Dun-Garbry (Duncarbery) Castle, County Leitrim

From The Illustrated Dublin Journal, Volume 1, Number 8, October 26, 1861

DUN-GARBRY CASTLE, or more correctly Dun-cairbré, the Dun or Fort of Cairbré, is situated on a hill in the vicinity of the mouth of the river Drowis, a stream very celebrated in the Irish annals, county of Leitrim. It was erected by the chief of the Mac-Clanchys, a sept who possessed the ancient district called Dartree, the present barony of Rossclogher. The name of its founder and the date of its erection are not preserved, but, according to Dr. Petrie, the latter may with probability be referred to a period anterior to the reign of Henry VIII., as the Annals of the Four Masters record, at the year 1538, that "Cahir (the son of Feradach, the son of William), the son of Mac-Clanchy, heir-apparent to the chieftainship of Dartree, died in that year, in Dun-Cairbré."

From an inquisition taken at the Abbey of Creevelea, on the 24th of September, 1603, it appears that Cathal Oge MacClanchy died in January, 1582, seized of the castle and manor of Dun-carbry, and of the entire district called MacClanchy's country, leaving a son and heir, Cathal Duff, then aged twenty-eight years. On the maps made in the reign of Elizabeth, the castle is marked as an important fortress, but its ruins are now of little note, consisting only of a side wall, perforated by an arched doorway. "But, trivial as these vestiges are," says the erudite author of the "Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland," "they impart some historic interest to scenery of the most delightful character, by which they are surrounded, and are valuable as a memorial of an ancient Irish family."