Black Castle (in ruins) — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Black Castle in Killaree, County Kilkenny, still forces the valley narrow where a small stream cuts through marshland. Its east wall measured nine feet thick in 1839, and the Rochefords are named as residents until the Cromwellian confiscations. By 1987 the castle had become a massive wall trapped between two derelict farm buildings, perhaps forgotten, perhaps hidden in plain sight.

Set by a small stream in very marshy area at a point where a small N-S river valley narrows onto a near gorge. The castle commands the valley at this point. The sides of the valley rise steeply to the E, S and W, while to the N the valley opens out to a flat reclaimed floor. The Ordnance Survey letters (1839) record, 'part of the east side of a Castle called the Black Castle in the same townland; the wall was nine feet [c. 2.7m] thick' (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 203). Carrigan (1905, vol. 2, 269), describes it as, 'now a broken fragment, [which] was the residence of the Rochefords till the Cromwellian confiscations'. The 25-inch OS map depicts Black Castle as a roofless rectangular building (dims. c. 11m x c. 4.5m) orientated NE-SW, with gables to the NW and SE. In 1987 the only visible remains consisted of a massively thick wall sandwiched between two derelict farm buildings. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 21 December 2016

Built in the 13th century, the Black Castle at Killaree was likely constructed by a local Norman lord to control strategic river crossings and trade routes through the valley. Its importance lies in its defensive position, which made it a key stronghold in the medieval control of the surrounding region.

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