Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Castle - motte
Gowran Demesne, County Kilkenny, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Gowran Demesne
- County
- Kilkenny
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Coordinates
- 52.62915, -7.06009
- SMR number
- KK020-060005-
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUniversity Library, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 4 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1790 "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
Following the acquisition of the Kingdom of Leinster by Richard de Clare (Strongbow) in 1172, his followers were rewarded with portions of the kingdom and Gowran went to Theobald fitz Walter, Chief Butler of Ireland (Carrigan 1905, vol. 3, 400). It is likely that a motte and bailey castle (KK020-060005-) was erected in Gowran around this time. Gowran became the principal seat of the Butlers for a short period from the second half of the 14th century, when they lost Nenagh (KK020-037001-), until 1391 when they acquired Kilkenny Castle (KK020-019078-). In c. 1385 James Butler, the 3rd Earl of Ormond built a new castle (KK020-060004-) at Gowran (Carrigan 1903, vol. 3, 400).
The precise location of this late 12th/early 13th-century castle is unknown, though it may have been on the site of the later 14th-century castle, which is also no longer visible above ground level.
Compiled by: Jean Farrelly
Date of upload: 24 March 2021
References
Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.
Nearby in the register
- Castle - unclassifiedunder 1 mi
- House - 17th centuryunder 1 mi
- Maltingsunder 1 mi
- Cross - Market crossunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.