Castle, Paulstown

On the E bank of a river which flows into Monefelim River c. 480m to the SE and currently on the N side of a large farmyard complex which is surrounded by pasture. According to Drennan (1962, 45-6), Paulstown Castle was built c. 1440, probably by Edmund Butler, grandson of James, the 3rd Earl of Ormond and was occupied by Butlers until early in the 18th century when it was acquired by Francis Flood. The castle was re-constructed in 1828 and the interior re-modelled in a Georgian style (ibid.). Drennan (ibid.) describes how, ‘large windows were inserted and the earlier ones filled in and a new top storey, consisting of a single large room, known as “the ballroom,” was added. This ballroom is panelled with wood, and has a very large open fireplace….The Floods, in re-building, covered the outside of the two top storeys with cut stones. The present entrance is through a Swiss Porch, added during re-construction. A morning room, and a large work room, with a bedroom, on top, were also added to two sides of the Castle’. Described by Craig (1973, 111) as a medieval tower which was probably remodelled by William Robertson. He describes it as, ‘refronted with limestone ashlar and given large windows. In the hall, on the ground floor, is a wide niche with pointed doorcases and two doric columns. Beside the tower is a curious low circular tower that could have been part of the bawn. The house was occupied until recently’. A much modified rectangular tower house, four-storeys high, the lower two storeys are built of roughly coursed limestone rubble, with a base-batter (https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/buildings-search/building/12402108/paulstown-castle-paulstown-co-kilkenny). The upper two storeys and parapet are either refaced or, more likely, rebuilt of limestone ashlar stonework dating to the early 19th-century remodelling. The tower house has been completely re-fenestrated with large rectangular, regularly spaced, sash windows. None of the original windows are visible. The windows on the two lower floors on the E face have 19th-century hood-mouldings. The E and W faces are broader, accommodating three windows, than the N and S faces which accommodate only one or two windows. A 19th-century building abuts the ground and first floor of the W elevation. The S elevation is heavily overgrown with ivy. Since becoming unoccupied in the early 1970s, the building has fallen into disrepair and is now a roofless shell. See attached photographs: KK021-005----_01 National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, E elevation (Reg No 12402108) KK021-005----_02 National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, W elevation (Reg No 12402108) KK021-005----_03 National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, S elevation (Reg No 12402108) KK021-005----_04 National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, E elevation, ground-floor window (Reg No 12402108) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 1 April 2021

Paulstown Castle was held by the Butler family in the medieval period, important as a strategic stronghold along the river system that facilitated control over local trade and movement.