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	Ardilaun Estate, Macroom, Co Cork, Ireland
	Owned by William Penn’s father, Admiral Penn.

	Macroom Castle the boyhood home of William Penn during the years that he lived in County Cork. It stands on the western margin of the town of Macroom and its windows look away into the distance where a rugged land lies at the foot of the mountains. King John is said to have built part of the castle. It was granted to Admiral Penn instead of the property of his wife Margaret near Rineanna and later returned to the Earl of Clancarty; the Admiral received instead an estate in Shanagarry in East Cork.

	The river Sullane flows quietly beneath the walls of the castle. To this castle Admiral Penn invited Thomas Loe when his son William was twelve or thirteen years old. Here William listened to the man who ten years later, in the nearby city of Cork, was to finally convince him of the way of life of Friends.
	Among other factors there are three outstanding characteristics in Penn that contribute to his greatness. He had intense religious experience, he became skilled in the administration of property and he had intolerance to religious and racial inequality. The Irish scene played a great part in all three.
	Around the turn of the century, Arthur Edward Guinness, 1^st Baron Ardilaun and his wife, the glamorous Lady Ardilaun, sister of the last Earl of Bantry, owned wellknown Macroom castle. It is thought that the castle was built in the reign of King John, on the site of an earlier stronghold. When Macroom Castle was burnt (for the fourth time) during the War of Independence Lady Ardilaun sold the remains to the Irish people.