Leamaneh Castle

Leamaneh Castle is comprised of two parts: the first is the 5-storey tower that was built in the late 1400s by Turlough Donn O’Briain, the then King of Thomond. The second part is the tower house built to the west of the tower, comprising of 4-storeys, and constructed in 1648 by Conor O’Brien and his wife Máire Ní Mahone, or Máire Rua (Red Mary) as she is more well-known in national folklore.

There are many tales surrounding Máire Rua and Leamaneh Castle; according to some legends in Dúchas’ folklore collection Máire and her husband were seen as ‘tyrants’. It is said that “Máire Rua’s castle is built of blood and morthar because every person she caught going the road she sent out her band of soldiers to kill them and put their blood on the walls.”

Another legend claimed that after her second husband Conor O’Brien died after battling the Cromwellian general Ludlow, Máire went out, the day after her husband’s death, to marry a Cromwell soldier so as to ensure they would not take her lands, thus keeping it for her son Donough. Apparently, she later kicked this third husband out a top window for making unkind comments about her second husband.

According to one source the name of the castle is the anglicised version of Léim an Eich, which means ‘the leap of the horse’. Máire apparently promised her castle to the one person who could leap over it with her horse and bridle. The first two men died trying, while the third managed to accomplish the feat using his own horse and bridle. This legend claims there was a charm put on her horse to ensure that no-one would succeed.

There are many stories attached to the famous Máire Rua, and unfortunately we will never know which of them are true, if any.

But one thing is for certain…she was definitely a woman not to be crossed!

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This national monument is protected in accordance with the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014