Croom Castle

The territory in which Croom lies was up until the period of the Norman invasion of Ireland the domain of the ancient Uí Cairpre Áebda (Cairbre Eva), of whom the O'Donovans were the leading family. The Ui Chairpre were a member of the larger regional kingdom of the Uí Fidgenti, the remains of which were at this point sandwiched between the Kingdom of Desmond to the south and Kingdom of Thomond to the north, rivals of each other. The Uí Fidgenti were pressured by Domnall Mór Ua Briain in 1178,Annals of Innisfallen but some O'Donovans remained in the area, and according to Samuel Lewis in his 1837 Topographical Description of Ireland, one Dermot O'Donovan erected the first known fortress at Croom sometime during the reign of John of England,[http://www.from-ireland.net/lim/lewis/croom.htm Samuel Lewis, Topographical Description of Ireland, 1837] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112174048/http://www.from-ireland.net/lim/lewis/croom.htm |date=2011-01-12 }} or perhaps shortly before.

According to Lewis this was to secure the country which they had recently taken from the MacEnirys (their Ui Fidgheinte kinsmen). But the lineage of the O'Donovans is associated with Croom much earlier: in a manuscript dating from the 1130s, where they are mentioned in the Caithréim Chellacháin Chaisil.MacCotter, p. 185; Bugge, pp. 15, 73. In this instance, an O'Donovan ancestor, Uaithne mac Cathail (circa 960 a.d.), is mentioned and associated with Cromadgh, the spelling for Croom in use in the mid-12th century.{{fact|date=December 2021}}

Some O'Donovan oral traditions note that the O'Donovans of Carbery are descended from Crom Ua Donnabáin (died 1254), noted in annals as Ancrom, or "The Bent", and also associate him with the building of the Castle of Croom,[http://www.libraryireland.com/Pedigrees1/ODonovan1Heber.php Irish Pedigrees: O'Donovan, Lords of Clancahill] #114 but this association of Ancrom with the Castle of Croom based on the similarities in name and spelling has been discredited repeatedly.{{cite journal | title = A History of the O'Mahony Septs of Kinelmeky and Ivagha (Part IV) | first = Canon John | last = O'Mahony| author-link = John O'Mahony (antiquarian) | journal = Journal of the Cork Archæological and Historical Society }}

An early account from around 1690 does not mention a builder of the castle by name:Cox, p. 147

{{cquote|... the O'Donovans, a family of royal extraction amongst the Irish. They came hither from Coshma, in the County of Limerick, and built there the famous Castle of Crome, which, afterwards, falling to the Earl of Kildare, gave him his motto of "Crome aboo," still used on his skutcheon.}}

One branch of the O'Donovans and a remnant of the UI-Fidgheinte has been resident in Croom almost continuously for more than eight centuries, with their current farm being held for more than four centuries, but have not occupied the tower castle since the Earls of Kildare established their residence there.{{fact|date=December 2021}}

It is believed that the tower castle was built in the early 13th century, following earlier attacks on the town. One such attack was noted in 1151, when a great predatory excursion was made by Ruaidhri, son of Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair, into Thomond, and he carried away many cows, and burned Cromadh.Annals of the Four Masters, edited by John O'Donovan

Today, the castle is little more than a large, undistinguished ruin. Two walls of the tower remain standing, though both have collapsed to about half of their original height, with the other two walls of the tower collapsed into a very large pile of rocks and bricks.{{fact|date=December 2021}}

The motto of the Fitzgerald family is "Croom-a-boo", from Croom Abú, which is Irish for Croom forever!

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• Begley, John. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Sn4PAAAAIAAJ The Diocese of Limerick, Ancient and Medieval]. Dublin: Browne & Nolan. 1906.
• Bugge, Alexander (ed. & tr.), [https://archive.org/details/caithreimcellach00norsuoft Caithreim Cellachain Caisil]. Christiania: J. Chr. Gundersens Bogtrykkeri. 1905.
• Sir Richard Cox, 1st Baronet, Carberiae Notitia. 1690. extracts published in [https://books.google.com/books?id=EgN7AAAAMAAJ Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, Volume XII, Second Series]. 1906. pp. 142–9
• Gibson, Charles Bernard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=YuNDAAAAYAAJ Historical Portraits of Irish Chieftains and Anglo-Norman Knights]. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1871.
• Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. London. 1837.
• MacCotter, Paul, Medieval Ireland: Territorial, Political and Economic Divisions. Dublin: Four Courts Press. 2008.
• Mosley, Charles, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, Volume 2. 2003.
• O'Donovan, John (ed. & tr.), Annala Rioghachta Eireann. Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, from the Earliest Period to the Year 1616. 7 vols. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. 1848-51. 2nd edition, 1856. [https://books.google.com/books?id=p6XRAAAAMAAJ Volume VI] (Appendix, Pedigree of O'Donovan, p. 2437).
• O'Hart, John, [https://books.google.com/books?id=elNmAAAAMAAJ Irish Pedigrees]. Dublin: James Duffy and Co. 5th edition, 1892.

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110128142601/http://croomcastle.com/ CroomCastle.com]

{{Historic Irish houses}}

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Category:Castles in County Limerick

Category:History of County Limerick

Category:FitzGerald dynasty

Category:O'Donovan family