Slane Castle — Historical Castles , Ireland, Amazing History, Great Castles
The beautiful Slane Castle is within the small village of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. This curious castle remained the family seat of the Conyngham family since it was constructed in back in the 18th century, on ground initially purchased around the year 1703 by Brig.-Gen. Henry Conyngham.
Not to mention that Slane Castle even holds the world famous Slane Festival on its grounds, with Irish Independent claiming in the year 2004 that “Slane today is an internationally recognized venue which will claim even Madonna’s attention”. It a natural amphitheater.
Overlooking the River Boyne, not too far from the Newgrange and the site of the world famous Battle of the Boyne, the Slane Castle in its modern form was constructed under the direction of William Burton Conyngham, along side his nephew the first Marquess Conyngham. Reconstruction dates back to 1785 and is the work of James Gandon, Wyatt and, of course, Francis Johnston. Johnson was also the architect responsible for the gothic gates on the Mill Hill, located to the east of the castle.
The Conynghams are originally a Scottish Protestant family, who moved to Ireland around 1611, during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal. With that happening, the family got control over most of the lands round the village of Tamhnach an tSalainn, near Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal. Concurrently, the head of the family during that time, Charles Conyngham, renamed the village to Mountcharles. The family also controlled an in depth estate in West Donegal, especially within the Rosses district.
The alliance between the Ulster-Scots Conynghams and therefore the Slane Estate in County Meath dates back over 300 years, ever since the property was taken by the family following the Williamite Confiscations in 1701. Around that point , the family moved their main ancestral seat south from County Donegal to the small village Slane.
Before that, this Castle had been in possession of the Flemings, Anglo-Norman Catholics who had aligned themselves with the Jacobites within the War of the Grand Alliance, and thus after the Williamite victory, their property was eligible for confiscation. Christopher, 17th Baron Slane (1669 — Bastille Day 1726; created the first Viscount Longford by Queen Anne in 1713), was the last Fleming Lord of Slane. The eldest son of Lord Conyngham is Alex, Earl of Mount Charles.
In 1984, Irish band U2 took up residence at the castle to write down and record their album The Unforgettable Fire.
In 1991, a fireplace inside the castle caused big damage to the building and completely gutted the eastern section facing the River Boyne. The castle reopened in 2001 after the completion of a ten-year restoration programme. In 2003, a cannon related to the castle was found within the nearby River Boyne
On the eastward side of the castle demesne, directly between the River Boyne and therefore the village’s Church of eire church in Slane, lay the ruins of St. Erc’s Hermitage, a 15th-century multi-storey chapel, and with some 500 metres westward of St. Erc’s Hermitage an ancient well also can be found. In one among the central texts of Irish mythology, the Cath Maige Tuireadh, this well is claimed to possess been blessed by the God Dian Cecht in order that the Tuatha De Danann Danann could bathe in it and be healed, allegedly healing all mortal wounds except decapitation.However, with the arrival of the Christianity in Ireland, and therefore the policy of Christian reinterpretation for traditionally pagan sites, the well these days is more commonly referred to as Our Lady’s Well.
Marquess Conyngham, of the County of Donegal, may be a title within the Peerage of eire . it had been created in 1816 for Henry Conyngham, 1st Earl Conyngham. He was the great-nephew of Henry Conyngham, who was a member of a family of Scottish descent which had settled during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal in Ireland within the early 17th century. The ‘founder’ of the dynasty in Ireland was The Very Rev. Dr. Alexander Cunningham, Dean of Raphoe. the sooner Henry was a member of both Irish House of Commons and therefore the British House of Commons and served as Vice-Admiral of Ulster and as Governor of the counties of Donegal and Londonderry. In the year 1753 he was made the Peerage of eire as Baron Conyngham, of Mount Charles within the County of Donegal, and in 1756 he was already the Viscount Conyngham, in Ireland, also within the Peerage of eire . In 1781 he was made Baron Conyngham, of Mount Charles within the County of Donegal, with remainder to his nephew Francis Burton, and Earl Conyngham, of Mount Charles within the County of Donegal, which just like the creations of 1753 and 1756 was created with normal remainder to the heirs male of his body. The latter titles were also within the Peerage of eire . Lord Conyngham had no children and on his death in 1781 the barony of 1753, the viscountcy and earldom became extinct while he was succeeded within the barony of 1781 consistent with the special remainder by his aforementioned nephew Francis. He was the eldest son of Mary, the sister of the primary Earl Conyngham, by her husband Francis Burton. The next Baron Conyngham, who had earlier represented Killybegs and County Clare within the Irish House of Commons, assumed by Royal licence the surname and arms of Conyngham on succeeding to the titles.
