Town defences

The National Monuments Service's description

The town was completely defended by a town wall which had bastions at the four corners and two demi-bastions at the centre of the long E and W walls, as recorded on a map of 1730 by Thomas Moland. A length of town wall survives at the N end of the W side of the town (L 20m; ext. H 1.8-3m) but no distinguishing features are evident. A section of the town wall (L 7m; H 3m; T 1.2m) also survives at the S end of the W side of the town, which has no visible distinguishing features. The line of the wall can be traced as a break in slope to its N (L 23m) and S (L 18m). The North Gate of Jamestown (LE031-082001-) was destroyed by Patrick Sarsfield in 1689 when he retook the town from Col. Lloyd, but it was rebuilt c. 1780 by Hugh O'Beirne. Its arch was taken down after it was damaged in 1973. Two in-turned piers survive, creating a passageway (Wth 4.3-5.3m; L 2.8m), together with adjacent parts of the town wall. The base of the town wall on the W side has been found through excavation (01E1191) in at least one place (Ryan 2002, 2003). (Bradley and Dunne 1988, 23-6)

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Leitrim' compiled by Michael J. Moore (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2003). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 17 October 2019

References

Ryan, F. 2003: Jamestown. Town Wall. In I. Bennett (ed.) Excavations 2001: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 226, No. 735. Bray, Wordwell

Ryan, F. 2002 Archaeological Report of Test Trenching at Jamestown, Co. Leitrim. Licence No. 01E1191. Unpublished report, Author.

Bradley, J. and Dunne, N. 1988 Urban archaeological survey - county Leitrim. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.