Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

A castle at Tulsk was built in 1406 by O'Conor Rua, but it was burnt in 1407 by Brian O'Conor and the Clann Donnchada. In 1426 it was captured by Ruarai O'Conor from Cathal Dubh O'Conor, but in 1430 it was recaptured by O'Conor Rua. The castle was destroyed by Ulick Og Burke in 1485 and in 1490 O'Donnell failed to capture it, but it fell to the Earl of Kildare in 1499. Possession was disputed by O'Conor Rua and MacDermot in 1511, 1561 and 1577, by which time it was probably derelict. (Bradley and Dunne 1988, 114; Gormely 1989, 33-5; O'Conor 2007, 196)

It is situated on a rise on the SE bank of a SW-NE section of the Ogulla River, on the E edge of the mound of rath (RO022-114003-). Remote sensing surveys in 2003 revealed anomalies suggesting stonework on the E part of the mound. Excavation (04E0850) beginning in 2004 exposed the base of a rectangular tower, probably a tower house (ext. dim. c. 20m NNW-SSE; c. 10m ENE-WSW) with strong walls (at SW: Wth 1.8m) on a wide foundation (Wth c. 3m). It has a rounded corner at NE and a base-batter, and is straddling the E side of the mound. The tower is divided into a small N room and larger S room, which itself is divided into two, and there is no clear evidence of an external doorway. There is a garderobe chute in the E wall, and subsequently a building (dims c. 15m E-W; c. 9m N-S) was added to the E of the tower over the in-filled fosse (Brady 2009, 23-4). Further excavation in 2005 and 2006 removed the late 16th century layers post-dating the destruction of the castle, including a small oval feature, probably a late house-site or shelter (RO022-114012-) (dims c. 7m E-W; c. 4m N-S) at the N edge of the mound, associated with the re-use of the site by Bingham in the 1590s (Brady 2011, 309-310). During 2007 disturbed contexts containing early medieval material from the W edge of the rath were recovered including ring-brooches, glass beads and bone pins dating from the 10th-11th century. These layers may have been truncated at E by a large fosse surrounding the castle, but some of the rath bank is preserved within the foundations of the castle.
The castle (RO022-114001-) is c. 60m to the NW on the other side of the stream and the Dominican priory (RO022-114006-) with the Bingham tower house (RO022-1140009-) are c. 110m to the SW. Fulachta fia (RO022-115----; RO022-116----) are c. 120m to the NE and c. 80m to the ENE respectively. (Knox 1911, 225-8; Brady 2003; Brady and Gibson 2005; Brady 2007; 2009a; 2011)

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 21st June, 2011

References

Brady, N. 2003 Medieval settlement focus moves to county Roscommon. Journal of the County Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society 9, 65-6.

Brady, N. 2009 When mounds become castles: a case for the later usage of early medieval sites. In C. Corlett and M. Potterton (eds.), Rural settlement in medievel Ireland in the light of recent archaeological excavation, 19-26. Dublin. Wordwell.

Brady, N. 2011 Tulsk: raised ringfort; medieval. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2009: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 186-8, No. 716. Dublin. Wordwell.

Brady, N. 2009a Tulsk: Earthwork. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2006: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 465-7, No. 1758. Dublin. Wordwell.

Brady, N. 2007 Tulsk: Earthwork. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2004: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 382-3, No. 1484. Dublin. Wordwell.

Brady, N. 2011 Tulsk: raised ringfort; medieval. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2008: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 309–10. Dublin. Wordwell.

Knox, H.T. 1911 The Croghans and Some Connacht Raths and Cashels. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 41, 93-116, 205-40, 301-42.

Bradley, J. and Dunne, N. 1988a Urban archaeological survey - county Roscommon. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Gormley, M. (compiler) 1989 Tulsk parish in historic Maigh Aí. Aspects of its history and folklore. Author

O'Conor, K. 2007 English settlement and change in Roscommon during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. in Horning, A., Ó Baoill, R., Donnelly, C., Logue, P. (eds) The Post Medieval Archaeology of Ireland 1550-1850, 189-203.