Shanid Castle - County Limerick Ireland

Shanid Castle was built by Thomas FitzMaurice around the year 1200. His father, Maurice Fitzgerald was granted the lands in 1197 by Richard de Clare (Strongbow) after the Norman invasions of 1169.
It was briefly the chief seat of the Desmond Fitzgeralds and was the first stronghold of the Knights of Glin. The last Earl of Desmond was killed in 1584 and the lands were divided up by the English. Shanid was captured by Hugh O'Donnell in 1601 and was inhabited until the Irish Rebellion of 1641 when it was burned and dismantled.
The castle, now in almost complete ruin, sits on top of a 35 ft motte, with earthwork ditches surrounding a small oval courtyard. This motte-and-bailey design was a common medieval Norman defense, where the castle sits atop a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, all surrounded by a protective ditch. The tower would have had just one upper story over a vaulted cellar with circular walls 10 ft thick.
Location:
goo.gl/maps/Wa...
Video By: Atomic Kinship
Music Credit: "Star of the County Down" by Sláinte

[@barbaramccolgan8692]

There it sits atop that mound, surveying all the land around!! Makes you wonder if that very circular rise in the land was always like that, or if they built it up all around to give themselves a better view of others approaching.

[@CastlesofIreland]

Great question! The mound is referred to as a "motte-and-bailey" design and was commonly used across Europe for building castles from the 10th century onwards. The mound was typically man made, so it is likely that the mound at Shanid was created by laborers.

[@merrybutcher2978]

Manmade.