEM
Benduff, signifying the black peak or gable, was the former name of this fortress, which was built on a rock in the centre of a small valley about a mile north-west of Ross, in East Carbery, Co. Cork.