Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

The siting of Cullam (LI012-041----) and Courte Castles were described by Dowd (1896, 169) as ' The banks of the Maigue were well protected on the lower reaches of the river by Cullam Castle [LI012-041----], situated on a hill, and by the low square tower of Court almost at the river's edge'. The castle mistakenly identified as nearby Cullam Castle was described in 1840 as 'this old castle is about 32 feet [9.75m] square, and is at present called the Pigeon House by the Inhabitants. Its height may be about 24 ft. [7.3m] at present; but it appears to have formerly been higher. Two chains [40m] to the west of it stand the ruins of Court House, which was inhabited by the Hasting Family' (OSNB Kildimo Parish, 923). .
Westropp (1906-07, 161) recorded the following details about Court Castle; ‘1583 Garrett mac Gibbon mac Reynode held Court mac Reynode (Des. R., 34). The name may imply that the C[astle]. was built by Gibbon. (See also Peyton, 217b.) 1655 It was held by Gerott mac Tibbott and others (C.S., xxvi, p. 10). 1702 H. Widenham held it. Fabric - A low, well-preserved peel tower, with slight projecting turrets to the east and west, between which the southern face is curved. In the north-east angle is a ruined staircase. The north wall has a batter to each side of the plain-pointed door. The windows are rude and plain; and the lower story vaulted'. A cluster of buildings are depicted standing in Courte on the 1657 Down Survey map of Kenry Barony (Hib. Reg.). The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick recorded that Gerrott FitzJames Gerrald and Gerrald FitzJames Gerrald of Courte was the proprietor of Court which contained 'foure good houses thereuppon standing, Margaret Haly [Healy] alias Creagh the relict of John Haly Esqr. Dowable of 80 acres thereof in right of her said husband' (Simington 1938, 349).
Court Castle described by Salter (2004, 79) as follows; 'This U-shaped tower measuring 8m by 6.6m with a staircase and latrine on one side looks as if it may once have formed part of a twin-towered gatehouse. It was held by Garry MacGibbon MacRenold in 1583, and in 1702 belonged to Henry Widenham'. The unusual plan of Court Castle was described by Donnelly (1999, 28) as an, 'architectural oddity: it may have been an experimental building and it is certainly unique among the tower houses of the county, if not indeed the entire country'.

See attached floor plan of Court Castle taken from Donnelly 1999.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 20 November 2020

References

Donnelly, C.J. 1999 A Typological Study of the Tower Houses of County Limerick. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 129, 19-39.

Hibernia Regnum: A set of 214 barony maps of Ireland dating to the period AD 1655-59. The original parish maps have been lost but the Hibernia Regnum maps are preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris (Goblet 1932, v-x). Photographic facsimiles of these maps were published by the Ordnance Survey, Southampton in 1908.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1938 The civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. IV: county of Limerick, with a section of Clanmaurice barony Co. Kerry. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Salter, M. 2004 The castles of North Munster. Worcestershire. Folly Publications.

Westropp, T.J. 1906-7 The ancient castles of the county of Limerick. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 26, 54-264.

OSNB - Ordnance Survey Name Books. Pro-forma books arranged by Civil Parish for recording townland and other name-forms and compiled in the course of the OS 6-inch survey 1824-1841. The name books also include minor names and incidental references to antiquities. National Archives of Ireland.