The Black Castle

The Black Castle, or An Caisleán Dubh, is a straightforward descriptive Irish name derived from caisleán (castle, borrowed from Norman French) and dubh (black). This Norman fortress was constructed circa 1181 by John de Claville under the patronage of Hugh de Lacy, the powerful Norman baron who governed Ireland for Henry II, making it one of the earliest and finest Norman strongholds in Ireland...