Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a level landscape. This is thought to have been built by the Rossiters of Rathmacknee (WX042-029001-) (Jeffrey 1979, 83), but it was owned by Richard Jennings in 1640 together with 130 acres at Newcastle and 135 acres at Gaynestown in Kilmannan parish (Simington 1953, 137). In the 18th century it was owned by the Lett family (Jeffrey 1979, 84-5).
The castle consists of a tower house (ext. dims. 5.95 E-W; 5.55m N-S; H c. 8.7m) with battered walls and good quoins that survives to the third storey. The original pointed doorway (Wth 0.9m; H 1.5m) of undressed stone is now blocked. It is situated on the E wall towards the NE angle, and is protected by a murder hole in the lobby. The lobby leads into the ground floor (int. dims 2.78m E-W; 2.61m N-S) which has a double splayed loop in embrasures on the S and W walls, a chamber at the SE angle, and a secondary entrance in the N wall.
A mural stairs rising from the lobby in the E wall give access through a lintelled doorway (Wth 0.66m; H 1.38m) at the S end of the E wall to the first floor under an E-W barrel-vault with one window in the W wall. The floor was supported on rebates on the N and S walls. A newel stairs at the SE angle leads to the second floor over the vault (int. dims 4.05m E-W; 3.68m N-S) through a destroyed doorway. This floor has a window embrasure in each wall, that on the S with seats and a complete granite-framed rectangular window (Wth 0.31m; H 0.92m) with chamfered edges, but the others are blocked or destroyed. There is a gun-loop or slop stone in the N wall and an ante-chamber at the NE angle, entered through a lintelled doorway (Wth 0.53m; H 1.55m), commands the murder-hole. The ceiling was supported on corbels in the N and S walls, but there is no evidence of a fireplace or garderobe. The newel stairs in the SE angle continues to the third floor, but no features are visible in the ivy-covered walls.
A fragment of a bawn wall (L 10.6m; H 2m; T 0.75m) runs N from the NW angle of the tower, and there is a two-storey, five-bay dwelling house attached to the E side of the tower house. Archaeological testing (07E901) immediately to the N produced no archaeological material (Purcell 2010),

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of upload/revision: 28 May, 2013

References

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1953 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. IX: county of Wexford. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.

Jeffrey, W.H. 1979 The castles of County Wexford. Typescript prepared by the Old Wexford Society, Ed. E. Culleton.

Purcell, J. 2010 Cleristown (sic). No archaeological significance. In I. Bennett (ed.), Excavations 2007: summary accounts of archaeological excavations in Ireland, 544, No. 1943. Dublin. Wordwell.