Castle - hall-house

The National Monuments Service's description

Kilfinny Castle and bawn (LI030-048001-) described in 1840 as follows; 'said to have been built in the reign of king John by Cormac Mac Eniry, one of the ancient chiefs of Corcomohid, whose principal seat was at Castletown Mac Eniry it was forfeited in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was beseiged by the Irish under Col. Purcell in 1641 It is said to have been last inhabited by Lady Dowdall. Its remains consist of 2 quadrilateral towers and a Court. The towers, standing, at the N. and S. ends of the Court, are roughly 20 ft. [6m] by 8½ ft. [2.6m], and contained 2 arched floors, over which were 2 other stories, 4 stories in all. The Court measures 32 ft. [9.75m] by 20 ft. [6m], and contains one arched floor, end over this 2 stories, 3 stories in all. Its walls are about 35 ft. [10.6m] high and 3½ ft. [1m] in thickness' (OSNB Kilfinny Parish, 949)

Castle described in the Ordnance Survey Letters as; 'The Castle of Kilfinny lies about a quarter of a mile south of the old Church and in the Townland of Kilfinny. It consists of two quadrangular towers and court. The tower which lies to the south measures twenty feet by eight and a half feet and contains two arched floors over which there are two other stories, in all four stories. It is about forty five feet high, the walls being three and a half feet in thickness. North of this tower and attached to it is the Court, which measures thirty two feet by twenty feet and contains one arched floor and over this two stories, in all three. Its walls are about thirty five feet high and three and a half feet in thickness. At the north end of the Court there is another quadrangular tower similar to that on the south. These towers contain pointed windows and loop holes. The Castle of Kilfinny is said to have belonged to the family of Mac Eniry, the ancient Chiefs of Corcomohid whose principal seat was at Castletown Mc Eniry' (O'Flanagan 1929, 45). The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick recorded that LT. Coll. William Piggott was the owner of Kilfinny which contained 'a castle an orchard and a mill seate [LI030-043/-45----]' (Simington 1938, 289). Fortified house type castle depicted on the 1657 Down Survey map of Connello Barony (Hib. Reg.).

Westropp (1906-7, 221-2) recorded the following details about Kilfinny Castle; '1201 Kellnafidnaigi (B.B.L., p. 14). 1289 T. Bretnach deprived of Kylnafytheny, but reinstated (Plea R., 13); 1336 Kylfynygy; 1418 Kylnafynygy. In 1569 Kilfenny C[astle]. surrendered (C.S.P.L). 1583 Ger. f. Tho., when he rebelled with Desmond, held C[astle]. "gardin; hort; pomar; edif; et molend," in parish of Ballynekylley, much wasted and ruined (Des. R., 70b; Peyton, 240b; Inq. Exch., 11). 1588 Granted to Billingsley (F. 5171). 1604 Put in settlement by Sir J. Dowdall to secure jointure to his wife Eliz., daughter of Sir T. Southwell (Exch. Deeds, P.R.O.I., 15, p. 22). 1615 The Bishop claimed it, but it was retained by Billingsley. 1623 Will of Sir J. Dowdall (Exch. Deeds, p. 46), Jan., 1642. The C[astle]. was besieged by the Confederates under Edy Lacy, of Bruree, who laid an ambuscade, but was driven off by ten "mosceters" on a windmill. Gen. Purcell next arrived, who took the mill and barns, whence he was driven, and the buildings were burned in a sally, 8th and 9th. Ric. Stephenson, the sheriff, next assailed the C[astle]. and was shot. An attempt was made to capture it by "sows," but they were pierced through. It was then so loosely blockaded that Lady Dowdall relieved Croom five times from it. The surrender of Limerick C[astle]. gave heavy guns to the Confederates, so that Purcell, with a great force, assailed Kilfinny. After three shots Lady Dowdall surrendered, and was brought off safely by Lord Inchiquin (Hist. Irish Confeds. ii., p. 69, Deps. 138, 376). 1655 Killfinie C[astle]. orchard, and mill seat held by Gerott FitzGarrold (C.S., p. 46). 1683 Gertrude, wife of J. Piggott and dau. of Sir T. Southwell, was buried at Kilfinny, and a monument erected in 1718 (FitzGerald i., p. 383).
Fabric - A court and two towers, the southern 20 feet by 8 feet inside; walls 3½ feet thick and 45 feet high, with two vaulted and two upper stories. The court is 32 feet by 20 feet, with three stories; the lower vaulted. The north tower has pointed windows and loops. It is traditionally a McEniry Castle (O.S.L., 8, p. 130)'.

Castle classified by Donnelly (1999, 22, 37) as a Type 3 Tower House which are; 'irregular tower houses, each of which had its own particular and unique floor plan that differed significantly in form from those recorded elsewhere in the county'.

Kilfinny Castle described by Salter (2004, 86) as follows; 'This MacEniry castle was granted to the Billingsleys in 1588. Lady Dowdall was here besieged for forty weeks by Eady Lacy for the Confederate Irish in 1641 . It has a bawn with flankers 4.2m square on the east corners. A 17th century range adjoins the SE flanker. On the west side is a 13th century hall house measuring 16.8m by 8.2m wide over walls 1m thick above a battered base and probably originally having an upper storey hall with a chamber at the north end, where there is straight service stair in a thick end wall. This part was later divided off by an inserted crosswall and built up as a tower with the second level vaulted whilst the hall was given a solid floor over two vaults supported on a longitudinal crosswall and some sort of porch was added at the south end'.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 9 December 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.

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1929 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Limerick collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1841. Bray

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.

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.

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.