Ashford Castle is a medieval castle near Cong in County Mayo, Ireland on the shore of Lough Corrib. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. Cong ( Conga in Irish, from Cúnga Fheichín meaning " Saint Feichin 's narrows" is a village in County Galway and County Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Lough Corrib ( Loch Coirib in Irish) is a Lake in the west of Republic of Ireland.
The castle was built in 1228 by the Anglo-Norman de Burgo family following their defeat of the O'Connors, the Royal House of Connacht, who are still extant in the person of the O Connor Donn. The O'Conor Don (Ó Conchubhair Donn is the hereditary chieftain of the traditional royal family of Connacht one of the premier Irish Royal Families a lineage which is The de Burgo's would build several such castles throughout the province, including one on the mouth of the River Corrib around which was to grow the City of Galway, but Ashford would remain their principal stronghold in the vastness of a wild and untamed province. Galway (Gaillimh is the only city in the province of Connacht in Ireland. The principal legacy of the native O'Connors is to be seen at the gates of the Estate in the form of the magnificent Romanesque Augustinian Abbey of Cong. The Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430) are several Catholic Monastic orders and congregations It is in this Abbey that Ireland's last High King Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair died and from which came the greatest relic of his Court, the Cross of Cong created to hold a piece of the True Cross and now in the National Museum of Ireland. A high king is a king who holds a position of seniority over a group of other kings without the title of Emperor; compare King of Kings. Ruaidrí mac Tairrdelbach Ua Conchobair (often Anglicised Rory O'Connor) (died 1198 was a 12th century King of Connacht and the last High King of Ireland The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which by a Christian tradition are believed to be from the actual cross upon which Jesus was crucified The National Museum of Ireland (Ard-Mhúsaem na hÉireann is the National museum in Ireland.
After more than three and a half centuries under the de Burgo's, Ashford passed into the hands of a new master, when following a fierce battle between the forces of the de Burgo's and those of the English official Sir Richard Bingham, Lord President of Connaught, a truce was agreed and the castle fell to Bingham in 1589 who adds a fortified enclave within its precincts. Sir Richard Bingham ( 1528 - 19 January, 1599) was an English soldier and naval commander who served in Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I during In 1715 the estate of Ashford is established by the Browne Family (Baron Oranmore) and a lodge in the style of a 17th Century French chateau was added to the medieval splendour of the castle. Baron Oranmore and Browne, of Carrabrowne Castle in the County of Galway and of Castle Macgarrett in the County of Mayo is a title in the Peerage of Ireland.
The Estate was purchased in 1852 by Sir Benjamin Guinness, he extended the estate to 26,000 acres, built new roads, planted thousands of trees and added two large victorian style extensions. Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness 1st Baronet ( 1 November 1798 &ndash 19 May 1868) was an Irish brewer and philanthropist On his death in 1868 the estate passed to his son Lord Ardilaun, an avid gardener who oversaw the development of massive woodlands and rebuilt the entire west wing of the castle. Arthur Edward Guinness 1st Baron Ardilaun ( 1 November 1840 &ndash 20 January 1915) was an Irish businessman politician and philanthropist He also subsidised the operation of several steamboats, the most notable of which was the Lady Eglinton, which plied between the villages of the Upper Lough Corrib region and Galway City, thus opening the area to increased commerce. In a time of agitation by tenant farmers in the Land Wars of the late 19th Century, epitomised by the action of tenants at nearby Lough Mask House (home of Captain Charles Boycott) he was considered by many to be an 'improving' landlord. The Land War in Irish History was a period of Agrarian agitation in rural Ireland in the 1870s 1880s and 1890s Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott ( March 12 1832 &mdash June 19 1897) was a British land agent whose ostracism by his local Although some of these were not always successful, particularly the Cong Canal also known as the "Dry Canal. It was built to link Lough Mask and Lough Corrib but was a failure, primarily due to its inability to hold water. Lough Mask ( Loch Measca in Irish) is a Limestone Lake of 22000 acres (89 km² in County Mayo, Ireland, located above Lough Corrib ( Loch Coirib in Irish) is a Lake in the west of Republic of Ireland. Despite such setbacks the love borne by he and his wife Olive, daughter of the 3rd Earl of Bantry for the Castle and the estate was deep and best epitomised by that fact that when he was ennobled in 1880 he derived his title from the island of Ardilaun, which formed part of the Estate on Lough Corrib. The title of Earl of Bantry was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1816, and became extinct in 1891. Lough Corrib ( Loch Coirib in Irish) is a Lake in the west of Republic of Ireland.
The Castle remained in the hands of the family and its Iveagh Trust until it was sold to Noel Huggard in 1939; he opened the estate as a hotel, which it became renowned for the provision of its country pursuits, such as angling & shooting. The Iveagh Trust was a component of the Guinness Partnership, a group of Housing associations and a UK charity providing Affordable housing
In 1951 the film director John Ford came to the west of Ireland to film what would become a movie classic The Quiet Man. The Quiet Man is a American film starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen, and Barry Fitzgerald, and directed Starring John Wayne and Maureen O Hara, Ashford Castle and its grounds, as well as nearby Cong formed the backdrop for much of the action in the film. John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American
In 1970 Ashford Castle was bought by John Mulcahy who oversaw its complete restoration and expansion, doubling its size with the addition of a new wing in the early 1970s, building a golf course and developing the grounds and gardens. While in 1985 a group of Irish American investors, which included Chuck Feeney and Prescott Bush purchased Ashford. Charles F Feeney (born April 23, 1931 in Elizabeth NJ) an Irish - American businessman and Philanthropist. Prescott Sheldon Bush ( May 15, 1895 – October 8, 1972) was a United States Senator from Connecticut, a The Castle was sold on by these investors in 2008 and is now in the possession of the Galway-based property investor Gerry Barrett and his family.
In its time the castle has played host to many notable guests, including: HM King George V of the United Kingdom, his consort Queen Mary, Oscar Wilde (his father Sir William Wilde had an estate adjacent to Ashford and where the author, playwright and poet spent much of his childhood), President Ronald Reagan, HRH the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Senator Edward Kennedy, John Wayne HSH Prince Rainier III of Monaco & his consort HSH the Princess Grace to name but a few. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 – 30 November 1900 was an Irish Playwright, Novelist, poet and Author of Edward Kennedy may refer to Edward "Ted" Kennedy (born 1932 U John Wayne ( May 26, 1907 &ndash June 11, 1979) was an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award -winning American Rainier III Prince of Monaco (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi 31 May 1923 &ndash 6 April 2005) styled His Serene Highness Grace Patricia Kelly (later Grace Princess of Monaco; November 12 1929 &ndash September 14 1982 was an Academy Award -winning American film and
 Ashford Castle, viewed from Lough Corrib. |
 View from one of the towers |
 Main gate at the entrance to the castle grounds |
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