What is recorded here

O'Dempsey's castle, now a bawn in Ballykean, still stands as a circular stump and broken walls. The O'Dempsey name suggests a family strong enough to build stone against the valley sky. Whether the turret watched roads, fields or rival clans, the shape remains: a round tower, a bawn wall, and the memory of someone who believed the place was worth defending.

Possible bawn within townland described in the OS Field Name Books 1837-40 as a 'Turret consisting of a stump of a circular tower, remains of some walls' (OSFNB 1837-40, p. 60). May have been describing the remains of a bawn wall and surviving cylindrical angle tower of O'Dempsey's castle (OF026-044----). 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

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