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| DERRYQUIN CASTLE, CO. KERRY. -Derryquin castle is situated on the picturesque Kenmar river, about two miles from the town of Sneem, in Kerry. It belonged for some generations to an Anglo-Irish family named Blond, who held it until Land League times, when they went into bankruptcy. The estate, with some adjoining property, was purchased about 1889 by a Norwegian gentleman named Worden, who is still the proprietor. The castle derives its chief modern interest from the circumstance that it was a favorite resort of the late O'Donoghue of the Glens M.P., who was in the habit of renting it from the Blonds, who spent most of their time abroad. O'Donoghue was the acknowledged leader of the Irish people from 1860 until about 1867, when owing to a Whig alliance and financial embarrassments, he lowered the standard of his resistance to English rule in Ireland. In consequence, he forfeited his early popularity and died almost unnoticed by the people who once followed him with enthusiasm. The ancestral home of The O'Donoghue of the Glens stands at the foot of the Tomies range of mountains, near the Lower Lake of Killarney. This title of "The O'Donoghue" is one of the few native dignities that have survived the English sway. It is now borne by the son of the chieftain already mentioned, who is said to be an Irish patriot of sterner stuff than was his father. |
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