- Type
- Castle
- Origins
- 1185 · 12th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Coordinates
- 53.4447°, -6.1650°
History
In 1185 Richard Talbot, a knight who had come to Ireland with Henry II, was granted the 'lands and harbour of Malahide', and his descendants held them almost without a break until 1976. The oldest parts of the castle are medieval, by some accounts as early as the 12th century; a great hall was added later, and round corner towers in the 18th century. The only interruption came in 1649–1660, when Cromwell handed the castle to Miles Corbet, one of those who signed Charles I's death warrant, executed after the Stuart Restoration. In the 1920s the private papers of the writer James Boswell turned up in the castle. After the last Lord Talbot de Malahide died in 1973, the castle passed to his sister Rose, who in 1975 ceded it to the state to settle inheritance taxes; today the whole demesne is owned by Fingal County Council.
What to see
The castle is seen on guided tours: among its furnished rooms hung with Talbot portraits, the highlights are the Oak Room with its dark carved panelling and the great hall. Around it stretches a large park with the Talbot Botanic Gardens, where the last lord gathered plants from the southern hemisphere, and a walled garden with glasshouses. Malahide is a seaside town some 15 km north of central Dublin.
Wikipedia article Official website Wikidata Q2661381
Popularity: articles about this site in 15 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).