The History of Beal Castle
KILCONLY, BALLYLONGFORD
also BEAULIEU CASTLE
Beal = Entrance or mouth. (Ir)
Associated families
Fitzmaurice, Stack, Hare
Townland
Beal, or Castlequarter
Location
Map 2 (1846 and 1895). On the edge of the Shannon estuary and near the coast road, that leads from the Ballylongford-Ballybunion road, c. 11 Km. from Ballylongford.
Present condition
Castle: Ruinous
Demesne: Coastal holiday lands and small farms.
Features
The site of the tower is at the back of the sandhills of Kilconly, near the mouth of the river Shannon. The tide washes close to its base. In 1840, the south-west corner still remained; it had a fabric of great strength. The tower was then about 15.2 metres in height with walls 1.98 metres thick and well grouted. It once commanded a wide and unbroken view. Sir George Carew called it Beaulieu, because of its position.
History
Beal belonged to the Fitzmaurices, Lords of Kerry, from the thirteenth century. It is infamous for the murder there of Maurice Stack. An old story tells that the Lady Stack, born Honora O’Brien, invited him to dine with her alone, in the absence of her husband. Before long, she called her attendants, claiming that Maurice Stack had acted improperly towards her. The servants immediately slew him and threw his body out the window and onto the courtyard. It was believed that her husband had plotted this action with her, as he blamed Maurice for his father’s death. A later Lord Kerry demolished the castle in the wars of the early 1600s, rather than have it fall into the hands of the English forces. He died soon after, it was said, of grief at seeing his principal and much loved seat of Lixnaw (q.v.) possessed by the enemy. In 1307, Gerald Fitzmaurice was given Beal Castle by his father, but his half brother, Pierse, together with Nicholas and John Roddel, dispossessed him in his absence and took it over. Gerald never regained Beal and it remained in the hands of the senior branch of the Fitzmaurices until 1783, when it and the lands were bought by Richard Hare.
Houses of Kerry by Valerie Barry
