Newcastle West

The largest town in County Limerick outside the city, set in a bowl-shaped valley once known as the valley of the Wild Boar, which is why a boar is on the town crest. It grew around a FitzGerald castle, and the Desmond Banqueting Hall, parts of it 13th-century, still dominates the square. At the Bridge of Tears south of the town, famine emigrants from West Limerick said their last goodbyes before setting out for Cork and the ships.

The FitzGeralds arrived some time after 1194 and had the castle finished in stone by 1298; the town around it was known as Newcastle, West Limerick, which settled into Newcastle West. It was sacked in 1302 and destroyed in 1315, and two Earls of Desmond died here, Gearóid Iarla in 1399 and James, the 8th earl, in 1462. In the late 16th century the landlord Sir William Courtenay, a staunch Catholic who was persecuted for his faith, held 10,500 acres here; his house was reputed to have a room for hiding priests, and he was denounced in the House of Commons as a papist recusant in 1624. Markets were held three days a week, with Thursday hiring fairs for farm workers. On 1 August 2008 the River Arra burst its banks and flooded up to 20 homes overnight.

Drawn from the History section of the Wikipedia article on Newcastle West ↗, rewritten here and adding nothing it does not say; licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Desmond Hall and Castle · castle · under 1 km
• Glenquin Castle · castle · 8 km
• Springfield Castle · castle · 13 km

Straight-line distances from the town centre, from each site's documented coordinates.