Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Located in low-lying natural hollow in upland area. Only the W and S walls with portion of the N wall of bawn survives. Tower house was located in NE corner of bawn (OF042-010002-) where only a pile of rubble survives. Modern sheds abutted against the E side of the bawn. The bawn consists of a rectangular shaped area (int. dims. 56m N-S; 61m E-W approx.; wall T 0.7m) with two surviving circular angle towers at SW and NW angles. The angle towers (int. diam. 2.85m: wall T 0.8m) were two storeys high and accessed externally from the bawn area at each level similar to the angle towers at Kilcolgan castle (OF015-011----). Evidence of gun loops were visible on both towers and bawn wall. The interior of the bawn was accessed through a large segmental arched entrance at the centre of the S wall. From the entrance a stone walled avenue (Wth 3m) running N-S divided the bawn into two areas. The tower house was located in the E half with the domestic quarters located in the W half. The remains of a small square house bonded to the N end of the W wall (int. dims. 4.6m by 4.6m; wall T 0.55m) is probably contemporary with the bawn and fortified house. Other outhouses of a later period are attached to the N wall of the bawn. All the surviving evidence points to a tower house with large bawn wall with circular flanking towers erected in the 17th-century. Kilcolgan castle (OF015-011----) in North Offaly is very similar to the above remains.

Archaeological monitoring of the excavation of wall foundations for a proposed new extension to an existing dwelling house immediately to the N of the castle was undertaken by Dominc Delany under licence no. 03E0527. No archaeological material was discovered during monitoring. (Delany, D. 2003, Archaeological Monitoring at Ballyknockan, Co. Offaly. Unpublished excavation report)

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