History
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The first settlement in Bunratty may have been set up by Vikings in the 10th century. The Annals of the Four Masters report that Brian Boru destroyed a Viking settlement in the area in 977.
Bunratty Parish in 1842. The castle is in the southeast of the parish, and the Catholic chapel (the still existing Our Lady Of The Wells Church) is in the north.
Around 1250 the Anglo-Norman ruler Mucegros was given the right to hold a market and fair at Bunratty.
He built the castle in 1277. The castle became the main residence of Richard de Clare, owner of all of Thomond.
In the late 13th century, Bunratty had about 1,000 inhabitants.
Richard de Clare was killed in 1311, and in 1314 the town of Bunratty was burned to the ground by the local people.
The castle was sacked in 1332.
The current Bunratty Castle was built by the MacNamara family in the early part of the 15th century. It later became property of the O'Briens, who eventually made it their principal seat as Earls of Thomond. In the early 18th century it came into the possession of the Studdert family, who built Bunratty House in 1804.
In 1834 Bunratty parish had 55 Protestants and 1,340 Catholics.
As of 1841 there were 1,320 people in 207 houses. The parish was crossed by the road from Limerick to Ennis, which ran past the castle.
In the Roman Catholic system, Bunratty parish was united with Tomfinlough and Kilconry parishes.
As of 1845 the castle was being used as a barracks by the Royal Irish Constabulary.
During the Great Famine (1845 to 1852) Bunratty's population fell into decline.
Bunratty is the location of the death of the last British soldier to die in Clare during the Irish War of Independence.[citation needed] Private William Reginald Williams of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident on 7 July 1921, just four days before both sides came to a truce. Though Williams' body was never recovered, a Commonwealth War Grave in his memory lies in the north-east corner of the old Bunratty graveyard adjacent to the Bunratty Castle Hotel.[page needed].
In the 1950s, Bunratty's most prominent structure, the then ruined Bunratty Castle, attracted the attention of John Hunt, Lord Gort and the Irish Government. The castle was extensively renovated and opened to the public in 1960. Although Bunratty Castle thrived, becoming a major draw for early transatlantic tourists, the village population continued to decline.[citation needed]
