Granagh Castle,
County Kilkenny
Founded by the Le Poer family in the late 13th century, the castle stands dramatically on the north bank of the River Suir just above Waterford. After the attainder and execution for treason of Eustace FitzArnold Le Poer, the castle was granted in 1375 to James, second Earl of Ormonde, whose family retained possession until 1650, when it was captured by the Cromwellian regicide, Colonel Axtel, and subsequently dismantled.
The castle comprised a large, square, walled enclosure with cylindrical corner towers. The landward side was later rebuilt by the Butlers of Ormonde, but the old river façade survives complete with its south-west tower, parts of the north-east tower, the connecting curtain wall and latrines. An adjacent walled enclosure has now largely disappeared, save for a riverside drum tower. In the late 14th century the Butlers built a tall tower house in the north corner of the old castle and this was truncated later in the 15th century by a two-storey hall block built against it. The latter has vestiges of beautifully sculpted ornamentation, including an angel holding the Butler arms which decorates the inside arch of the window from which Margaret, the great Countess of Ormonde, hung rebels.
3 km (2 miles) NW of Waterford on the Carrick-on-Suir Road. NGR: S 171145.
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