Ballybrittan Castle

Ivy-covered three storeys high tower house (13m E-W; 8m N-S) with wall-walk above and 18th-century house (OF011-057----) attached to its E side. The Tower house has been altered considerably by later disturbances such as one room which has been bricked up to be converted into a dairy and a window inserted into the N wall of the castle. Gap on the S wall may have been where the original doorway was located, blocked up two centred doorway just inside this gap on the E wall. Mural stairs in SE angle gives access to first floor (int. dims. 9.65m by 5.5m) at NE angle. The barrel vaulted ground floor inside the doorway to the left is full of ashes and inaccessible. The entrance for the stairs up to the second floor was on the S side of the room in the SE angle. Carved head (OF011-057001-) over the doorway of the 18th-century house (OF011-057----) may have originally belonged to the tower house. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

Ballybrittan Castle is a tower house likely built in the late 15th or early 16th century, typical of the defensive architecture of the Irish medieval period. It is remembered as an example of a historic stronghold that reflects the regional building traditions and the need for local defense during turbulent times.