Rahinnane Castle

Rahinnane Castle is located 1.73 km (1.07 mi) northwest of Ventry, in the west of the Dingle Peninsula.[4]

The ringfort on the site was built in the 7th or 8th century AD. The Irish name was originally Rath Fhionnáin — Finan's ringfort.

Local tradition once claimed that this piece of land was the last in Ireland held by the Vikings, as it was so easily defended.[5]

The stone tower house was built in the 15th or 16th century by the FitzGeralds, hereditary Knights of Kerry.[6]

In 1602, towards the end of the Nine Years' War, the castle was taken by Sir Charles Wilmot. It was ruined during the Cromwellian conquest (1649–53).[7][8]

Another view of the castle

The ancient earthwork featured a 9 metres (30 ft) deep ditch, an entrance in the southwest and a souterrain in the southeast.

The castle was rectangular and three storeys tall. Most of the outer walls remain; on the inside there is some mural stairway, traces of vaulting and a blind arcade. Two corner turrets are also visible.

Rahinnane Castle was built in the 15th or 16th century by the Knight of Kerry. It is a large ruinous rectangular tower inside a massive circular earthwork. There is a huge bank and ditch approximately 9m deep. More than half the outer walls of the three-storey castle remain.[9]