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Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland

Castle - motte and bailey

Gortkelly, County Tipperary North, Ireland

Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915) covering the location of Castle - motte and bailey, Gortkelly, County Tipperary North, with a pin at the register's coordinates
Ordnance Survey six-inch map, 2nd edition (1888–1915), covering this location. Courtesy of the National Library of Scotland. The pin is ours, placed from the register's coordinates.

The record

Townland
Gortkelly
County
Tipperary North
Country
Ireland
First-edition OS map
NULL
Latest-edition OS map
Hachured
Coordinates
52.69808, -7.97407
SMR number
TN040-013002-

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

4 historical maps cover this location, the earliest the 1790 map "Composite: Ireland." (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).

Historical maps covering this location

  • 1790 · Composite: Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1869 · Ireland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1891 · Ireland 16 (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
  • 1904 · Sheet 13. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

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This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on a natural ridge which is scarped steeply along the E side of the site overlooking a river valley in an upland area. Described in the Civil Survey 1654-6 as an 'old decayed castle called Gortkelly' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 124). A motte and bailey with the remains of a castle (TN040-013001) surmounting the motte. A circular flat-topped mound (top diam. 23m N-S; 19.4m E-W; base diam. c. 26m N-S; c. 21m E-W; H 3.4m) with evidence of stone walling along the W edge and stone revetting on the sides of the motte. The E edge of the site is formed by a steep natural scarp. The NE portion of the motte is lowest above the exterior, being only 1.73m above the bailey. A roughly triangular bailey area to the NW of the motte is enclosed by a broad flat-topped bank (Wth 3m; int. H 0.85m; ext. H 1.72m). An external fosse (Wth 3.4m; D 1.1m) is only evident in the SW quadrant. A modern gap (Wth c. 3m) was cut through the bank of the bailey c. 2 years ago according to the landowner. The W side of the bailey is overlooked by an opposing ridge. There is a possible original entrance at the apex of the triangular-shaped bailey.

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

Nearby in the register

Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.

Sites and Monuments Record data: National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Record text is reproduced unchanged. National Monuments Service, Government of Ireland · CC BY 4.0
All Castle - motte and bailey in Tipperary North All County Tipperary North records All Ireland Heritage registers Historical markers (US)National Register of Historic Places (US)
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