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Klingelhofer, Eric. Castles and Colonists: An Archaeology of Elizabethan Ireland
by Terry Barry

Klingelhofer, Eric. Castles and Colonists: An Archaeology of Elizabethan Ireland. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2010. 176 pp., 80 figs. ISBN: 978-0719082467. $85 hardback.

This is both a significant and an important volume as it really marks the “coming of age” in Ireland of a synthesis of post-medieval archaeology. For this we must be grateful to its author, Eric Klingelhofer, who has both researched and completed programs of fieldwork in Ireland, particularly in County Cork, for over two decades. This work does, however, concentrate on his several seasons of work at Kilcolman Castle in the same county. Thus, as has been noted elsewhere, his study only deals with the “top end” of Elizabethan society in Ireland. And, of course, it was these same people who also figure in the surviving contemporary written records, whereas the much more numerous, yet poorer elements of that society, do not leave significant traces in those same documents.In this slim volume of around 166 pages of actual text, the author cannot be expected to cover all the major aspects of the archaeology of his chosen period. But it is a pity that he does not even attempt to investigate some of the many difficult but nevertheless rewarding archaeological artifacts and sites left by the Elizabethan lower classes on the Irish landscape.

As well as his excavation of Kilcolman, Klingelhofer has also published significant papers on other similar sites in County Cork, especially Mogeely and Curraglass. But his archaeological excavations at Kilcolman from 1993 until 1996 were obviously influenced by its being the home of that famous and influential Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser. Spenser seems to have lived there for a decade or so at the end of his life. Indeed, although the title promises an account of the archaeology of Elizabethan and early Jacobean Ireland,Klingelhofer rarely strays beyond the confines of Munster in his analysis. His text is also strongest when he deals with the architectural remains of the aristocracy and the free farmers of the period, namely the mansions, tower houses, and strong houses.

In his first chapter Klingelhofer examines Munster within the wider Atlantic world of the Elizabethan period. His second chapter analyzes the many fortifications in Munster, utilizing interesting contemporary plans of many of them. The following chapter discusses the different types of settlement, again well-illustrated by contemporary plans, set up by the new colonists in this plantation period. Important urban centers in Munster and Ulster were also established and refortified. One such successful example in Munster was Bandon, County Cork, enlarged along both banks of the river by the Great Earl of Cork, Richard Boyle, in the second decade of the seventeenth century. There is also the extraordinary, and unique, story of the small port town of Baltimore in West Cork, which, in the summer of 1631, was raided by forces of the Pashaw of Algiers, and over 100 inhabitants were abducted to supply the slave markets of Africa (78). Again, Richard Boyle ordered the construction of a defended English settlement there to help protect the coast of Cork against further raids.

The next two chapters are, arguably, the author’s strongest. Fas first of all he analyzes the rich vernacular architecture of the period, including an excellent summary of current research on tower houses, which are still to be found all over the island of Ireland. Then he gives an account of his excavation of Kilcolman, finally followed in an additional chapter by his interesting thesis on how much Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene influenced vernacular architecture throughout Ireland and Britain. His excavation of Kilcolman and his study of comparable constructions in Ireland allowed him to argue “Spenser’s castle thus seems to have been more for show than real defence.” (151)

Although Klingelhofer’s his excavations produced much useful evidence both on the architectural remains and on the socio-economic basis of Kilcolman castle, his account of the actual excavation itself, of at only 20 pages, leaves the reader wishing for more. Although there is a useful plan of the excavated areas (113), there is not an overall plan of the entire site. This has the unintended consequence that the excavation plan has no real reference point to locate it within the wider castle complex. Nevertheless, the excavation was able to identify several buildings in the southern half of the castle’s bawn: the four-story residential tower house, a Great Hall, an Elizabethan Parlor, a kitchen, and other ancillary buildings. No structures were identified in the northern half, so Klingelhofer correctly concludes that this was the location of the garden. Again, largely due to the brevity of his text, very few artifacts from the excavation are illustrated in the book. Nevertheless, the author is able to state at the conclusion of this chapter, “For many settlers, colonial Munster may not have offered all the comforts of an English home, but for Edmund Spenser, this Englishman’s home was quite literally his castle” (129).

Although this is a handsomely produced book, some of his illustrations would have benefitted from a major adjustment to the contrast, as many of his plates are so grey that it is sometimes difficult to pick out the details in them. This, of course, was largely outside the control of the author, and should be laid at the feet of his publisher. This is also true for the price of the volume: $85 is a great deal to ask for such a slim volume.

Terry Barry

Trinity College, Dublin

42.2.19

Cite as:

Terry Barry, "Klingelhofer, Eric. Castles and Colonists: An Archaeology of Elizabethan Ireland," Spenser Review 42.2.19 (Winter 2013). Accessed March 29th, 2024.
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