Castle (in Ruins)

Situated on ground sloping very slightly to the NW in undulating pastureland. The Civil Survey refers to this site as 'an old castle the walls onely standing & fower cottages' and lists the Countess of Ormond as owner of these lands in 1640 (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 337). Only a small portion of the gatehouse of the castle complex survives. The W wall of the gatehouse (L 9.2m; T 1.15m; H 4m) was constructed of roughly coursed limestone, at least two storeys high with an entrance (Wth 2.45m) at the centre. There was formerly a chamber on either side of the entrance; that on the S side is 1m wide. There are no visible remains of the castle which would have stood to the E. A differential vegetation mark of a possible moat enclosing the gatehouse and castle site is visible only under suitable conditions. 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

The castle at Grange Lower was held by the Countess of Ormond in the 17th century, as noted in the Civil Survey. It is remembered as a ruined medieval stronghold associated with the influential Butler family of Ormond.