Castle - motte and bailey

The National Monuments Service's description

On a height in generally low-lying, gently undulating pasture, with panoramic views in all directions. According to the Annals of the Four Masters the motte at Kilfeakle was erected in 1192 by the ‘English of Leinster’ during a campaign against Donall O’Brien (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 2, 105 (288)). The Annals of Innisfallen also record how, four years later, in 1196, Donall More of Curra (Donald MacCarthy of Desmond (Empey 1985, 77)) ‘destroyed the Castle of Cill-Fiacal on the English, where a great many of them were slain, and brought away with him two of their chieftains prisoners’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 2, 106 (290)). According to the Civil Survey (1654-56) in 1640 ‘Killfiekill’ was under the proprietorship of The Countess of Ormond and ‘Uppon these lands stands a castle uppon a Morte [Motte] Irepayrable’, also described as ‘the Brocken castle of Killfeikill’ (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 24). A large steep-sided motte (H 12.15m; Wth c. 50), the summit of which consists of a sub-oval area (dims. 15m N-S; 10m E-W). The N and S-SSW sides are the best preserved and most accessible, the other sides being densely overgrown with briars and thorn trees. The motte is less steep at the N where it was used to access the summit, via a causeway between it and the bailey. The causeway has a well-preserved portion of walling (H 2.05m; L 4.7m N-S) which tapers towards the top (T at base 1.8m; T at top 0.7m). There is a gap (Wth 11m) where the wall is absent at the base of the N scarp. Beyond the gap, a portion of sod-covered wall (H 1.1m; Wth at base 1.8m; Wth at top 0.75m; L 5.75m) extends N-S up the scarp. This wall appears to be that described by Lyons (1950, 263-266). A low bank (Wth 4.05m; int. H 0.15m; ext. H 1.5m) SE-SSW, is probably the 'outer rampart' described by Lyons (ibid), possibly preserved under dense briars SE-SSW where the base of the scarp appears to level off. The summit consists of a generally level platform covered by long, dense grass, with a concrete trigonometric point in the NW quadrant. The outer ramparts around the western arc are disturbed by farming activities. A field boundary which ran NW-SE immediately to the SW has been removed. The bailey adjoining to the N consists of an irregular shaped area (dims. 25m N-S; 34m E-W) defined by steep scarp (Wth 10.9m; H 7.9m) from W-N-E, though largely obscured by dense briars and thorn trees. The base of the scarp is truncated by the boundary of a property to the WNW and by the church wall to the N. The monument is irregular along the S side due to modern excavations to the E and W of the causeway. Substantial excavation to the W of the causeway has left a small area (dims. 6m N-S; 9.5m E-W) of bailey projecting at the W. The remains of a possible ramp extends from this wall into the interior of the bailey. This access ramp is gentle and poorly defined due to modern excavations on either side. The interior has a gentle S-facing slope and the surface is uneven with shallow undulations and a shallow depression within to the NW. There is a slightly raised, semi-circular area abutting the edge of the main scarp at the NE. This area is depicted on the 1840 OS 6-inch map as a circular area (dims. c. 42m E-W; c. 38m N-S) and on the 1904 ed. as a sub-rectangular area (dims. c. 40m E-W; c. 25m N-S), c. 15m to the N of the motte.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 22 October 2013

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 79/1939).

References

Lyons, P. 1950 Kilfeakle and Knockgraffon motes, Co. Tipperary. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 80, 263-66.

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.

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

Empey, C.A. 1985 The Norman period, 1185-1500. In Nolan, W. (ed.), Tipperary: History and Society, 71-91. Dublin. Geography Publications.