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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Castle - motte and bailey

Brittas, County Limerick, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Castle - motte and bailey, Brittas, County Limerick, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Brittas
County
Limerick
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
Not indicated
Latest-edition OS map
Not indicated
Coordinates
52.60580, -8.41327
SMR number
LI014-057----

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1904 · Sheet 13. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture 150m W of Mulkear River that marks the townland boundary with Eyon, 100m SW of Brittas Castle (LI015-009----). No surface remains visible of levelled motte castle identified by O’Dwyer (1964, 95) who described the earthwork as ‘a large earthen mound now much disturbed, 210 feet [64m] in diameter and rising 20 feet [6m] above the level of the field. An apparently artificial cutting runs from this mound to the river about 450 feet [137m] distant. Not marked on the OS map. It is about 450 feet [137m] SW of Brittas Castle and appears to be an Anglo Norman motte; the bretasche (wooden tower) which originally crowned this mound is probably that which gave the townland its name’. No surface remains visible today on Digital Globe orthoimage 2011-2013.

See attached Google Earth orthoimages taken 28/06/2018 and 05/04/2006

Compiled by: Martin Fitzpatrick

Date upload: 6 July 2020

References

O'Dwyer, M. 1964 A Survey of the earthworks of the district of Old Pallasgrean (concluded). North Munster Antiquarian Journal 9, 94-8.

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Castle - motte and bailey in Limerick All County Limerick records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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