Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Westropp (1906-7, 168) recorded the following details about Tullovin Castle, Sheela-na-gig (LI031-048001-) and bawn (LI031-048002-); '1586 Tuloven C[astle]. in Cosmaye (C.S.P.I., p. 238). 1587 Pardon of Ric. Leas of Toolaobhin. 1600 Pardon of Edm. Leos, of Tullevine, and J. Leos, of Dollagh (Fi. 5006 and 6452). 1606 The same Edm. died, succeeded in C[astle]. by his son Jas., aged 30, in 1636 (Inq. Chan., 161). 1621 Sir W. Parsons was granted Tullavin C[astle]. late estate of Jas. Leo (Pat.). 1637 E. Leo held Tullaghfin (Inq. Chan., 190). 1655 Tullovyne C[astle]., bawn, stone-house, orchard, and two mills, late estate of Jas. Leo (C.S., xxiv., p. 29; B.D., p. 72). 1666 Granted to Cha. Ormsby (Act Sett.). Fabric. - A typical peel tower, with the usual window-slits, probably of late fifteenth century. Carving of a sheelanagig [LI031-048001-] on the outer wall'. The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick recorded that Edmund Leo of Tullovyne, an Irish Papist, was the owner of 'a castle, bawne stone house, an orchard with two mills [LI030-130---]' (Simington 1938, 139).
House like castle and watermill depicted on the 17th century Down Survey map of Coshma Barony (Hib. Reg.). Classified by Donnelly (1999, 22, 37) as a Type 1A tower house which consists of a castle where the; 'ground floor entrance to the building leads to an entrance lobby. To one side of the entrance lobby is a doorway leading to a spiral staircase set in a corner of the building. To the other side is a doorway leading into a small chamber - the subsidiary chamber. The entrance lobby provides a direct route of access through to the main chamber.'
Tullovin Castle described by Salter (2004, 97) as 'This building with finely worked openings and a sheela-na-gig on the SE corner is only the end wall of an intended tower. Measuring 9.6m by 5.4m, it contains a spiral staircase and two levels of chambers over an entrance passage flanked by a guardroom. Off the passage from the stair to the third storey of the never constructed main part of the tower is a doorway to a latrine in the south wall. The property passed in the early 17th century from the Leos family to the Parsons family'.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 10 December 2020

References

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

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

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.

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.