Simon's Castle Traditional Cache
Hidden : 3/6/2009
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

A quick cash and dash.

Nestling on a small island on Lough Derg, close to the County Clare shoreline in the townland of Carroweena is the ruin of a sixteenth century towerhouse, known by a number of names - including Castlebawn, Bally Kelly, Belkelly, and Simon’s Castle. It was built by the dominant McNamara family during the mid to late sixteenth century, and remained in their ownership until the Cromwellian confiscations of the mid seventeenth century.

Simon’s Castle (as it is best known to local residents of the area even to this day) is best known for its siege by Government forces in 1827. According to the local historians, as recorded by the Folklore Commission of 1937/8: In 1827 it was the scene of a dramatic siege. At that time it was the property of Major Purdon and had long been a place of illicit spirit manufacture. Several efforts by the law had proved useless in halting the distillery. However, things were now at a head and the law was determined to put an end to the unlawful spirits. Cannon had previously been tried and it was decided that the only way to clear out the men inside was to surround the castle in boats and stay there until the distillers gave in. At first they were very determined and claimed that they would fight to the end, but eventually Major Purdon and the 93rd regiment under Lieutenant Sutherland from Killaloe talked the illegal occupants into surrender. About a month later the castle was blown up by a Limerick regiment by order of the Government.

The explosion completely destroyed the South wall, and brought down the roof. Attempts to destroy the North wall failed, only managing to blow cavities in the wall without toppling it. The result is a three walled castle, looking like a medieval handball alley, sheltered by a vaulted roof.

The castle is unusual in plan from other towerhouses built during the latter half of the sixteenth century. The front door is not at ground level as one might expect, but is on the first floor, where an attacker might find it more difficult to gain access, which was probably a sign of the times. The three remaining walls have no evidence of having windows on the ground floor, so one can assume that no window existed in the south wall. This would have made the ground floor very dark leaving it only useful as a store.

The island that remains today is quite small, being only about one tenth of an acre. Prior to the building of the hydro-electric power station at Ardnacrusha in 1929 and the subsequent raising of the water level on Lough Derg by about four feet, it was a much larger island.

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Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Haqre ebpx

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Attributes

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