REDwood: Hide or Shriek? (Documentary)

Описание: Join us, as we bring you on a paranormal investigation with Púca Vogue Paranormal, at one of the midlands most haunted gems – Redwood Castle; an ancient stronghold of the De Coogans, Kennedys and MacEgan septs; dating from 1210, and situated in the county of Tipperary.

The De Coogan family were of Anglo-Norman background. They constructed the castle as a strategic viewing point on top of a hillock, overlooking the River Shannon. Its location was instrumental to Norman military ambitions, in controlling the West of Ireland.

Originally, just two storeys tall, with no ground-level access, Redwood Castles entrance was on the second floor, and only assessable by a retractable ladder.

In 1350, the De Coogans vacated Redwood. The castle was then granted to the O’Kennedy’s, whom passed it to their chief bardic family, the Mac Aodhagán (Mac Egans). The MacEgans were hereditary Brehon lawyers and scholars. There were only a total of seven families in medieval Ireland that taught this system, and the MacEgans served multiple lords, leading to a near-monopoly over the instruction of Irish medieval law.

The castle was linked to key works of Irish history, notably the ‘Annals of the Four Masters’ was written and talked about here.

Redwood Castle was heavily damaged during the Cromwellian Conquest of Ireland (1649-1653). The wooden floors and the roof were destroyed – most probably in 1653, and after the MacEgans had surrendered.

For centuries, the castle lied in ruin. A local farmer at the turn of the twentieth century cut out a ground-floor opening from the eleven foot-thick western wall, for the purpose of sheltering his livestock.

In 1972, Michael J. Egan, a descendant of the MacEgans, a lawyer from County Mayo purchased and restored the castle, using only his own personal funds, after being refused grants by the then government of Ireland.

The castle was re-opened to the public in the 1980s, and stands as a testimony to Ireland’s past growth in written law and history.