Castle

On a low rise at the junction of a valley and wide open plain to the W. There are very good views in all directions. The Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of 'Tubride' records John Grace Irish Papist as the proprietor of Garryhiggin in 1640 and states that there is, 'a castle and some cabbins at Garryhiggin'. According to O'Kelly 1969, 26), Graces's lands were forfeited in 1653 and granted to a Cromwellian captain, Charles Gore, who named his portion Goresgrove. A much modified four-storey tower house (dims. 6.5m N-S; 6m E-W) with base-batter and dressed quoins. A house, possibly 17th-century in date, though modified in the 18th/early 19th-century, now ruinous, was built onto the E side, at which time the floor levels of the tower house appear to have been modified, with doorways, windows and fireplaces inserted. There were outbuildings, also now ruinous, built up against the W side. The ground floor was filled with collapse when visited in 1987. Only the N and W walls appear to be original, the S wall being substantially rebuilt and the E wall heavily modified. The original spiral stair survives in the NW angle, as do the original doors leading from the stairs to the upper floors. Three surviving original windows in the N wall are single lights, flat and round-headed. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 14 June 2019

John Grace, an Irish Papist, held Castle Garryhiggin in the mid-17th century, as recorded in the Down Survey of 1655–56. Its strategic location on a low rise at a valley junction suggests it was valued for defensive or agricultural oversight during the turbulent period of Confederate Wars and land confiscations in Ireland.