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Eyrecourt castle was a medieval structure in what is today the town of Eyrecourt, Ireland.

Early History

The castle, in its original form, was built by the O'Madden family in the early 15th Century. At the the time, the practice of building castles was declining in Europe as the Medieval Age gave way to the Reinaissance. However, much of northern Europe did not fully experience this movement until the 1600's, and thus many castles were still constructed there. The O'Maddens occupied the castle and left it largely unchanged for two hundred years.

Transfer of Possession

In the aftermath of the English Civil War, the Eyre family, which had supported Cromwell and the Puritan Republic, fled England for Ireland. Needing a place to live, they purchased the O'Maddens' castle in the mid 17th Century.

Changes

The Eyres, having considerably more significant financial resources than the O'Maddens, built extensive additions to the castle's original structure. It was under their tenure there that the building came to be known as Eyrecourt, a name that the small town near the castle adopted and maintains to this day.

Decline

The Eyres occupied the home for less than a century, selling it to yet a third family around the year 1700. The castle went through a series of owners, and, as the costs of maintaining it mounted, fell into a state of dilapidation. Eventually, the home was reduced to rubble and today almost nothing is left, save for some of the surrounding walls and a portion of the ground floor rooms. All the same, the remains of Eyrecourt Castle remain a vital tourist attraction for the town of Eyrecourt, Ireland.

Sources

http://homepage.tinet.ie/~rookery/castle17.html http://www.butson.net/who_are_these_eyres.htm