Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on high ground in an upland area with extensive views. Described in the Civil Survey (1654-6) as a 'castle with a Barbicon and five thacht Tennements' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 140). Several landowners are listed as proprietors, including 'Mortagh O Bryen of Kilcolman gt.[,]John O Hogan of Curraghtemple gt.[,]Donogh O Hogan of the same gt. & Donogh O Hogan of Bellarussion gt. all Irish Papists' (ibid.). Present remains consist of an ivy-covered tower house (ext. dims. 7.75m N-S; 5.85m E-W; wall T 0.95m) surviving four storeys high built with roughly coursed sandstone rubble and slight base-batter. The N, S and W walls survive with no evidence of the E wall. The site is located in the NW angle of a nineteenth-century courtyard with a big house immediately to the E. Externally the walls are rendered with good evidence of whitewashed internal surfaces. A single-light flat-headed window with chamfered sandstone jambs is visible at the centre of the N and S walls at ground-floor level. Both windows are set into flat-headed lintelled embrasures with wicker centring. There is evidence of a destroyed barrel vault over the second floor with evidence of joist-holes for a wooden floor at other levels. A possible bawn wall (TN020-044003-) is attached to the SE and NE angles with later nineteenth-century alterations visible. A natural spring well (TN020-044002-), enclosed by a drystone wall, known as 'the Castle Well' is located to the N of the tower house. The OS Letters describe the tower as standing to its full height with timber and slate roof with nineteenth-century alterations to wall-walk which is now destroyed. They also mention the presence of a blocked-up main doorway at the centre of the W wall with a machicolation directly over at wall-walk level (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 3, 13-14). Drain-holes with accompanying drip-stones project from the top of the tower. A flat-headed and a pointed doorway were inserted in the N wall at ground and first-floor level respectively.

The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

References

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1934 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. II: county of Tipperary - Western and Northern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

O'Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1930 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Tipperary collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1840. Bray.