Westropp — Fortified Headlands and Castles, S. Coast Munster. 19? 



lands. 1 Various constables of the castle frequently appear in the records 3 — 

 Walter de la Haye, 1275, William de Londres, 1276, John de Baskervile 

 till 1281, William FitzNicholas in 1324. 3 The mill was held in 1281 by 

 Maurice Eussell, Maurice MacKermegan, and Eobert Stapleton, who, I 

 presume, is the nefarious sheriff whose misdeeds I shall notice at Dunmore ; 

 a Jew was also a tenant. There were mills on the west side of the new water 

 in 1298, and two on the east side on a branch of the sea ; also a rabbit 

 warren at Cosinche, I suppose on the long sand spit still given over to the 

 " feeble folk." Baskervile's arrears of salary 4 gave much trouble to Joan, his 

 widow ; she procured a writ of mandamus in 1285 for his fees or forty marks, 

 but Nicholas Clere would not execute it. She went to the king for redress, 

 and the Lucca merchants were directed to pay, but Geffry le Brun intercepted 

 the money and led to serious litigation in 1291. The corruption and open 

 robbery of the lesser officials were very marked. The rents were (omitting 

 shillings and pence) in 1272, £614 and £117 ; in 1276, £204, spent on work 

 on the castle and in repairing a fishing weir wrecked by a sea storm ; in 1280, 

 £423 and £846 ; the weir again needed repair. The Dessia rents were in 

 1286, 500 marks; in 1287, £411; arrears, 1288-90, £1078 ; in 1291, 200 

 marks, arrears having risen to £1358 ; in 1303 they were £1158. 5 



I will not give further detail on Norman Dessia, but will briefly close 

 its general history. Maurice, son of Thomas fitzMaurice and first Earl of 

 Desmond, in 1342-3 entailed Deeye and Desmond. 6 In 1359 Edward III 

 granted le Dees and Dongarvan and the custody of the castle to John Moriz 

 the seneschal ; in 1363 he gave a grant for paving and walling Dungarvan, 

 and in 1366 granted the castle on the Manor and the Black Castle to 

 William de Windesore and his heirs. 7 In 1394 Bichard II called on 

 Gerald fitzMorice, Earl of Desmond, to show his title to the castle, manor, 

 and honour. In 1444 James, 7th Earl of Desmond, was pardoned for his 

 intrusion into the manors of Clonmell, Le Dees, and Dungarvan. Edward IV 

 granted to Edmond Butler, Baron of Dunboyne, the prise of wines in 



1 Cal. Doc. Ir., vol. iii, p. 261. 



2 Cal. Doc. Ir., vol. ii, constables, 996, 1242, 1249, 1839, p. 425. 



3 Plea R. No. 149, xviii Ed. II, m. 28. 



4 The 34th to 38th App. Report. Dep. Keeper Records Ir. Pipe Rolls, No. 2, Rep. 34, 

 Hen. Ill ; xvi, six, Rep. 35, ann. liii, Rep. 36, Edw. I, ann. i, ii, iv, x, viii-x, Rep. 37, 

 ann. xv-xvi, xiv, xvii-xix, Rep. 38, xxvii-xxx, xxxii Ed. II, ann. i. 



5 He also owed 28 hawks, due (at one hawk a year) for Cloncidan. In the next entry 

 Edward II presses for aid, as he is going " to Scotland to destroy Robert le Bruys and his 

 accomplices," but he could not extract the Co. Waterford arrears. 



6 Memoranda Roll, 6. 



7 Patent R., xliii Edw. Ill, m. 27, England. 



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