Castle (in ruins) — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Ashleypark Castle is a drowned tower house on a small island near the north shore of Lough Ourna, reached only by boat and reduced to two wall fragments above the water. The surviving northeast angle still shows a pointed doorway, a stair, a garderobe chute and the springers of a lost vault, while the mid-seventeenth century list named John Grace of Ballylensy as proprietor of the stumpe. The island may have begun as a crannog, which would mean the castle was built on a made island rather than a natural one.

Situated on a small, flooded island, close to the N shore of Lough Ourna. Approached by boat, all that remains visible are two wall fragments protruding above the water level. By the mid-seventeenth century the tower house was being described as 'the stumpe of a castle' and 'John Grace of Ballylensy Esqr. Irish Papist' is listed as proprietor (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 342). The island (dims. 20.2m N-S; 17.76m E-W) was delimited or retained by a ruined, narrow, drystone wall (max. H 1m) with a landing at N. It is possible that the island is an artificial construction which may originally have been a crannóg (TN015-048002-). Of the tower house itself only the NE angle (max. H 4.05m) survives, composed of roughly coursed limestone and sandstone rubble. There are the remains of a pointed doorway in the N wall giving access to the ground floor, with a straight stair rising to the W. Also visible within the angle are a garderobe chute and internal partition wall. Remains of springers on the internal face of the N wall indicate a former E-W vault over the ground floor. (FitzPatrick 1985, vol. 2, part 4, 44-8) The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

Built in the late 16th or early 17th century, likely by a local Gaelic lord or Anglo-Norman family, Castle Ashleypark is remembered for its strategic location on Lough Ourna, which would have provided natural defense and control over local waterways. Its remains, though minimal, offer insight into early modern castle architecture in a remote, defensible setting.

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