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Ferns is a small town which boasts both an historic castle and an abbey. The castle is located within the town environs and has a long and interesting (if violent) history. There has probably been a castle here from before the time the Normans arrived in Ireland, but the present structure traditionally associated with William Marshal, dates probably from after his time, likely to have been in the mid-C13. At this time Ferns was held by William de Valance, the husband of a Marshal heiress. In 1331 the castle was captured by the O'Tooles but subsequently recaptured by Bishop Charnell. It was then taken over by the Kavanagh MacMurroughs in 1360, an unfortunate event for the town perhaps, as it quickly declined. When Lord Deputy Grey captured the castle during the rebellion of 1536, the English crown took over the castle and appointed John Travers in 1550 as its representative. From 1583 it was in the hands of the Mastersons until it was surrendered in 1649 to the Cromwellian Sir Charles Coote. After its sale in 1660 to Thomas Kiernan of Dublin, it then passed to the Donovans who became its owners until it was scheduled in modern times as an ancient monument, and taken into state care.

T0149 : Castles of Leinster: Ferns, Wexford (2)