Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Site of 16th century O’Brien castle probably a tower house that was visited in 1979 and described as following: ‘Nothing is now visible of any structure or enclosure. The nearby field boundaries are modern field fences’ (SMR file). A dry stone wall forms the W boundary of the field in which the castle was situated. A new school has been built in the adjoining field to the W of the castle site. On the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map Coosan Castle is depicted as a rectangular building aligned E-W with field boundaries running off the SE and SW angles of the castle. No castle building is depicted at this location on the revised 1876 ed. OS 6-inch map or on the 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map. Coosan Castle was the residence of Donell Reogh O’Brian who died on the 6th of February 1599/1600 (Nicholls 1970, 114). During his lifetime Donell O’Brian along with his younger brother Many O’Brian of Cornamagh helped ‘his said brother to build and make upp a castle’ at Coosan (Nicholls 1970, 114).

Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien

Date of upload: 08 May 2014

References

Nicholls, K.W. 1970 Some Documents on Irish Law and Custom in the Sixteenth Century. Analecta Hibernica 26, 105-129.