Ballydrinan Castle

Formerly situated on a fairly flat ridge which slopes off gently to the E, in rolling pasture. The Civil Survey (1654-6) describes 'the stump of a castle' in 'Ballydrenane' under the ownership of the 'Lord Baron of Cahyr Irish Papist' in 1640 (Simington 1931, vol.1, 367). The tower house (ext. dims. 9.4m N-S x 10.9m E-W; int. E-W 7.48m) was illegally demolished in 2000. It was constructed of limestone and sandstone rubble (wall T 1.7m-1.9m at base), well coursed, with a base-batter (2m H x 0.37m Wth) and clay foundation visible at the S end of the E wall. It had a barrel vault over the ground floor, springing from the N and S walls, and a wooden floor between the first and second floor, evidenced by four large beam-holes in the E wall. According to Salter (2004, 107) two inserted octagonal piers carried an arcade which in turn carried two slightly pointed vaults. When visited in 1997 it survived up to second-floor level, except the S wall and S end of the W wall which had collapsed. The N wall and surviving length of W wall were heavily overgrown with ivy. The ground floor was lit by a single-light window in the E wall, while the first floor was lit by a single-light window in the N wall and a broken-out window in the E wall. All windows were within straight-sided inner embrasures. The top of the E wall overhung internally. A garderobe chute at the N end of the W wall had been broken-out, the garderobe exiting at the base of the wall. There is now a large mound of rubble (dims. 20m x 10m; H 4-5m), the remains of the tower house, where it formerly stood. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 14 January 2014 This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 3/2001).

Ballydrinan Castle was held by the Lord Baron of Cahyr in the mid-17th century, as recorded in the Civil Survey of 1654–56. It is remembered as a ruined stronghold associated with the historic barony of Cahyr in County Tipperary.