Conna

Conna
Conaithe
Village

Conna Castle viewed from the east
Conna

Location in Ireland

Coordinates: 52°05′34″N 08°06′36″W / 52.09278°N 8.11000°W / 52.09278; -8.11000Coordinates: 52°05′34″N 08°06′36″W / 52.09278°N 8.11000°W / 52.09278; -8.11000
Country Ireland
Province Munster
County County Cork
Time zone WET (UTC+0)
 • Summer (DST) IST (WEST) (UTC-1)

Conna (Irish: Conaithe)[1] is a village with a population of 300 in County Cork, Ireland. It is situated on the River Bride, not far from the town of Fermoy. The village contains several pubs, a shop, a post office, a Roman Catholic church and a nearby Church of Ireland chapel. The village is dominated by Conna castle, a five-story tower house situated on a limestone outcrop near the river.

History of the Castle

In 1554 the Fitzgeralds, Earls of Desmond, began building Conna Castle on a high limestone rock overlooking the River Bride.[2] Construction was completed ten years later. The castle and its estate was seized by the English and passed into the hands of Walter Raleigh, the English settler. The rightful heir to the castle, James FitzThomas (The Sugán Earl) staged a rebellion to capture the castle. He failed, was captured and imprisoned in the Tower of London. The castle then went through a series of different owners before ending up in the hands of the Earl of Cork. It is believed that Oliver Cromwell passed by the castle and fired cannons at it before moving on.[3] In 1653, the castle suffered a fire in which three of the steward's daughters were killed.[4][5] The castle continued to move from owner to owner until Hilary L’Estrange purchased the castle in 1851. He passed it on to his son, Rev A. G. K. L'Estrange, on whose death in 1915, the castle was willed into the care of the state, the first such property to be so willed.

Residents

In 1970, the British actress Angela Lansbury and her husband Peter Shaw moved to a farmhouse, named Knockmourne Glebe and originally constructed in the 1820s, that was located near Conna.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Placenames Database of Ireland. Conaithe Verified 2011-03-20.
  2. ↑ "Conna Castle, County Cork". libraryireland.com.
  3. ↑ The Illustrated Dublin Journal. Volume 1, Number 24. February 15, 1862.
  4. ↑ "Search what is available in Ireland". Ireland.com.
  5. ↑ "Conna Castle, County Cork". libraryireland.com.
  6. ↑ Gottfried, Martin (1999). Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury. New York: Little, Brown & Company. pp. 205–208. ISBN 0-316-32225-3.
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