Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Ballyallinan (Baile Uí Áilíonáin/the town of Ó hÁilíonáin) Castle was described in 1840 as following;'The Castle of Ballyallinan stands in ruins in the Townland of this name on a rising ground in the middle of a large plain and about three miles to the southwest of Rathkeale Town. It measures thirty five feet [10.65m] by sixteen feet eleven inches [5.15m]; has five floors, the two above the ground one arched underneath. The walls are fifty five feet [16.75m] high and seven feet [2.1m] thick and lost part of their original height. is said it belonged to the Earls of Desmond' (OSL Rathkeale Parish, 63). Fitzgerald (1826, 357) recorded that 'Ballyalinan Castle, situated on the east bank of the River Deel, built by the O'Hallinans. In the year 1600 Dermod O' Conor having in concert with Sir George Carew treacherously seized on James Fitzgerald, the pretending Earl of Desmond, and having conveyed him together with Thomas Oge of Kerry and two brothers of the Sheehys prisoners to Castleishen, took Ballyallinan Castle from Rory Mc Sheehy (Mac Sheehy) father of the two brothers above mentioned, and there settled himself'. The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick recorded that Ellen Butler, an Irish Papist of Ballyallinan was the owner of the lands of Ballyallinan which contained 'a Castle an orchard and a grist mill [LI029-156----]. Extended to Lt. John Odell by order of the p[ro]vinciall Courte for ye sum of £85 ster[lin]g. And Symon Stilles pretends some interest into it' (Simington 1938, 300).
Westropp (1906-7, 215-16) recorded the following details on Ballyallinan; ‘It is said to have been built on the Deel by the O'Hallinans (Fitz Gerald, i., p. 357). 1282 Suit whether Peter de Lexynton dowered his wife with land at Ballilathnan. 1569 Balleallenay C[astle]. surrendered to English (C.S.P.L). 1580 Eugene mac Edm. oge Shehie held it when slain in rebellion; Rorie mac Shihy was pardoned; and J. Wolf enfeoffed him in Ballywinterywork. Shehy's wife, Johanna Bourke, is named, and their son Morgho, who succeeded in 1591 (Inq. Exch., 16, p. 285; Inq. Chan., Car. I., 66; Fi. 3842; Des. R., 30b). 1600 Dermond O'Conor went to Rory Mac Shihy, at Ballyallinan, after his capture of the Sugan Earl; the latter's followers besieged O'Connor, and forced him to surrender (Pac. Hib. i., pp. 99-103). 1604 Granted to Sir H. Brounker (Inq. Chan., 66). 1655 Held by Elen Butler (C.S., p. 59). 1675 Part confirmed to Roger Dawges (Act Sett.)'. Ballyallinan Castle classified by Donnelly as a Type 5 Tower House which consists of castles with rectangular floor plans 'each of which is unique to an individual site, though each building had architectural features which placed them firmly within the Irish Gothic tower house tradition' (Donnelly 1999, 22, 37).
The castle was described by Salter (2004, 62) as following; 'There are vaults over the second and fourth levels of this tower measuring 13m by 9.3m and the fifth storey has rooms in bartizans on the east and west corners. Reached from the altered entrance facing NW, a spiral stair in the north corner still rises as far up at the third storey, which has remains of three windows and a fireplace on the NW side. The NE wall contains a tier of vaulted rooms over a deep recess at ground level. Named after the original O'Hallinan owners, the castle was surrendered to the English in 1569. It was later held by the MacSheehy family, originally mercenaries serving the Desmonds'.

Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 13 November 2020

References

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.

OSL - Ordnance Survey Letters. Letters written by members of the Ordnance Survey's 'Topographical Department' (T. O'Conor, A. O'Curry, E. Curry, J. O'Donovan and P. O'Keeffe) sent to headquarters from the field (1834-41). MSS in Royal Irish Academy.

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.

Fitzgerald, P. 1826-7 The history, topography, and antiquities of the county and city of Limerick. 2 vols. Dublin.