Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

No surface remains visible of Lismullane Castle which stood at the meeting point between the Mulkear and Killeengarriff Rivers. In recent times the field has been reclaimed, ploughed and reseeded with new grass. The old road leading down to this area which is depicted on the 1840 ed. OS 6-inch map was known as 'The Mill Road'. According to the local landowner there was no tradition of a castle at this location but there was a small cluster of houses and a mill in the fields beside the meeting point of the two rivers. This road appears to have led down to a crossing point over the Killengarriff River marked by a line of stepping stones still visible in the river. The medieval castle appears to have been located beside this crossing point.
Castle is depicted on the 1657 Down Survey map of Clonkeen parish as standing on the E bank of the Killeengarriff River (Slievemohera River) where it meets the Mulkear River (NLI, MS 718). Annotated 'Lismullane Castle' on the 1657 Down Survey barony map of Clanwilliam (Hib. Reg.). The barony map clearly shows that the a channel was cut between the two rivers creating an island on which the castle was located. According to the local landowner this area around the river is still known today as the island. Westropp (1906-7, 95) recorded the following details about Lismullane Castle; '1540 Sliocht Edmond Mac William held Lios Mothlán with Lodain beág. Maoilre Burk held Lios Mothlán beág (Rental). 1583 It was held by W. Bourke, Lysmollan C[astle]. (Des. R. 37), and in 1623 by Ric fitz Tho. Bourke (Inq. Chan. 50b). 1655 Lismollane or Lismulhane C[astle], shown as a low, battlemented tower on the Mulkeare (C.S. xxi., p. 41 D.S.A., 1, 3)'.
The terrier of the 1657 Down Survey parish map lists 'Water Bourke of Killownane, David Barry, Connor Clancy, Richard Bourke & Donough mcConnor' as the owners of 290 acres of land in Clonkeen which included the castle (ibid.). A cluster of dwellings are depicted at this location on the 1840 ed. OS 6-inch map. Reverend Seymour recorded that 'the site is not marked on the present maps ; but it stood where the Slievemohera River runs into the Mulkear, and built by the Bourkes' (1907, 369).

See attached Down Survey map of Clonkeen parish map showing Clonkeen Castle standing at the meeting point of two streams

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien and Matt Kelleher

Date of upload: 6 July 2017

References

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.

NLI, MS 718 - National Library of Ireland, Parish maps with terriers, showing forfeited lands in County Limerick, commonly known as the "Down Survey", executed under the direction of Sir William Petty, 1657, and copied by Daniel O'Brien, 1786.

Seymour, Rev. St. J. 1907 Abbey Owney, County Limerick. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 37, 165-80, 360-73.

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