Dunamase or The Rock of Dunamase is a rocky outcrop in County Laois, Ireland that looms 150 feet (45 m) above the surrounding countryside. In Irish the name is Dún Másc, "the Fort of Masc", and it is typical of Ireland that nobody knows who Másc was. Part of what I love about Ireland is the vast store of names, stories, and bits of legend that survive from times so remote their meanings have been garbled or lost. County Laois is in the heart of the island, southwest of Dublin.
Dunamase seems to have been first fortified in early Christian times, perhaps in the 8th century. The earliest historical reference to Dunamase is in the chronicle known as the
Annals of the Four Masters, which notes that Dun Masc was plundered by the vikings in 843 AD and the abbot of Terryglass was killed.
The castle was built by the Normans not long after they first arrived in 1167. Its early history is obscure, but Irish antiquarians say that it belonged to Dermot McMurrough Kavanagh before being passed to Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare -- the invader who revels in the name of Strongbow -- and then onto his son-in-law William Marshall, one of the most famous knights of the whole Middle Ages.
The castle is a very impressive one. The natural defenses of the site were reinforced by strong stone walls and ditches cut into the rock of the hill. At the crest was an impressive great hall, a suitable place for men like Strongbow and William Marshall to house their large retinues and entertain important visitors.
Now, to judge by the vast number of pictures online, it is a favorite destination of hikers and haunters or ruins.
There was once a village at the foot of the little, but all that survives is this stone church.
Seems like a great place to be right now.
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