House - fortified house

The National Monuments Service's description

Not visible at ground level. S gable and part of W wall with projecting tower on SW angle with ground floor musket loops on S and W faces. Gable wall had small rectangular windows with wooden frames at ground and first floor level (ITA Survey 1942) Possible 17th-century fortified house.
Described in the ITA Survey as 'There survives the S. gable and part of the W wall of the castle, with a projecting tower on the S.W. of the S wall the gable survives to c. 35 ft high. The S wall is 2ft 7 ins thick, and the length from the S.E. corner to end of tower 14 ft 9 in ext. The tower projecting 3 feet ft 6 in from S and W walls, length of its S wall 13 ft 6 in. There are ground floor loopholes in it the S and W walls; these slits are 2 inches wide and about 1 foot 5 inches high. The gable wall is built of rough stones well plastered inside and roughcast outside. There are small rect. Windows with wooden frames, the marks of the wood being visible on the roughcast; the lintels are wood outside and brick inside. There are two such windows in the S wall (excl. tower) on ground and first floors. The west wall survives to a height of about 5'. The E and N walls have been removed, save for a corner of the modern house, which is part of the E wall probably near the N.E. corner. There may however have been a tower beyond it. The length of the castle was thus over 33' . To the east of the castle are mortared field walls and perhaps traces of a baun (OF016-034003-). The present house is over 50 years old. The castle is apparently the house marked in the 1835 OS 6-inch map. as 'Roscore House in Ruins'. It seems to be XVII-century' (ITA Survey 1942).

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload: 23 May 2011

References

Irish Tourist Association. Surveys undertaken in the 1940s for the Irish Tourist Association (now Fáilte Ireland) relating to ‘Natural features, antiquities, historic associations etc.' Extracts from these surveys were copied into the Topographical files of the Office of Public Works and these have been incorporated into the Sites and Monuments Record files (National Monuments Service).