Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

A castle of a branch of the Fitzgerald family, styled Barons of Burnchurch in the former county palatinate of Kilkenny. In 1654 the last Baron of Burnchurch, Richard Fitzgerald, was transplanted to Connaught and his possessions granted to Colonel William Warden (Commins 1906, 266). The rectangular tower house (KK023-071001-) was protected by a bawn, only a circular tower of which survives, 20m N of the tower house. The tower appears to have formed the NW angle of the bawn. A sketch by Robertson (Burtchaell 1893, facing 179) shows the remains of a wall connecting the S face of the circular tower with the N face of the tower house. The four-story angle tower (int. diam. c. 2.9m; wall T 1.3m) is constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble and has remnants of the N (T 1.25m) and W (T 1.36m) walls of the bawn. It is entered through a round-headed doorway facing SE. A stair ascends from S to first floor. The stair to the upper levels is across the missing wooden floor and hence now inaccessible. A window facing W at first-floor level was later converted to a fireplace with liberal use of brick. There is a garderobe at second-floor level and a fireplace on the third floor. The floors were held by slight offsets. The parapet survives with long merlons and few crenels.
(National Monument no. 321)

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of revised upload: 17 August 2016

References

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.