Dungarvan

Dungarvan lies beside a sheltered bay at the mouth of the River Colligan. Its Anglo-Norman castle guarded the harbour, and a walled town grew beside it, trading with the surrounding countryside and across the sea. In 1463 the castle and town were granted to the Earl of Desmond for sixty years, placing this coastal stronghold within the sphere of one of Munster's great families.

During the wars of the 1640s Dungarvan changed hands more than once between Confederate and Crown forces. In December 1649 the town surrendered to Lord Broghill shortly before Oliver Cromwell arrived. Its castle and harbour had made it a valuable position on the south coast, and the struggle for them formed part of the wider conquest of Ireland.