What is recorded here

Redwood rises from flat, poorly drained Tipperary soil as a four-storey tower house with projecting NE and SW angles, crenellations, a restored chimney stack, and a sheela-na-gig beneath a modern balcony. It belonged to the MacEgans and local tradition claims it became a famous school of History and Law in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The building is both ruined and reconstructed, preserving a martial skeleton while inviting belief that learning once echoed through its chambers.

Situated on a natural ries of ground in flat poorly drained land with extensive views. Adjacent to the 'Togher of Redwood' (TN001-001003-). A heavily restored four-storey tower house (ext. dims. 13.2m N-S; 16.55m E-W; T 2.8m) with two projecting towers at the NE and SW angles. A central recessed E face with a two-centred doorway gives access to the ground floor. Directly over this doorway at first-floor level there is a relieving arch of a possible earlier doorway (FitzPatrick 1985, vol. 1, 4). The crenellated battlements and SW bartizan at wall-walk level have been heavily restored as well as the upper floor windows which are recent insertions. A large rectangular chimney stack, which protrudes from the wall-walk along the centre of the N wall, has also been restored. A twin garderobe chute exits at the base of the S face of the SE tower and there is a sheela-na-gig (TN001-001004-) under a modern balcony on the recessed E face of the tower. Fenestration consists of simple flat-headed rectangular opes and single-light ogee-headed windows. The tower interior was inaccessible at the time of visit. The tower house would appear to be of fifteenth-century date with later sixteenth-century alterations. It was a stronghold of the MacEgans and was reputedly a famous school of History and Law in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries (ITA Survey 1943). 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

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