The castle also contained a good library. In the armoury was preserved the sword of Sir Alex. MacDonald, who commanded the Highlanders at the battle of Knockninoss in 1647, and was treacherously killed by a soldier after the encounter.
The fortress dates from the reign of King John, and was a former stronghold of the MacCarthys.
In 1641 Sir Philip Perceval garrisoned it with a hundred and fifty men during the rebellion. Nevertheless the Irish gained possession of the stronghold by treachery, and held it until May, 1650, when Sir Hardress Waller reduced it with a battery of cannon.
In his letter to the Parliament he writes of it as a place of great strength.
After this it seems to have remained in a state of dilapidation until the middle of the eighteenth century, when Sir Philip Perceval’s descendant, the Earl of Egmont, put it into a state of repair.
The agents of the estate resided in the castle during many years of the last century, and it is now the residence of Sir Timothy O’Brien, Bart.
There are many legends relating to the old fortress.
C. Smith, “County of Cork,” with “Historical Notes from Croker and Caulfield MSS.” Joyce, “Irish Names of Places.” Brewer, “Beauties of Ireland.” Gibson, “History of Cork.” Parliamentary Gazetteer. Lewis, “Irish Topographical Dictionary.”
In the Barony of Kitartan, County Galway, about three miles south-by-east of Gort, is situated Lough Cutra Castle, the beautiful mansion of Viscount Gough.
The demesne extends along the west and south shores of the lake, and the gardens slope to the water’s edge in terraces.
Mr. Blake Foster, in “The Irish Chieftains,” says that the name was derived from a leader of the Belgic tribe, called Cutra, who owned the district before the arrival of the Milesians.
The mansion is a castellated building of Tudor style. It has massive walls of finely-cut limestone, and was erected during the last century at a cost of over £50,000.
Mr. Paine was the architect, but he died before the building was finished, and the lodges, &c., were carried out in the same style by Mr. Nash, while the gardens and grounds were exquisitely laid out by Mr. Sutherland.
It is considered one of the show places of the west.
John Prendergast Smith was created Viscount Gort in 1816. He had inherited the O’Shaughnessy estate through his uncle, and he began to build the present mansion.