Tag Archives: Martin Breen

THE last remaining stone from a 16th century castle in South-East Clare has been cleaned and mounted on stone to display unusual carvings. A carving, initials and a date of 1579 was discovered on a late-medieval carved window-head at the site of Drummin Castle, near Ardnacrusha. The carving was located in the wall of a shed, but was previously covered with several layers of whitewash. The owners of the site, Gerard and Rose Reid decided that the site and stone was so important it should be remembered in some fitting way and they placed the carving on a stone mounting as a display. Martin Breen and Risteárd Ua Cróinín visited the site last December, having previously surveyed the castle remains back in December 2002 as part of the OPW survey of towerhouses and castles in Clare. During the survey in 2002, Mr Breen recalled the then owner, a Miss Long, the aunt of the present owner Gerard Reid, allowed them …

THE  first volume of The Other Clare was published  by the Shannon Archaeological & Historical Society in 1977 and contained 34 pages  dealing with historical aspects of south Clare. After it was produced, the hope was that there would be a second volume, and possibly some more. However, in the intervening 37 years, over 2,500 pages containing over 680 articles on the historical heritage of County Clare  have been published within its covers. Volume 38 of The Other Clare was launched recently and this year’s journal follows the format of its predecessors containing a variety of articles by seasoned and new authors alike on a wide range of topics relating to the county’s heritage. Risteard UaCroinin and Martin Breen continue their invaluable study of the county’s towerhouses, this time focusing on the restored Ballyhannon Castle, near Quin. Martin Barry continues the study of Drinagh townland that he begun last year, this time focussing on the history of its landownership from …