Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Indicated on the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map as ‘Castle (in ruins)’ and described in the OS Letters (1839) as, ‘a small portion of the walls of a castle on Kilree Townland’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 280 (94)). Hogan (1860-61, 365) describes it as, ‘the remains of a rude stone edifice, which may have been either a church or a castle. The east wall is about three feet [c. 0.9m] high, and the remainder is a mass of rubbish, little above the level of the ground’. According to Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 372), ‘Kilree castle, still traditionally remembered to have belonged to the “Friars,” stood within a few perches [1 perch = 5m] of Mr. Whitecroft’s house; a part of it yet remains. It marks the position of the monastic Grange of Kilree’. O’Kelly (1969, 153) also mentions this castle and states that it is, ‘built on an elevation called the Cruaichín, commanding a fine view’.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 16 August 2021

References

Hogan, J. 1860-61 Topographical and historical illustrations of the suburbs of Kilkenny. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquarians of Ireland 6, 335-87.

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.

O'Kelly, O. 1969 (Reissue 1985) The place-names of County Kilkenny. Kilkenny.

Carrigan, Rev. W. 1905 (Reprint 1981) The history and antiquities of the diocese of Ossory, 4 vols. Kilkenny. Roberts Books and Wellbrook Press.