Location: R357 regional road Map
Constructed: 1500
Clonony Castle is a medieval fortress that stands on R357 regional road in County Offaly in Ireland. Clonony Castle was erected in the 16th century. Clonony is famous locally as a haunted location where you can encounter a ghost. One of a ghosts is that of a man, surrounded in a hazy halo. He usually stands at the top of the tower looking down. His clothes are said to be old fashion. Many people had a peak at this nameless watchman who still takes care of his Clonony Fortress.
Clononi - a castle of the Tudor era, was built by the McCochlan
clan until 1519, John Og McCochlan ceded it to King Henry VIII. The
king, in turn, passed it on to Thomas Boleyn, whose daughter, Anna,
he was going to marry. The second cousins of Queen Elizabeth I,
Mary and Elizabeth Boleyn, lived in Clononi, their graves were
discovered in 1803, 100 meters from the castle. The inscription is
engraved on the limestone tombstone: “Here lie Elizabeth and Mary
Boleyn, daughters of Thomas Boleyn, son of George Boleyn, son of
George Boleyn, Viscount Rockford, son of Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl
Ormond and Wilshire” (Here under leys Elisabeth and Mary Bullyn,
daughters of Thomas , son of George Bullyn the son of George Bullyn
Viscount Rochford son of Sir Thomas Bullyn Erle of Ormond and
Willsheere).
Current state
The fifty-foot tower, surrounded by gardens and a moat, is the
National Monument of Ireland. The castle is located a few kilometers
from Clonmacnois, the ancient center of Irish education. Nearby are
the villages of Shannon Harber, Shannonbridge and the village of
Banacher. Clononi is currently restored and open for free visits
(without a specific schedule).
Architecture
In Clononi, there are all the basic elements of fortification
characteristic of a tower house: mashikuli, killer holes, spiral
staircases, storerooms and a courtyard. The first level collapsed,
but was replaced during the last restoration by the owners of the
castle. At the second level, barrel-shaped arches were restored. The
tower house has three floors, the entrance is located from the west,
mashikuli are arranged above it. Inside, from the ground floor
premises, protected from shelling (casemate), a spiral staircase
leads upstairs. The walls surrounding the courtyard, with two corner
square towers, an angle and an entrance over which the coat of arms
was located, were reconstructed in the 19th century and give an idea
of what the original complex of tower-house structures looked
like.