The Castle of Macroom

Excerpt from my new book, "Color Me Green: Ways the Irish Influenced America."

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When the tour bus rolled into the town of Macroom, County Cork, we were amazed to find a castle right there on the street. There were busy little shops and fruit stands with Irish poteen and booths of hand-made souvenirs. Of course, there were the customary winding streets with rows of two and three story tall connected buildings painted different pastel colors.

But there was a castle! Its wide portico opened onto the marketplace. The broad gray stone fortress stood silent before the cheery marketplace. The Penn Castle.

Admiral Sir William Penn had a rebellious son who joined the movement to allow religious freedom in England. Young William Penn became a Quaker, a sect that was illegal for opposing the royally invented Anglican Church. He was punished and jailed many times.

Young Penn was sent to Ireland to manage his father’s endowments including the castle in Macroom. In that beautiful country, he became an active Quaker but, even in Ireland, Quakers were arrested and imprisoned due to the English laws.

America seemed to be the only hope for Quakers. When the King of England changed, young William saw a chance to take advantage of a debt owed to his father. He asked for and received a grant of wilderness land west of the Delaware River in the American colonies. He declared and established a colony without any religious restrictions. Thousands of people came from Ireland and Germany for free land and freedom of religion in Pennsylvania!

William Penn left the life of Lord of the castle in British-held Ireland to establish the State of Brotherly Love where freedom rang out in 1776.

An interesting sideline is that two-hundred years later, during the horrible years of the Irish Famine, it was the Quakers who opened food kitchens for hungry victims.

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To read more stories like this one about the Irish influence to America, order my new book, "Color Me Green: Ways the Irish Influenced America" by Helen Walsh Folsom.

Over the next several weeks, I will be publishing, with the aid of my daughter, Bettse Folsom, a series of answer & questions & snippets about Ireland that many people have asked me during events where I have attended. If you have a question, please contact me by email and I will be happy to address it.

Thank you for reading my blog!