Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

On the N side of Golden bridge where it crosses a small island in the middle of the River Suir, at the SW end of the village. The present tower house was erected in the late 15th/early 16th century, probably as a Butler stronghold to guard the pass over the River Suir. Barry (1977, 147) suggests that an earlier 12th-14th century stone castle may have occupied this location, however, archaeological excavations in 2003 and 2004 revealed the walls of a substantial 13th/14th building (TS060-097014-) 100m to the E, immediately S of the bridge, which is probably the early castle (Moran 2006, 466-7; 2007, 410). The Civil Survey (1654-6) lists ‘James Earle of Ormond’ as proprietor of ‘Goulden’ in 1640 and describes ‘Upon this lands stands a castle with a bridge uppon a pass’ (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 7). During the Rising of 1641 over 120 men, women and children were beseiged in the tower house for 11 weeks (TCD, 1641 Depositions).
This is a four storey circular tower house (int. diam. 6.2m; wall T 1.85m) composed of roughly coursed limestone rubble. The tower house was still intact in 1840, the OS Letters describing it as ‘a round castle or tower about sixteen feet [4.87m] in diameter on the inside and one hundred feet [30.48m] in circumference at the base on the outside. It is about fifty feet [15.24m] high and had three floors, the uppermost of which rested on a stone arch still remaining’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 83 (221). Currently only the eastern half survives, including the ground to first-floor spiral stairs and portions of the second and third floors. The ground floor appears to have been vaulted. There are two cut-limestone circular gun-ports facing E and SE respectively, one of which looks out from the stairwell, and two arrow loops facing E and NE. There is a single-light ogee-headed window at third-floor level. The base of the parapet is defined by a string-course with drainage holes above.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 18 February 2013

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.

Moran, J. 2006 Hoops' Lot, Golden: Urban medieval/post-medieval. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2003: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 466-7. Bray. Wordwell.

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.

Moran, J. 2007 Hoop's Lot, Golden: Urban medieval. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2001: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 410. Bray. Wordwell.

Barry, T.B. 1977 Medieval moated sites of south-eastern Ireland. British Archaeological Reports, British Series 35. Oxford.