Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Located at the bottom of a gentle S-facing slope. Thought to have been built by the Shanahan family, this tower house was owned by Richard Nugent in the 1640s (Simington 1942, 36) and his descendants, the Nugent-Humble family, continued to own it until the 18th century. Only the N wall and parts of the W and S walls survive (ext. dims. 9.5m E-W; c. 5m N-S); the S wall has an external buttress. The original entrance is not evident but the ground floor has one round-headed embrasure (Wth 1.1m; H 1.56m) with a light (Wth 8cm; H 0.55m) in the N wall. The stairs do not survive at ground level, but the first floor under the E-W barrel vault has a small light in the W wall and a destroyed window with the remains of seats in the N wall.
There were two upper storeys but no features can be discerned, apart from the remains of a newel stairs at the SW angle leading to the third floor, the W wall of which is partly preserved.

Simington, R. C. (ed.) (1942) The Civil Survey AD 1654-1656, vi, the County of Waterford. Irish Manuscripts Commission. Dublin.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore. Date of upload: 25th August, 2011.