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Slane Castle is located in the town of Slane, within the Boyne Valley of County Meath, Ireland. The castle has been the family home of the Conyngham family since the 18th century.〔(Slane Castle History: A Brief History by Henry, Eighth Marquess Conyngham ) Slane Castle〕 It holds the Slane Concert event within its grounds, with the ''Irish Independent'' claiming in 2004 that "Slane today is the kind of internationally recognised venue that can claim even Madonna's attention".〔(Rainy days & festivals ) Independent.ie, 10 July 2004〕 Its sloping lawns form a natural amphitheatre.〔(U2 and Slane Castle gear up for 20-year reunion ) RTÉ News, 24 August 2001〕 ==History == Overlooking the River Boyne, just a few kilometres upstream from Newgrange and the site of the famous Battle of the Boyne, Slane Castle in its existing form was constructed under the direction of William Burton Conyngham, together with his nephew The 1st Marquess Conyngham. The reconstruction dates back to 1785 and is principally the work of James Gandon, James Wyatt and Francis Johnston. Francis Johnston was also the architect responsible for the gothic gates on the Mill Hill, located to the east of the castle. The Conyngham's are originally a Scottish Protestant family, who planted in Ireland in 1611, during the Plantation of Ulster in County Donegal. With that, the family asserted control over lands around the village of Tamhnach an tSalainn, near Donegal Town in the south of County Donegal. Concurrently, the then head of the family, Charles Conyngham, renamed the village in his own honor as "Mount Charles".〔http://www.welovedonegal.com/tv-mountcharles.html〕 The family also controlled an extensive estate in West Donegal, especially in The Rosses district. The association between the Conynghams and the Slane Estate in County Meath dates back over 300 years, ever since the property was purchased by the family following the Williamite Confiscations in 1701. Around that time, the family moved their main ancestral seat south from County Donegal in west Ulster to Slane. Prior to this, Slane Castle had been in the possession of the Flemings, Anglo-Norman Catholics who had aligned themselves with the Jacobites in the War of the Grand Alliance, and thus after the Williamite victory, their property was eligible for confiscation. Christopher Fleming, 22nd of Slane, 17th Lord, Viscount Longford (1669 – 14 July 1726), was the last Fleming Lord of Slane. The present owner of the castle is Henry Conyngham who styles himself,〔Article 40.2 of the Irish Constitution forbids the state conferring titles of nobility and a citizen may not accept titles of nobility or honour except with the prior approval of the Government, present titles of peerage being considered anachronistic, titles of nobility or peerage are thus regarded as simply courtesy titles.〕 as the 8th Marquess Conyngham. In 1991, a fire in the castle caused extensive damage to the building and completely gutted the eastern section facing the River Boyne. The castle reopened in 2001 after the completion of a ten-year restoration programme. In 2003, a cannon associated with the castle was found in the nearby River Boyne〔(Slane Cannon find ) ''Newsfile''; Retrieved 31 May 2011〕 On the eastward side of the castle demesne, directly between the river Boyne and the villages Church of Ireland chapel in Slane, lay the ruins of St. Erc's Hermitage a 15th-century multi-storey chapel, and with some 500 metres westward of St. Erc's Hermitage an ancient well can also be found. In one of the central texts of Irish mythology, the Cath Maige Tuireadh, this well is said to have been blessed by the God Dian Cecht so that the Tuatha Dé Danann could bathe in it and be healed, allegedly healing all mortal wounds except decapitation.〔''Cath Maige Tuireadh''. (Elizabeth A. Gray (trans.) )〕 However with the arrival of Christianity in Ireland, and the policy of Christian reinterpretation for traditionally pagan sites, the well is now more commonly referred to as ''Our lady's well.'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Slane Castle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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