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Located
on the north edge of Dublin, Dunsoghly Castle was built
about 1450 by Sir Rowland Plunkett, Chief Justice of the
King's Bench, or his son Sir Thomas Plunkett, Chief
Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. It is a four-story
rectangular tower with a virtually square turret at each
corner. The northeast turret houses the circular
staircase, and the southwest and smallest, the garderobes
and prison. The 80 foot tall castle features the only
remaining original timber roof in Ireland - the roof has
been the model for several renovated Irish castles such
as Bunrattym Ballytarsna and Rothe House. The castle was
continuously occupied by the Plunkett family until the
late nineteenth century, with Sir John Plunkett building
the small chapel at the edge of the bawn in 1573.
Dunsoghly currently sits in the middle of a farmyard and
is generally inaccessable, though it was used as an
"Edinburgh castle" set in the movie Braveheart.
When I sought to visit the castle in June 2003, I was
only able to get the attention of a couple of hounds.
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