Built for the O’Donoghue Chieftains during the first half of the 15th century, Ross Castle has a typical tower house layout, with a banqueting hall and minstrel’s gallery on the top floor.It was battlemented in the Irish fashion, and was surrounded by a bawn wall with flanking towers at each corner, two of which now remain.」
「Ross Catle Ross Catle is tower, built sometimes in the late 15th century by the O'Donoghue family who ruled the Killarney area at the time. 【ロス城 ロス城は「塔屋式(タワーハウス)」の城で、15世紀後半ごろに当時キラーニー一帯を 支配していたオドノフー一族によって建てられました。】
「About 1500 The castle was originary continued inside a strong stone bawn wall。Outside this , there was probably an earthen bank and wooden palisade whichi enclosed an area called the bailey.The thatched houses insaide this were the homes at O'Donoghus's retainers or possibly of hired soldeiers.」
ロス城(Ross Castle)の建設当初(約1500年頃)の復元図. この時代のロス城は、オドノヒュー家(O'Donoghue family)によって建てられたもので、 アイルランドの伝統的な塔型住宅(Tower House)として、防御機能を重視した構造に なっている と。 ① タワーハウス(中央の高い塔) ・ 居住と防御を兼ねた主建造物。通常4〜5階建てで、最上部には防御用の胸壁(パラペット)。 ・ 小さな窓と厚い石壁により、攻撃への防備が強化されています。 ② バウン・ウォール(城壁) ・主塔の周囲を囲む堅牢な石壁。四隅に**小塔(タレット)**があり、見張りと防衛に使用。 ・外敵の侵入を防ぐため、壁内は一つの閉じた防衛区域になっています。 ③ 内部の茅葺き家屋群(内部の建物) ・城主の家臣や使用人の住居、倉庫、厨房など。 ・中庭(バリー)には、木造または石造の建物が複数建ち並んでいました。 ④ 外周の木製柵と堀 ・石壁の外側には、おそらく木製の柵(パリセード)や堀が設けられ、さらに防衛を強化。 ・図の下部(入口側)に橋が描かれており、跳ね橋や門番小屋の存在が示唆されます。
About 1700 By 1700 the castle had changed hands twice. The O'Donoghues were allied with the Earl of Desmond during his failed rebellion and so the castle fell into the hands of the McCarthy Mor family. This was probably when the larger windows and bartizans were added. The castle was subsequently granted to an English land surveyor Sir Valentine Browne who, in 1688, built the fortified house against the side of the castle. To do this he demolished the west section of the bawn wall.
About 1800 By the mid-18th century the castle had become a garrison. Most of the bawn walls had been removed, Valentine Browne's house had been demolished, and it had been necessary to support the north-west corner of the castle with a substantial buttress. A new barrack block was built, as well as additional accommodation on the west side. This drawing shows the castle shortly after the 1798 rising at a time when the English were expecting a French invasion.」
「Killarney National Park(キラーニー国立公園) Killarney National Park, 10,289 hectares in extent, comprises the mountains and woodlands which surround the world famous Lakes of Killarney, as well as the three Lakes themselves. The Park includes the peaks of Mangerton, Torc, Shehy and the Purple mountains. Just to the west of the Park rises MacGillycuddy's Reeks, the highest mountain range in Ireland. The nucleus of the National Park is the 4,000 hectare Bourn Vincent Memorial Park, formerly known as the Muckross Estate, which was presented to the State in 1932 by Mr. and Mrs. W. Bowers Bourn and their son-in-law Senator Arthur Vincent to be Ireland’s first National Park. In 1981, the Park was designated as a Biosphere Reserve under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. It is therefore a part of a world network of natural areas which have conservation, research, education and training as major objectives. Killarney National Park is part of the largest candidate Special Area of Conservation (SAC) in the country under the EU Habitats Directive as well as being an Special Protection Area (SPA) under the EU Birds directive.」
「Innisfallen Island Innisfallen Island (Inis Faithleann) once the home of a monastery, dating back to 640 AD.Founded by St. Finian the Leper. The Island was a place of solitude for the monks to reflect and pray. Located in Killarney National Park, Lower Lake, Lough Lein, just 1.5 km from Ross Castle. The monks were great scholars, and the High King of Ireland Brian Boru was said to have studied on Innisfallen Island. Over a three hundred years period 39 monks wrote what is now known as the Annals of Innisfallen, a history of Ireland written in Irish and Latin. The Annals are considered of major importance to historians. The Annals are currently housed in the Bodleian Library, in Oxford, but there is hope they will return to Killarney in the not too distant future.
On the island you will see the ruins of a 12th century Augustinian priory, as well as a Romanesque church, which are the remarkable remains of this early Christian period.
The Island was gifted to the Irish Nation by the late John and Mary McShain, of Killarney House and Philadelphia, USA in 1972.
It is cared for by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.