Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated at the NW side of the junction of Castle Street and White's Villas. The tower house is known as 'Goat's Castle', this urban towerhouse served as the Town Hall and is now Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre. The tower is built of roughly coursed granite masonry with dressed stone quoins. The tower house is rectangular in plan, three storied with a vault above the ground floor. A projecting stair tower in the SE corner rises above parapet level. The present entrance off Castle Street is a late round-arched opening in the S wall. The original entrance was in the N side where remains of the original staircase survives. A drawing by Beranger dated 1765 shows the present entrance on the S as a damaged, blocked up doorway and another flat-arched entrance on the E side (Harbison 1998, 77). The ground floor chamber is barrel vaultedon an E-W axis. There are floor corbels visible in the upper NE corner wall. The interior is lit by a deeply splayed embrasure in the E and a lower tall, single ope in the SW. A large fireplace has been inserted into the S wall on the first floor. This room was re-modelled as the council chamber with wood panelling (int. dims. L 10.6m; Wth 5.95m). It is lit by double-light windows in the S wall. The second floor has a round-arched window in the W end. A building, which serves as the parish hall has been built up against the N wall.
Compiled by: Geraldine Stout and Padraig Clancy
Revised upload on: 22 May 2018

References

Harbison, P. 1998 Beranger's antique buildings of Ireland. Dublin. Four Courts Press in association with the National Library of Ireland.