| Rahinnane Castle | |
| Native Name: | Caisleán Ráthanáin[1] |
| Native Language: | ga |
| Coordinates: | 52.1431°N -10.3832°W |
| Location: | Rahinnane, Ventry, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Owner: | State |
| Type: | tower house atop ringfort |
| Designation1: | National Monument of Ireland |
| Designation1 Offname: | Rahinnane Castle, Ringfort & Souterrain |
| Designation1 Number: | 10045 |
Rahinnane Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Kerry, Ireland.[2] [3]
Rahinnane Castle is located 1.73km (01.07miles) 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]
The ancient earthwork featured a 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.
More than half the outer walls of the three-storey castle remain.[9]