Gatehouse

The National Monuments Service's description

National Monument subject to a preservation order placed on the monument in 1976. Impressive castle known as 'Black Castle' standing on the E shoreline of Lough Gur at the base of Knockadoon Hill with Lough Gur Castle (Bourchier's Castle) (LI032-022034-) 550m to N and New Church (LI032-024001-) 510m to SSW. The castle stands on the E shoreline of Lough Gur with marshy land to W which prior to drainage works carried out in the 18th century formed part of the lake leaving the access to the castle via stone built causeway (L. 132m; Wth 6.7m; H 2.3-3m) which gave access to the S side of Knockadoon.
Access onto the stone causeway was protected by a square-shaped castellated gateway now levelled located 120m S of the curtain wall (LI032-031003-) of Black Castle (LI032-031----). This structure is marked as 'Gateway (Site of) on the revised OS 6-inch map. It is not clear if a modern bungalow is built on the site of the gatehouse or if the gatehouse was located a few metres to the S of the bungalow.
The foundations of this levelled gatehouse and stone causeway was described by Fitzgerald in the early 19th century as following; ‘The foundations of this castellated gateway are quite visible, and are 23½ feet [7.1m] square’ (Lynch 1895, 246).
The stone causeway ran N from the gatehouse traversing the waters of Lough Gur running up to a second gatehouse projecting from the curtain wall of Black Castle. Roughly midway along the stone causeway there is a deep water-filled ditch (approx. L 440m) running roughly E-W from the E shoreline of Lough Gur into the W side of the Balie Islands as depicted on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map. This drainage ditch appears to have been excavated by Henry Baylee of Lough Gur Castle in the 18th century in his attempt to lower the water levels on Lough Gur (Lenihan 1866, 725).
A drawing of the castle by Thomas Dineley dating from around 1680 shows the tower of the castle and a castellated gatehouse at the N and S ends of the stone causeway with no evidence for any angle towers on the curtain wall of the castle (Shirley et. al. 1867, 195). On this illustration a castellated gateway is depicted at the S end of the causeway now levelled. Dineley described this causeway as 'The long bridge wth Drawbridges'.
According to Lewis Black Castle was constructed in the 14th century by John Fitzgerald (Lewis 1837). Lynch suggested the possibility that Black Castle was built in the 13th century by Geoffrey de Marisco who in the year 1212 was granted the manor of Aney/Knockainey (Lynch 1895, 247).

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 34/1976).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 3 October 2018

References

Lynch, J. F. 1895 Lough Gur. Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society 1, 241-258, 289-302.

Shirley, E.P., Dineley, T., O'Brien, R. and Graves, J. 1858-67 Extracts from the Journal of Thomas Dineley, Esquire, giving some account of his visit to Ireland in the reign of Charles II. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 6, 73-91, 176-204, 289-90.

Lewis, S. 1837 A topographical dictionary of Ireland, 2 vols. London. Lewis and Co.

Lenihan, M. 1866 Limerick: its history and antiquities.