House - fortified house

The National Monuments Service's description

Cree [Crea] castle is depicted on the 1655-57 Down Survey map of Ballybritt barony as a tower house type fortification with an angle tower (NLI, MS 716). On this map the castle is shown located near the northern edge of the townland border between Cree and Coolnagrower. The faintest traces of low earthworks in a field are all that survive of this seventeenth century house known as Cree Castle. The upstanding remains of the castle were levelled by the landowner in the early 1980s and only a few humps and bumps mark the site of this levelled castle. This castle is the building within the townland of Cree that is mentioned in the 17th century (Loeber 1988, 73-4).

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.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 28 April 2014

References

NLI, MS 716 - National Library of Ireland, The parish maps of the Down Survey, of Offaly attested by W. Petty, in 1657. Copied by Daniel O'Brien. A set of 33 maps with accompanying terriers in two volumes, 1786-7. Dublin.

Loeber, R. 1988 Field notes and references for Co. Offaly Sites. Vol. I-V. Unpublished.