House - fortified house

The National Monuments Service's description

On S side of farmyard, overlooked by limestone ridge c. 90m to SSW on which sits Kilmaclenine Castle (14332); site of deserted rural borough (14638) c. 200m to S. Ruined 2-storey cruciform house (see ground-floor plan in Waterman 1961, 255, fig. 14.4); main block (21.6m E-W; 10.6m N-S) missing E wall and E end of N wall; N and S wings set slightly W of centre. South wing (5m N-S; 6.1m E-W) contains entrance door; N wing largely fallen, it fell 'about 1870' (Grove White 1905-25, vol. 3, 319). Main block has basement.
Doorway in S wall of S wing; door surround has pointed arch and two yett holes; overhead is rectangular recess which probably contained armorial plaque. Chamber inside (3.6m E-W; 4.1m N-S) lit by window in S wall with rectangular light divided by mullion and transom, with hood moulding; similar window in W wall missing light. Gun loops at N end of E and W walls, covering S wall of main block. In N wall is door, with semi-elliptical arch, giving entry to main ground-floor chamber.
Main ground-floor chamber (18.4m E-W; 7.6m N-S) lit by three identical windows in S wall (two E of S wing), each with rectangular light divided by two mullions and a transom (all divisions now missing), with hood moulding. Also in S wall is gun loop covering E wall of S wing. Much-ruined fireplace and window in W wall, further ruined fireplaces W of centre and E of centre in N wall. Door into N wing heavily masked by ivy. Only short sections of E and W walls of N wing survive but each has gun loop covering N wall of main block.
Basement of main block now largely filled with rubble; lit by two windows each in N and S walls, which have single rectangular lights. Wooden floor overhead carried by joist holes in N and S walls.
First-floor level of main block has door in S wall leading into S wing, directly above door below; window near W end of S wall, directly above window below, with rectangular light divided by two mullions (one now missing). Also in S wall, E of S wing, is much-ruined fireplace; E end of S wall has fallen. At this level, W and N walls are masked by ivy; fireplace and small window in W wall. First floor in S wing lit by window in E wall with rectangular window with hood moulding; light, divided by mullion, now blocked. There appears to have been a second floor in this wing lit by window in S and in W walls, similar in design to first-floor window.
Externally there is a continuous string course between ground and first floors, also a string course at eaves level on E and W walls of S wing. Photograph in Grove White (1905-25, vol. 3, opp. 305), dating to c. 1866, shows gable with chimney stack atop S wall of S wing (this fell in 1902: ibid., 319), 1st-floor window near E end of S wall of main block and second chimney stack apparently above N wall of main block. Probably built by the Barrys (ibid., 318-20); its close resemblance to Ightermurragh in East Cork (5591) suggests a date for its construction c. 1641 (Leask 1941, 129-31).

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