Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

In level pasture, on the N shore of Templehouse Lake. A complex of ruined buildings (SL033-026001-; SL033-026003-; SL033-026004-) roughly arranged around a square area (L c. 40m). Judging by the appearance of the gate-tower (SL033-026003-) in the centre of the N side, the complex was turned into a tower house and bawn arrangement in the 15th/16th century with the 13th-century hall-house (SL033-026001-) converted into the main residential block. By the early 17th century a new residential block (SL033-026004-) was built in the SE corner of the bawn. In the 19th century when the nearby Templehouse country house was built (Bence-Jones 1988, 271) the complex was converted into a farmyard with servants' quarters. The only surviving section of the enclosing bawn wall (H c. 6m; T 1.65m) runs E (L c. 10m) from midway along the E wall of the gate-tower before turning at a right angle to the S (L c. 20m) where it eventually merges with the E wall of the 17th-century house. Midway along this latter section is a 19th-century archway; on the inside face of the keystone of this arch is a carved human head which is probably 15th/16th-century in date.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005).

Date of upload: 18 January 2008