What is recorded here

Caherelly West Castle is a ruined tower house in County Limerick, Ireland, where the O'Heyne family held land from the 1590s through the 1740s. The building still stands about 18 metres high, with a corner stair, small chambers and a bartizan that once looked out over the valley. It is the kind of place where a household could have lived, guarded a mill, quarried marble and watched the road below before time stripped it back to stone.

Caherelly West Castle described in 1840 as, 'This castle is set upon a small eminence. It is about 60 feet high and 20 feet wide, being square. it still retains its roof, etc. in perfect condition' (OSNB Caherelly Parish, 321; OSL, 100). Caherelly West Castle stands 40m N of Caherelly Cottage with Caherelly Church (LI023-085001-) 330m to E. Westropp (1906-7, 91) recorded the following details about Caherelly West Castle and bawn (LI023-083001-); '1283 Suit of J. de Norragh about Catherelny (Plea R.). 1323 And of Almeric de Bellofago and T. f. Rhys, about Milltown watermill there (lb. 139, m. 23). 1583 "Carelii duo castell," by W. Bourke (Des. R., 37). 1599 Tadeus O'Heyne died, seized of the C[astle]. of Caherely en-temple. 1622 His son Conor died, whose son Donat entailed the C[astle]. hall, bawn, and vill of Le Caherelly (Inq. Chan., 69b). 1629 He was pardoned for alienation of Caherelly West (Pat. R.). 1655 Dan Heyne held it (C.S., xxi., p. 28). 1667 The C[astle]. of West Caherelly confirmed to Sir W. King (Act Sett.). The connexion of the O'Heynes, however, subsisted to at least 1748, when it is noted that Hynes of Cahirelly and Clanchy of Ballyvorneen were the only gentry between Ballinaguard and O'Brien's Bridge who were not Burkes (FitzG., vol. i., p. 284). Fabric - A peel tower, 60 feet [18.3m] high and 20 feet [6m] wide'. Tower-house like castle with house attached to one side depicted on the 17th century Down Survey map of Clanwilliam Barony (Hib. Reg.) and on the parish map of Caherelly (NLI MS. 718). The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Limerick recorded that Teige Heyne, an Irish Papist, was the owner of Caherelly West which contained 'a Castle Bawen a Mill Seate & a marble quarry' (Simington 1938, 76). Classified by Donnelly (1999, 22, 37) as a Type 1A tower house which consists of a castle where the; 'ground floor entrance to the building leads to an entrance lobby. To one side of the entrance lobby is a doorway leading to a spiral staircase set in a corner of the building. To the other side is a doorway leading into a small chamber - the subsidiary chamber. The entrance lobby provides a direct route of access through to the main chamber.' Described by Salter (2004, 70) as following; 'The NW, SW and SE corners of this O'Heyne tower measuring 10.4m by 7.8m still stand 18m high, with a stair in the SE corner still serving all five levels. The second and fourth storeys once had vaults and the fifth storey still has a room within a square bartizan on the SW corner, whilst the east wall contained a tier of subsidiary chambers over the entrance. A gunloop in the bartizan has a square hole at the base and an oillet higher up. A second tower nearby had vanished by 1900'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 7 December 2020

Caherelly West Castle was likely built during the late medieval period by a local Gaelic family or Anglo-Norman lord in the region. It is remembered for its relatively well-preserved condition as noted in 1840, offering insight into early Irish castle architecture.

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