House - fortified house

The National Monuments Service's description

At the junction of Bridge St and Church St, at the NNW end of Longford town (LF013-026----), c. 75m N of the Camlin River. During the English plantation of Longford the tower house (LF013-026003-) was probably replaced by or incorporated into this fortified house, which was constructed c. 1627 by Lord Aungier (Farrell 1891, 304). It was subsequently remodelled as suggested by Nicholas Dowdall in 1682 when he refers to the ‘rebuilding [of] an antient house of great resort that was there and adding returns to it beautified it rarely within’ (Gillespie and Moran 1991, 210). Named ‘Old Castle’ on the OS 25-inch plan (surveyed 1911), it was aligned N-S with an angle tower at SE. A bawn (LF013-062001-) was associated. Photographs from the Lawrence Collection (NLI, L_CAB_09210; L_ROY_07411) indicate that the house was a three-storey high, gable-ended, rectangular, single-pile building, with a three-storey high circular angle tower. The tower projected out at an unusual angle from the central block, suggesting the possibility that it predated the house. There were three square-headed sash windows just below the roof line of the tower and they appeared to be contemporary with the sash windows in the adjoining house. The remains of a tall rectangular chimney stack rose above the W side of the tower. The house was entered at first-floor level, via an external flight of steps, through a square-headed doorway in the centre of the E wall. The roof was steeply pitched. The house most likely dates to the 17th century as a projecting spur on the SE face of the angle tower is similar to those on the angle towers of the bawn (OF015-011002-) in Kilcolgan, county Offaly and on ‘Ireton’s Castle’ (TN003-001001-) in Lehinch, North Tipperary, both of which also date to the 17th century. The house and the tower were demolished in the early 1970s to facilitate the construction of a car-park (Bradley et al. 1985, 36). A formal garden (LF013-062002-), fish-ponds (LF013-026005-) and a deer park (LF013-026012-) are associated.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 13 June 2012

References

Gillespie, R. and Moran, G. (eds.) 1991 Longford: essays in county history. Dublin. Lilliput Press.

The Lawrence Collection of Photographs. Dublin. National Library of Ireland.

Farrell, J.P. 1891 History of the county of Longford. Dublin. Dollard Printinghouse.

Bradley, J., Halpin, A. and King, H. 1985 Urban archaeological survey - county Longford. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.