Berkeley family Constable (Alnod), a high official under King Edward the Confessor. Berkeley Castle, the "caput" of the barony, and the adjoining town of Berkeley are located in the county of Gloucestershire and are situated about five miles west of Dursley and eighteen miles southwest of Gloucester, and northeast of Bristol. The location has conferred various titles on the family over the centuries, including Baron Berkeley (barony by writ), Earl of Berkeley, and Marquess of Berkeley. Berkeley Castle was originally granted by William the Conqueror to the Norman Roger de Berkeley, feudal baron of Dursley, under the feudal tenure of fee-farm. However,
Ballymote Castle of the interior domestic buildings survive. Local folklore suggests that underground passages connected Emlaghfad church with the castle and with the nearby Franciscan Abbey, though such stories are common throughout Ireland and are unlikely to be based on fact. The Red Earl is also credited with building the ancient road from Boyle, County Roscommon to Collooney, known as "Bóthar an Corann" and as the "Red Earls Road". The castle changed hands many times since construction. It was captured by the O'Connors of Sligo in 1317, but was taken by the Mac Diarmada, during the course of local struggles, in 1347.