Images of 35 Irish castles at the turn of the last century

This beautiful collection of cigarette cards depicts 35 Irish castles at the beginning of the last century. They were produced by Mcnaughton and Jenkins, a Dublin based tobacco company who operated during the early 1900s. The cards were issued with the ‘Kerry Blue’ brand of cigarettes and were intended as collectables, to encourage further purchases.  The artist who painted the images is not named but a small number of the cards are initialled J. W. C. It’s possibly that this stands for Joseph William Carey, an artist who was active during this period and whose work is of similar style.

The castle names were left blank on the original cards and instead the company offered a prize to anyone who could identify them all. As a result there are a number of castles below whose location I am unsure of. If you know any the missing castle names please leave a comment at bottom. Thanks!

the Rock of Cashel

1 The Rock of Cashel, Co. Tipperary

index (20)

2. Blarney Castle, Co. Cork 

index (19)

3 Lismore Castle, Waterford 

index (21)

4 Johnstown Castle, Wexford

index (17)

5 Carlingford Castle, Louth

index (18)

6 Ballygally Castle, Antrim

index (16)

7 Askeaton castle, Limerick

index (14)

8. Kilkenny Castle, Kilkenny

index (13)

9. Menlo Castle, Galway

index (12)

10. Trim Castle, Meath

index (11)

11. Doe Castle, Co. Donegal

index (10)

12 Enniscorthy Castle, Wexford

index (9)

13 Narrow Water, Down

index (8)

14 King John’s Castle, Limerick

index (6)

15 Carrickfergus Castle, Antrim

index (5)

16 Dunluce Castle, Antrim

index (3)

17 Shane’s Castle, Co. Antrim 

adare castle limerick

18. Adare Castle, Limerick

Blackrock castle cork

19 Blackrock Castle, Cork

Castle roache

20 Castle Roche, Louth

index (22)

21 The Rock of Dunamase, Laois? 

index (26)

22. Castle location uncertain

index (27)

23 Carrigadrohid Castle, Cork

malahide castle

24 Malahide Castle, Dublin

index (23)

25. Castle location uncertain

index (30)

26. Donegal Castle, Donegal

index (31)

27. Benburb Castle, Tyrone

index (32)

28. Ross Island Castle, Kerry

index (33)

29. Glenveagh castle, Co. Donegal

index (34)

30.  Dunservick Castle, Antrim

index (35)

31 Kylemore Abbey, Galway

index (36)

32. Possibly Cahir Castle, Tipperary

index (37)

33. Greencastle, Donegal

index (39)

34. Castle location uncertain

index (40)

35 Oranmore Castle, Galway

 

Notes

Images are public domain and via New York Public Library 


17 thoughts on “Images of 35 Irish castles at the turn of the last century

  1. I think number 27 is Benburb castle from the Armagh side of ths river Blackwater,looking across at Tyrone.

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