Castle - Anglo-Norman masonry castle

The National Monuments Service's description

In pasture, prominently sited on a rocky knoll on a N–S ridge, with the steepest fall of ground to SW overlooking a broad sweep of undulating grassland.
A castle was built at Brees in the second half of the 13th-century castle by the Anglo-Norman Prendergasts, who later adopted the Irish name, MacMorris or MacMorys. In 1574 the castle was in the possession of Walter oge MacMorris, chief of the clan, who was succeeded by Richard Mac Morys. At the Composition of Connacht in 1585 Richard Mac Morys was granted title under English law to this castle and a large tract of land in the barony of Clanmorris, and in December of that year he transferred ownership to Francis Barkley, Marshal of the Connacht. Subsequently the property came into the possession of John Moore, whose title was confirmed by a patent of King James I in 1607. The property remained with the Moore family until the late19th century.
This greatly ruined castle consists of a sub-rectangular area (16m E–W; c. 24m N–S) enclosed by a ruined masonry wall which encompasses the rocky knoll.
The curtain wall is reduced to a low, sod-covered rubble bank on its inner face. Externally, the wall (H 2-3m) is built onto the scarped knoll slope, taking advantage of its steep slope. A short section of intact external wall face (H 2m) of roughly course limestone, incorporating remnants of a base batter (H 0.8m), can be seen at NNE, and another remnant is evident at S. But elsewhere around the circuit the curtain wall is robbed of its stone facing, exposing the rubble core. At the SE corner of the curtain wall, a slight projection of the wall is flanked at E by a broken block of masonry with traces of vaulting; these features may indicate the location of a gateway or entrance tower.
In the interior of the enclosure, there are traces of an E−W wall 5m S of the N curtain wall. A few meters S of this, the ephemeral outline of wall footings can also be traced for c. 3m extending SSE through the interior. These walls may preserve the outline of a rectangular building or hall (MA091-010001) built against curtain wall at E.
Large lumps of displaced masonry lie on the knoll slope to S and SW of the castle. Relict cultivation ridges, and areas of past quarrying, are evident on the slopes of the knoll and the surrounding ridge.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 7 February 2022