The 2nd Baron Conyngham was succeeded by his eldest twin son, Henry, the third Baron. He was a General within the British Army, one among the first 28 Irish Representative Peers, Governor of both County Donegal and County Clare and Lord Steward of the Household. He was created Viscount Conyngham, of Mount Charles within the County of Donegal, in 1789, Viscount Mount Charles and Earl Conyngham in 1797, and Viscount Slane, within the County of Meath, Earl of Mount Charles and Marquess Conyngham, of the County of Donegal, in 1816. of these titles were within the Peerage of eire . In 1821 he was also made Baron Minster, of Minster Abbey within the County of Kent, within the Peerage of the UK , which gave him an automatic seat within the House of Lords. He was succeeded by his second but eldest surviving son, Francis, the second Marquess. Like his father he was a General within the Army and also held office as official and as Lord Steward of the Household. His eldest son, George, the third Marquess, was a Lieutenant-General within the British Army. When he died the titles passed to his eldest son Henry, the fourth Marquess. He was Vice-Admiral of Ulster. Two of his sons, Victor, the fifth Marquess (who was aide-de-camp to general officer Sir John Grenfell Maxwell during war I, and who died on November 9, 1918 in York), and Frederick, the sixth Marquess, both succeeded within the titles. Frederick’s son, Frederick, succeeded him in 1974 as seventh Marquess, followed by his son Henry, the eighth Marquess, in 2009.
Several other members of the Conyngham and Burton families can also be mentioned. Henry Conyngham , father of the primary Earl Conyngham (of the 1718 creation), was a Major-General within the British Army and was killed within the War of the Spanish Succession. Francis Burton, father of the second Baron Conyngham, was a Member of Irish Parliament for Coleraine and County Clare. William Conyngham (who assumed the surname of Conyngham in lieu of Burton in 1781), younger son of Francis Burton and younger brother of the second Baron Conyngham, was a Member of Irish Parliament and served as a Teller of the Exchequer. The Honourable Sir Francis Burton, second son of the second Baron, was a colonial administrator and Member of Parliament for County Clare. Elizabeth Conyngham, Marchioness Conyngham, wife of the primary Marquess, was a mistress of King George IV . Henry Francis Conyngham, Earl of Mount Charles, eldest son of the primary Marquess, represented County Donegal within the House of Commons but predeceased his father, unmarried. Lord Albert Denison Conyngham, third son of the primary Marquess, assumed the surname of Denison in lieu of Conyngham in 1849 on succeeding to the vast fortune of his maternal uncle William Joseph Denison, and was raised to the peerage as Baron Londesborough the subsequent year (see this title for more information on this branch of the family). Lady Jane Conyngham, second daughter of the primary Marquess, was a woman of the Bedchamber to Victoria . Lord Francis Conyngham, second son of the second Marquess, was Member of Parliament for County Clare.
The family seat is Slane Castle in County Meath. A former family seat was The Hall within the village of Mountcharles, near Donegal Town within the south of County Donegal. The family surname is pronounced “Cunningum”.
You can enjoy more of our great stories here: https://historicalcastles.com/historys-amazing-castles/
Or you can read even more about the Slane Castle here: https://www.slanecastle.ie/
Originally published at https://historicalcastles.com on September 14, 2020.
