Bawn in Dromana (decies Without Drum By.)

Situated on a bluff overlooking the N-S Blackwater River, which is immediately to the W. This is a Fitzgerald castle which was the caput of the manor of the Lords of Decies, descended from Gerald Mór, son of James, the seventh Earl of Desmond. It was probably built by Gerald Mór in the late 15th century. It escaped the Desmond forfeitures and the Cromwellian confiscations of the 17th century (Power 1908b, 6-7) to become through marriage the seat of the Villier-Stuart family in the 18th and 19th centuries. The medieval buildings were demolished in the 17th century, apart from the base of a large circular tower (min. diam. 12m; surviving H c. 6m) with a base-batter perched over the river, that is probably the corner tower of a bawn, and a coeval wall (L c. 8m; H c. 6m) extending N to the base of a tower house. The 18th- and 19th-century ranges are now demolished. (Ryland 1824, 315-17) Power, Rev. P. (1908b) Dromore to Lismore - with notes on the antiquiteis to be visited on the society's annual excurstion, WAJ 12, 1-16. Ryland, Rev. R. H. (1824) The History, topography and antiquities of the county and city of Waterford. John Murray. London. Stalley, R. (1991) Daniel Grosse (c. 1776-1838): the antiquities of Ireland. The Irish Architectural Archive. Dublin. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 26 July 2011

The Bawn in Dromana was built by the Fitzgeralds, Lords of Decies, descendants of Gerald Mór, and dates to the late medieval period. It was important as the caput of the manor, symbolizing the family's territorial authority in the region.