Kinnitty Castle
Kinnitty Castle or Castle Bernard is a 19th-century gothic revival castle in Kinnitty (Cionn Eitigh), County Offaly, Ireland. It is located north of the Slieve Bloom Mountains on the R421 regional road between the villages of Kinnitty and Cadamstown. A nearby pyramid was built by the Bernard family who resided in the castle,HistoryThe first castle at Kinnitty was destroyed in 1209 and was rebuilt by the Normans in 1213. During that period an Augustinian abbey (St Finnian's) was established near the castle, of which the famous High Cross and Abbey Wall still remain. Later the Normans were replaced by the O'Carrolls of Ely and in 1630 William O'Carroll built a new castle close by the old abbey. This castle was confiscated in 1641 as part of the plantation of Offaly, or Kings County as it was then named. In 1664, the crown granted an estate, which included the castle, to Col. Thomas Winter in return for his military service. His descendants sold it to Thomas Bernard, who renamed the house Castle Bernard and left it to his son Thomas Bernard, MP.In 1811, Lady Catherine Hutchinson, wife of Thomas, jnr, commissioned architect James Pain to extend the castle in a gothic style to its present size. Thomas was succeeded by his son, Colonel Thomas Bernard, Lord Lieutenant of King's County and High Sheriff of King's County for 1837, who died unmarried in 1882 and was succeeded by his niece's husband Captain Caulfield French. The latter was High Sheriff of King's County for 1887.
