Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

In a strategic position on top of a massive rock outcrop overlooking the River Suir to the S. According to the annals King John erected a castle at Ardfinnan in 1185 (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 27-8), this was probably when the land was granted to 'Philip of Worcester [who] was certainly in possession of Offa (alias Ardfinnan) at an early stage of the conquest, for he granted a fief there to Gerald fitz Maurice' (Empey 1981, 8, 10). The 13th-century keep (TS088-001001-) is located in the NE angle of the bawn and a towerhouse (TS088-001009-) was built onto the SE angle in the 15th century. The castle was beseiged during the Cromwellian wars in the mid-17th century (Killanin and Duignan 1967, 66). The Civil Survey (1654-6) in relation to 'The Mannor & castle of Ardfynane' in 1640, lists the Bishop of Waterford and Lismore as the proprietor and 'Richard Butler of Ardfinane' as 'Lessee' and states that 'Upon the s[ad]d lands stands a castle & the walls of a castle, ye walls of a stone house & a bawne' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 410). The bawn is composed of limestone rubble roughly coursed, with an external base-batter. It formerly enclosed a rectangular area, however, only the S length which runs alongs the precipitous edge of the outcrop, a small portion of the SW angle and the E wall (L 25.15m) survive. A gateway (Wth 3.09m) is located in the E wall near the keep in the NE angle, it is possibly an 18th/19th century insertion, though the voussoirs on the W face are thin, rough limestone blocks set on edge which may indicate a pre-18th century date.

Compiled by: Jean Farrelly

Date of upload: 26 November 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.

Farrelly, J. and FitzPatrick, E. 1993 Urban archaeological survey - county Tipperary (South Riding) (2 vols.). Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

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.

Empey, C.A. 1981 The settlement of the Kingdom of Limerick. In J. Lydon (ed.), England and Ireland in the Later Middle Ages 1-25. Dublin. Irish Academic Press.

Killanin, M.M. and Duignan, M.V. 1962 Shell Guide to Ireland. London. Ebury Press.