What is recorded here

Captain Robert Parke transformed a simple eastern gateway into a three-storey gatehouse during the early 1630s, possibly creating his main home or a useful wing beside a temporary timber house. The building now stands as a National Monument, preserving the moment when a military bawn became a permanent residential stronghold.

Prior to the conversion of the location into a fortified manor house by Captain Robert Parke in the early 1630s, the bawn surrounding the O’Rourke tower house was entered via a gateway in the E wall. This gateway was substantially enlarged by Parke into a three storey gatehouse. This may have served either as his primary residential unit or as ancillary space to a timber house that was placed where the current manor house is located and where he was residing until the latter’s demolition and the construction of the manor house which was fully integrated into the gatehouse (Foley and Donnelly 2012, 27). This is a National Monument in state ownership: No. 390 See the attached view of the gatehouse from the interior of the bawn _1 Compiled by: Paul Walsh Date of upload: 6 December 2012

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.