Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle

The National Monuments Service's description

On cliff edge, overlooking Awbeg River to E. Fragmentary remains of keepless castle of 13th-century type, incorporated into country house complex (14871) which is now ruinous. Latter comprises enclosed courtyard containing many ruined farm buildings, with house at S end which has circular towers at SE and SW corners.
Remains of castle traceable in SW circular tower (diam. c. 9.5m); parts of W and S courtyard walls also incorporate parts of castle as do ruined structures on cliff edge immediately E of courtyard.
Tower in SW corner stands four storeys high on walls 1.8m T with crude, low base batter and 19th-century crenellated wall-tops; tower extensively renovated, with inserted brick-built windows and doors; much of stonework obscured by 19th-century plaster. Entrance on ground floor from within courtyard via ruined brick-built doorway. Ground-floor chamber (diam. c. 6m) lit by large window with brick-built ingoings on S side; brick-built recesses on W and E sides, latter possibly fireplace. Description of 1905 refers to doorway near fireplace leading to '...passage curving round to the back of the fireplace.' (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 1, 371). Doorway and passage not located. Chamber roofed by high vault of unusual, semi-domical construction. Partially blocked door on N side suggests original intermediary wooden floor, now missing.
Attached to N wall of latter tower is slim square tower (L c. 3m). This has inserted ground-floor door in E wall giving entry to small chamber (c. 2m x c. 2m) from courtyard. First-floor round-arched door in N wall of tower originally reached by flight of steps from courtyard, most of which are now missing. Inside latter door straight flight of steps leads S to 1st floor of circular tower; chamber six-sided with late inserted windows in W, SW and SE sides; door on E side of chamber leads to mural stairs leading up to 2nd-floor chamber in square tower and down to now inaccessible chamber in S wall of courtyard; this stairs may originally have connected to passage behind the ground-floor fireplace referred to above. Door in N ingoing of SE window embrasure leads to stairs rising to N in thickness of tower wall to 3rd-floor chamber of square tower.
To E of courtyard a semicircular tower (int. diam. c. 3m) stands against cliff face. On top of a cliff edge two short lengths of wall project NW and SW from tower; probably remains of castle enclosure. Ruined rectangular tower on cliff edge c. 10m to N, also probably part of castle; access to tower not gained.
Castle of the Barrys who were granted a fair and market at Buttevant in 1234 (Ó Murchadha 1985, 23) and who, in 1364, were episcopal tenants of the 'castle of Buttevant with its orchard and hall' (MacCotter and Nicholls 1996, 29, 194). In ruins by 1750 when seen by Smith, who states that 'the inside of this building forms an octagon...within the court is now a good modern house' (Smith 1750, vol. 1, 314).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009