Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Doon Point/Dún an Fheirtéaraigh is a long, narrow promontory stretching over 500m NE-SW, on the N side of Ferriter's Cove. A 15th or 16th century tower-house was later constructed on the inner bank of the E line of defences.

Ferriters Castle/Caisleán an Fheirtéaraigh: The Norman family of Ferriter held extensive land here by the end of the 13th century, and in the 16th century 'Ferters Creek' appears to have been a port of some importance (CPR Eliz. 1585, 105). The castle, marked on 16th/17th century maps as 'Filliters Castle' or 'Castle Sybil' (Westropp 1910, 204), was probably built in the later 15th or 16th century. The family remained in residence until the 17th century when Piaras Feirtéar, the poet, was captured and subsequently executed in Killarney in 1653 (Ó Conchúir 1977, 48). The building was in ruins by 1756 (Smith, 187).
The castle is situated on the inner face of the Eastern defences of the promontory fort, its battered E wall resting on boulder foundations near the bottom of the fosse. The walls are built of coursed sandstone flags and rubble laid in a sandy mortar; the surviving NW and SE quoins are widely chamfered.
The main block of the castle, a rectangle c. 6.6m N-S x 5m E-W internally, with walls c. 1.6m in thickness, suffered severe storm damage in 1845 (Fisher 1847, 55). Prior to this a stair turret and entrance were visible in the SW corner (OSL).
Only the NW angle, c. 11m high, with attatched N and W walls, and the lower courses of the SE angle with attached section of the E wall, are now extant. A low lintelled opening, near the S end of the E wall, may have been an outlet for a garderobe shaft.
The castle has a vaulted lower storey lit by a double-splayed loop set in a lintelled embrasure in the W wall. There are 2 wall-cupboards in the NW angle. Beam holes in the N and W walls suggest that there may have been a 2nd floor under the vault, lit by a window in the N wall; only the splayed W ingoing of the latter is now preserved.
The pointed barrel vault, aligned N-S, has completely collapsed, and only the NW angle of the storey above it remains. A blocked-up ope in the wall of this chamber retains only the chamfered N jamb and sill, its pointed head having fallen (OSL). The N wall was fitted with a wall-press, and a central recess in this wall may be the remains of a window ope.

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The above description is derived from J. Cuppage, ‘Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne’ (1986), no. 266. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 4 August 2013

References

Ó Conchúir, D. 1977 Treoir-Corca Dhuibhne a Muintir agus a Séadchomharthaí. Ballyferriter.

Fisher, L. J. 1847 Letters from the Kingdom of Kerry in the year 1845. Dublin.

Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Eliz. - Calendar of patent and close rolls of chancery in Ireland, Elizabeth, 19 year to end of reign, ed. J. Morrin (Dublin 1862)

Westropp, T.J. 1910 Promontory forts and similar structures in the County Kerry. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 40, 179-213.

Smith, C. 1756 (Reprint 1969) The ancient and present state of the county of Kerry. Cork. The Mercier Press.

OSL - Ordnance Survey Letters. Letters written by members of the Ordnance Survey's 'Topographical Department' (T. O'Conor, A. O'Curry, E. Curry, J. O'Donovan and P. O'Keeffe) sent to headquarters from the field (1834-41). MSS in Royal Irish Academy.

Cuppage, J. 1986 Corca Dhuibhne. Dingle Peninsula archaeological survey. Ballyferriter. Oidhreacht Chorca Dhuibhne.