Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

On high ground, on the summit of a hill in undulating pastureland. There is a large pond directly outside the W end of the N wall of the bawn. The Civil Survey (1654-6) refers to ‘Shanballyduffe Castle & Court’ and describes it as ‘a good Castle with a slate house within a Bawne thereof alsoe an oarchard’ being in the proprietorship of Pierce Butler in 1640 (Simington 1931, vol.1, 158, 240). A four-storey tower house (ext. dims. 9.15m N–S; 12.03m E–W) built on top of a rock outcrop, constructed of limestone rubble, roughly coursed, with a base-batter (H 2.3m; Wth 0.15m). There is double lobby entrance along the E wall with vaulted mural chambers on the floor levels above this. The main chambers were carried on wooden floors, the beam-holes for which are evident in the N and S walls. Possibly in the 19th century the ground in front of the tower house appears to have been quarried, with bedrock exposed (H 2m), and 7 stone steps were built to give access to the pointed doorway N of centre in the E wall. Above the doorway there is a roughly square recess for an armorial plaque/datestone, but the plaque is missing. At the same level as this recess, extending horizontally both N and S, are seven large put-log holes, probably for a later building once built against this face but which no longer survives. It has well-cut limestone quoins and there is evidence of external harling, particularly on the S face. The parapet does not survive but there is a water spout at the W end of the S wall. There appears to have been a bartizan, now gone, on the SW angle at parapet level. A single-storey shed has been built up against the W end of the S wall and this section of the wall has been plastered, though the single-light window is still visible. The interior of the tower house has some scrub growing in the ground-floor chamber and there is heavy ivy growth on the N and W walls. The tower house was entered through a pointed doorway in the E wall with a yett-hole at the apex of the doorway and was protected by a gun-loop immediately S of the doorway, the loop being accessed via a splaying embrasure in the second lobby. The entrance lobby is protected by a small murder-hole and there is a guardroom immediately to the N. It appears that directly opposite the main doorway there was a wall, possibly containing a defensive loop, this is now completely broken out. From the entrance lobby there is pointed doorway to the S giving access to a second lobby from which the main ground-floor chamber was accessed via a pointed doorway in the W wall of this lobby. This lobby, which unusually has a wall cupboard, also gives access to the spiral stairs which rises in the SE angle of the tower house. The tower house was lit by round-headed loops at ground-floor level and by flat-headed single, double or triple-lights at the upper levels, all with external chamfers, and the larger windows have hood-mouldings. The upper floor windows also have gun-loop embrasures in all the window embrasures. There is no apparent garderobe in the tower house, however, a narrow mural chamber at the E end of the S wall at third-floor level may be a transitional latrine, perhaps containing a chamber pot rather than a garderobe. Two chamfered door jambs have been reused as fireplace surrounds in the 18th-century house which is located 45m to the ESE. The tower house was surrounded by a bawn (TS060-114002-), the N, S and W walls of which are largely intact.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 24 November 2011

References

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