When kings fall out, history changes course. And thus it was in old Gaelic Ireland when the King of Connaught, Rory O'Connor, and the King of Leinster, Dermot MacMurrough, had a tiff.
O'Connor became High King of Ireland, and forced MacMurrough into exile. MacMurrough went to Wales and Normandy canvassing support from various Norman knights, and this led to the Norman invasion.
Following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, the premier noblemen of Wales were Norman knights. The most prominent was the Earl of Pembroke, Richard 'Strongbow' de Clare. MacMurrough offered his daughter in marriage to Strongbow, along with the Kingdom of Leinster. A close associate of Strongbow was the Lord of Lanstephan, Maurice FitzGerald, who was offered lands along the south coast.
The Norman invasion commenced on 1st May, 1169, it was successful, and Maurice FitzGerald became the first Earl of Desmond. His supporters became known as the Geraldines, and the Desmond area stretched for Kerry to Waterford.
The invasion was so successful that King Henry II was fearful of the emergence of a new political power, and he led a successful invasion in 1171. Pope Adrian IV, the only Englishman ever to become pope, supported Henry. Apparently he wanted to bring the Celtic Christian church into line with the Roman system, and he issued a Papal Bull, Laudabiliter, which recognised the Lordship of Ireland. The Lord of Ireland was the King of England, and the King's representative on the ground was entitled Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
British control centred on the Dublin area (the Pale) along with the main cities of Cork, Waterford and Limerick. The FitzGeralds of Desmond continued to rule South Munster, the O'Briens of Thomond ran North Munster, while the Butlers of Ormonde controled much of Leinster.
Roll on the clock to 1534. Thomas FitzGerald held the title 10th Earl of Kildare. He was known as Silken Thomas. He rebelled against King Henry VIII in 1534. A truce was arranged, and it was agreed that Silken Thomas would be pardoned if he unconditionally surrendered. He was then summoned to London where he was placed in the Tower, and he was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1537.
The consequence of Silken Thomas' rebellion was the decisive response of Henry VIII. The Kingdom of Ireland was established by the Crown of Ireland Act, 1542.
The Kingdom of Ireland lasted until the Act of Union, 1800, which established the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland lasted until Irish independence in 1922, and it then became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The 26 counties first became the Irish Free State and then, following the adoption of the Constitution in 1937, simply 'Ireland'. The name 'Republic of Ireland' is the official 'description' of the State, but the official name is simply 'Ireland'.
The power of the Desmonds came to an end following 2 disastrous rebellions, in 1569 and then in 1579 (when the Earl attacked the English fortress town of Youghal), and the famine and plagues of 1582-1589, which killed over one-third of the population of Munster.
Local legend has it that a later inhabitant of the castle was named O'Heeny, who left in his will a horse's skin to his daughter, together with as much land as it could cover or enclose. The clever girl cut the skin into tiny strips and made a rope long enough to enclose the townland of Ballyheeny.
Ballyheeny is located on the Youghal side of Clashmore village, and remains the most prominent and heavily-populated townland in the parish to this day.
The cache is a camoflaged tupperware cylinder, please mind the blackthorns - strong gloves are recommended.