Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

On a slight rise of ground with good views in all directions. Ballybur tower house is located in the townland previously known as Ballymackan. The construction of the tower house is attributed to Thomas Comerford, who died in 1588, and was the head of the Comerford family of Ballybur (Hogan 1880-83, 40-41). His son, Richard Comerford (1564-1637), was probably responsible for remodelling the castle, with the insertion of new windows and fireplaces in the upper storeys. Richard Comerford was married to Mary Purcell, daughter of Purcell, Baron of Loughmore in Co. Tipperary and his tomb (KK023-036004-) is located in Grange graveyard (KK023-036002-) c. 900m to the NW (Commins 1906, 265-6).
The castle is mentioned in a Crown Lease of the 3rd Dec., 1583, made out to Francis Lovell, of Lysmactiege, Esq., ‘of the site of the castle with three other castles in Ballymackane (i.e. Ballymack [Ballybur]), Co. Kilkenny, lands in Ballymackan, Lesloline, Tullaghmain, Magistoun, Redmore, Kilbreckan, Newehouse, Kilbleyn, Roweston, Blackeslande, Carnegill, Goslington, Shellam Rath, Arlestone, Corbally, Dungarvin, Busshoppesloughe, Thomaston, and in the burgage of the baron of Burnchurch, the possessions of Tho. Quemerford [Comerford], late of Ballymackan, in the Co. Kilkenny, attainted. To hold for 21 years. Rent 20 pounds during the life of Margaret Cowley, who has part of the premises in dower; afterwards 30 pounds. Maintaining one English horseman’ [Cal. of fiants Elizabeth I]. Another Crown lease was made, on the 19th July, 1586, to Henry Comerford, brother of Thomas Comerford, who had been attainted, ‘of the castle of Ballymackane [Ballybur], the lands of Ballymackane, Lyslonne, Tullaghmayne, &c. (as above). To hold in fee farm for ever’ [ibid.]. In 1656 John Comerford of Ballybur had his lands confiscated and he was transplanted to the Barony of Bunratty of Co. Clare (Simington 1970, 3).
The tower house is described in 1839 as consisting of 'three stories, the upper one vaulted with stone, the other floors, composed of timber, all remaining yet, that the roof is off. It measures twenty four feet by nineteen [c. 7.3m x c. 5.8m] in the clear, the door, which is a pointed one, being in the east side. It contains eleven windows and fourteen loopholes, all built with cut stone' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 269-70). In 1905, Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 373) described Ballybur as a 'four-storeyed keep, of great strength, and in good preservation, except that it is roofless'. Described in 1909 as a castle measuring 38 feet by 30 feet (12.4m x 9.1m), of three stories and a basement, and walls 7 feet (2.3m) thick; is vaulted on first and top floors, the latter roofless with an entresol between the basement and first floor. The top flat, as usual the principal apartment, 35 feet (11.4m) by 18 feet (5.48m), is well lighted by two large double windows, 5 feet (1.5m) by 3 feet (0.9m), with trefoil heads and deeply splayed internally, that on the east set into a recess or alcove 14 feet (5.48m) long, and these have marks of iron bars for the casements; it has a large solid fire-place of plain masonry' (Fleming 1909, 179-81).
The present remains consist of a well-preserved and restored (between 1979 and 2006) four storey tower house (approx. ext. dims. 8.3m N-S x 10.9m E-W) built of roughly coursed rubble with alternating cut and dressed quoinstones with a slight base-batter (Salter 2018, 114-17). The tower is entered through a pointed doorway located of centre to N in the E wall. This doorway has an external rebate for a yett and a yett-hole visible in S and N jambs and a third hole present in the apex of the doorway. The external face of this doorway is protected overhead by a machicolation at wall-walk level. The main doorway leads into a lobby area (int. dims. 1.9m x 1.34m) which is one of two lobby areas and is protected by a guardroom located in NE angle and by a slit ope directly opposite the entrance in W wall which provides occupants of ground floor with a way of defending this first lobby area. This wall and slit ope have been since rebuilt. The guardroom (int. dims. 0.9m x 1.9m) originally had access to a musket loop or yett loop visible in the E jamb of the main doorway. From this first lobby area there is a pointed doorway in the S wall which leads into a second lobby area (int. dims. 1.28m x 1.25m) from which the spiral stairs (Wth 0.9m) in SE angle and ground-floor chamber are accessed. This second lobby area has access to a yett-hole in S jamb of main doorway. From this lobby area there is a doorway in the S wall which leads to a spiral stairs in SE angle from which all upper floor chambers are accessed. The main ground-floor chamber (int. dims. 4.73m N-S x 5.07m E-W; wall T 1.75m) is accessed from a pointed doorway in the W wall of the lobby area. The ground floor is lit by three simple slit opes set into wide embrasures (Wth 1.75m) located in the S, W and N walls. There is a tall niche in the NE angle and a small low niche in the SE angle. The wooden floor joists are set into the thickness of the wall over the ground floor and are carried on a wall plate which are supported by corbels. From the spiral stairs all upper floors are accessed along with several mural chambers at mezzanine levels between the first, second and third floors. There is a large stone fireplace in the S wall of the second floor and this chamber is lit by two-light windows set into the centre of the W wall. This chamber appears to have been the public hall of the castle. The fireplace has an external chimney stack which is carried on corbels visible on the S wall of the tower. There was a stone-vaulted loft or entresol over this first-floor chamber which was accessed from a doorway in a mural chamber in the E wall of the tower. This mural chamber was accessed off the spiral stairs. The third floor over the vault appears to have been the private hall and is open to the roof timbers of the castle. This hall has a large fireplace in the S wall and access to a secret mural chamber which may have acted as the treasury chamber of the castle. From the spiral stairs in the SE angle the wall-walk and the machicolation over the doorway is accessed, there is a circular angle machicolation or bartizan on the NW angle of the wall-walk. The mural chambers in the E wall of the castle give access to several garderobes in the NE angle of the castle, the outlet for which is visible in the N wall of the tower house at ground-floor level. Several mural chambers are lit by angle loops at first-floor levels. Five two-light mullioned windows with overhead hood-mouldings appear to be late 16th/ early 17th century in date and are clear insertions replacing earlier narrower windows of ogee-head type. The sillstones of these earlier windows are still visible below the present windows. These two-light windows were inserted into the castle to provide more light for the two halls of the castle. Four of these windows were inserted into the N, S, E and W walls of the private hall at third-floor level while only one two-light window was inserted into the W wall of the tower at first-floor level. There is no surviving evidence for a bawn wall.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 11 August 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.

Fleming, J.S. 1909 Irish and Scottish castles and keeps contrasted. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 39, 174-91.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1970 The transplantation to Connacht 1654–58. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Hogan, J. 1880-83 Notes on ancient churches and castles of Ballybur Inchihologan. Transactions of the Ossory Archaeological Society 2, 33-49.

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Kilkenny collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1839. Bray.

Salter, M. 2018 Castles restored from ruins. Worcestershire. Folly Publications.

Commins, J. 1906 Notes on the places of antiquarian interest visited by the society, May, 1906. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 36, 265-75.

Calendar to fiants of the reign of Henry VIII... [etc.] in P.R.I. rep. D.K. 7-22 (Dublin, 1875-90).