Arklow Ireland was Granted to the 1st Chief Butler in 1189
Arklow is a town in County Wicklow about 45 miles from Dublin, Ireland.
In 1189, John of England (then the lord of Ireland), granted the town of Arklow and Arklow Castle to Theobald FitzWalter, the 1st Chief Butler of Ireland and patriarch of the Butler family. During his time in Arklow, Theobald founded and endowed a monastery and brought in many settlers. He died in Arklow Castle on February 4, 1206. His great-grandson, the 4th Chief Butler of Ireland, would also die at the castle in 1285.
Sometime after 1416, Arklow came under the control of the MacMurrough Kings of Leinster. The rugged landscape of the area provided cover for the MacMurroughs, O’Byrnes, O’Tooles, and others to attack their enemies in the Dublin area for many years.
In 1525, the manor, castle, and lands of Arklow were returned to Piers Butler, the 8th Earl of Ormond, by his uncle, Muiris MacMurrough-Kavanagh, King of Leinster. Arklow changed hands again when Oliver Cromwell took the surrender of the town in 1649 during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
The Manor of Arklow eventually made its way back into the hands of the Butlers and was eventually sold to John Allen of Stillorgan, County Dublin by James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde, in 1714.
Today, only fragments of Arklow Castle remain on the south side of the Ovaca River.
Primary Sources:
- Collectanea Genealogica, ed. by J. Foster, Parts 1-4.
- O’Byrne, Emmett Dr. “Arklow castle traced back to Strongbow.” Independent.ie, 06 Oct. 2011.
- Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Arklow.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 Aug. 2012.
- Adams, Constance Louisa, “Castles of Ireland: Some Fortress Histories and Legends,” pp. 15-17, 1904.
- Image 1 (Wicklow Mountains): By Joe King – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.
