Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

Locally known as the 'Black Castle' (TN041-042001-), this 15th century tower house was also known as 'Thurles Castle' and stood 35m S of the 12th century Anglo-Norman motte castle (TN041-042004-) as depicted on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map. The Mac Richard Butler family resided in the tower house which they built around the year 1453 (O’Donovan 1856, 1170-1). The castle stands today surrounded by buildings on the W side of Liberty Square in the medieval town of Thurles (TN041-042----). 'Black Castle' stands to the W of the houses fronting onto Parnell Street/Liberty Square and N of the houses fronting onto West Gate Street. The town car park is located 35m N of the castle.
The tower house (TN041-042001-) stood inside a bawn or courtyard defended by a stone wall with angle towers and accessed through a gateway. It is not clear if the bawn now mainly levelled is contemporaneous with the castle or if it was a later addition. The castle and bawn is mentioned in the Civil Survey of 1654-6 where the building is described as 'a faire house wherein the Lady of Thurles liveth with a castle and severall Turrets upon the Bawne' (Simington 1931, 53). 'James Earle of Ormond' and 'Elyzabeth Lady Viscountess Dowager of Thurles' are listed as proprietors of the castle in 1640 (ibid.). In the late 18th century the castle was described as following; 'it was strongly garrisoned in the civil war (1641-53), but was taken and demolished by the Parliament's forces; since which it has gone to decay; however enough remains to shew it was formerly a place of considerable strength' (Grose 1791, 70).
Only fragmentary remains of the bawn survive, the N wall of which was levelled in recent years. These include a section of the bawn wall, which would have joined onto the W wall of the tower house near the SW angle, with the remains of a wall-walk. N of the tower house there is another portion of the bawn wall with the remains of a bartizan. A seventeenth-century house (TN041-042017-) may have been constructed against the W face of the tower house where only the tie stones for such a structure survive.

See attached 18th century drawing by John James Barralet of 'Thurles Castle' showing the entrance gate of the bawn wall with flanking towers on either side of the entrance, taken from The Antiquities of Ireland (Grose 1791).

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly and Hugh Carey

Revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 10 August 2018

References

O'Donovan, J. (ed. and trans.) 1856 Annals of the kingdom of Ireland, by the four masters, from the earliest period to the year 1616. Dublin. Hodges, Smith and Co.

Grose, F. 1791 The antiquities of Ireland, 2 vols. London. S. Hooper.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1931 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol I: county of Tipperary: eastern and southern baronies. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.