The Black Castle stands on a natural rocky promontory near the modern harbour of Wicklow Town.
It was built on the site of an earlier Viking fort in 1170 by the Norman family of FitzGeralds. The building was four storeys high and was accessible by crossing a drawbridge.
The local chieftains of the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles attacked the castle several times during the following five centuries, and it was eventually destroyed by a fire in 1640.
It remained as a ruin since. What we can see today are the poor section of the south wall and a small sliver of the east wall. The structure appears to have a circular shape over a diameter of about 20 metres.
The position of the castle is absolutely wonderful and the views of the Wicklow Bay and Town from here are almost breathtaking. The green of the surrounding meadows is in sharp contrast with the black of the rocks.
We came here for the first time on July 6th, 1994, on a wonderful sunny day.
|