Annacarty Constabulary Barrack

Detached south-west facing rectangular-plan multiple-bay two-storey former RIC barracks, built c. 1820, with diagonally-set projecting towers, polygonal to south corner and rectangular to north, and having bartizan supported on heavy sandstone corbels to north-west elevation. Crenellated parapet supported on corbel table. Smooth rendered roughly-dressed limestone walls. Croix pommée to front elevation and loops, some blocked to all elevations except south-east. Round-headed openings with chamfered surrounds, having sandstone voussoirs to windows. Single, paired and tripled windows to front elevation and single to rear and south-east. Sandstone surrounds to boarded doorways in front and south-east elevations with stone thresholds raised somewhat above ground level. Stonework at north corner indicates former or intended additional wall or building.

Occupying a prominent position on a hilltop the domineering presence of this former RIC barracks is still apparent. The architectural design of the building reflects that of a fortification and is evident in features such as the bartizan, crenellations at roof level and the projecting towers and may have drawn on the features of Ballysheeda Castle, a medieval towerhouse to the north. Destroyed during the Civil War in 1922 this building now stands as a ruin within the village of Annacarty as a reminder of our turbulent history. This building appears to have been the prototype for the fortified barracks built in the latter half of the nineteenth century by the Board of Works.