Enniscorthy Castle

The first castle was built on this site by the Norman De Prendergasts in 1190, who went on to live there for 300 years. Art MacMurrough Kavanagh attacked the castle in 16th century, in an attempt to regain his ancestral land. He proved successful in this until 1536, when Lord Leonard Grey took the castle and surrounding lands. The castle was burnt down by the Earl of Kildare in 1569, and it was gifted to the Bulters of Kilkenny for their role in the attack. In 1589, Queen Elizabeth I handed the land to Edmund Spenser, though he never took up residence there. Later, during the Elizabethan plantations the Castle was owned by Sir Henry Wallop, who extended and refurbished the castle extensively. The Castle was later occupied by Cromwellian forces in 1649, and used as a prison during the 1798 Rebellion. It then became the private residence of the Roche family, until they vacated it in 1951. In the years following it became home to the Wexford County Museum. The site is now run under the auspices of the Office of Public Works