What is recorded here

Cloone castle was a Purcell tower house standing four storeys high when the Civil Survey recorded it in 1654, though only walls and thatched cabins remained then. Its square frame measured twenty-seven feet across with walls thick enough to bear barrel vaulting, while a causeway cut across the northeastern fosse to reach the off-centre doorway. The river Suir still flows east of the upland field where the platform sits, suggesting water and stone shaped the residence as much as any owner.

Situated on undulating countryside in an upland area with the River Suir to the E. Described in the Civil Survey (1654-6) as a 'castle and bawne in repaire, and the walls only of a stone house standing and some few thatcht cabbins' (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 50). 'Phillip Purcell of Cloyne gent. Irish Papist' is listed as proprietor (ibid.). It was a Purcell castle (ibid.). Described in the OS Letters as a square tower four storeys high and measuring externally 27 ft by 27ft (8.2m x 8.2m) with walls five feet four inches thick (1.6m). The doorway consisted of a pointed arch located off-centre to the S on the E wall with a staircase leading up to the NE angle. There was evidence of barrel vaulting over the second and third floors (O'Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 180). Present remains consist of a slightly elevated square-shaped platform (dims. 33m N-S; 36m E-W; H 0.5-1m) defined by a scarp with a wide flat-bottomed outer fosse (Wth 3m; D 0.3-0.8m) and a causewayed entrance (Wth 5m) at the NE angle. The possible wall-footings of a castle site are in the centre of the platform as indicated on an aerial photograph (CUCAP, APG 56). An old river bed lies immediately to the W with possible evidence of a leat supplying the moat at the NW angle. 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

Built during the late medieval period, likely by an Anglo-Norman or Gaelic lord associated with the Suir valley region, Cloone Castle is remembered for its strategic position along the River Suir and its mention in the 1654 Civil Survey, indicating it was still a notable stronghold in the mid-17th century.

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