Castle - ringwork

The National Monuments Service's description

Marked as an oval embanked enclosure (ext. dims. c. 90m E-W; c. 70m N-S) impinged on by farm buildings at the W and S and with the tower house (WX035-014001-) on the perimeter at S on the 1839 ed. of the OS 6-inch map. It is situated on a gentle W-facing slope at the W foothills of Carrickbyrne Hill. There is no evidence of an enclosure at a developed farm complex, but it is described locally as a low earthen bank (Wth c. 2m; H c. 0.5m) that survived until c. 1970 when a possible souterrain was found running NE from the tower house. This is described as a passage in which a person could crouch, but it may have been a drain. The enclosure may have been a ring-work as the ‘house of Hoyle of Karrothobren (Carrickbyrne)’ is mentioned in a description of the boundary of Ross wood in a charter of Richard Marshal dated 1232-3 (Orpen 1934, 55). The Howel family were in Ireland since at least 1180 and held Carrickbyrne by half a knight’s fee into the 15th century (Brooks 1950, 100-01).

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload: 15 October, 2012

References

Brooks E.St. J. (ed.) 1950 Knights' fees in Counties Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny (13th-15th century). Dublin. Stationery Office.

Orpen, G.H. 1934 Charters of earl Richard Marshal of the forests of Ross and Taghmon. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 64, 54-63.