Derrydonnell Castle (in ruins)

On a slight rise on rock outcrop in rough scrub and pastureland. This tower house was in the possession of ‘Tybbot McAwge’ in 1574 (Nolan 1901, 121). O’Donovan noted that in 1598 it was the residence of the son of Tibbot Mac Davuck Burke and in an Inquisition taken at Galway in 1608 it was listed as one of the castles of Clanrickard (O’Flanagan 1927, vol. 1, 170-71). It consists of a six-storey high rectangular tower (L10.8m; Wth 9.05m) constructed of roughly coursed blocks laid in mortar with ashlar quoins and a base-batter. Though reasonably intact on inspection in December 1982 and August 1992, its ivy-covered walls were in a dangerous condition and structural cracks were visible running from the top to the bottom of the NW and SE walls. The original doorway, in the NE wall, was blocked up by rubble from the partial collapse of the upper portions of the wall. The spiral stairs were located in the N corner. The 1st-4th floors all comprised a small subsidiary chamber to the NE of the main room but on the 5th floor the main room occupied the full width of the tower. There was a stone vault between the ground/1st floor and also over the 4th-floor subsidiary chamber. There were fireplaces in the SW wall on the 3rd and 4th floors and possibly also on the 1st floor. There were intramural passages in the SE wall on the 3rd floor, in the NW and SW walls on the 4th floor, in the NW wall on 5th floor, and in the NW and adjoining portions of the SW wall on the 2nd floor. The latter appeared to lead to a latrine but the function of the others, and the original access to them, was unclear due to collapse. Little survived of the parapets or roof but the presence of corbels at this level, centrally placed along the SE, SW and NW walls, indicated the former positions of machicouli. The windows consisted of flat, round and ogee-headed single lights, save for the two upper floors which were lit by a number of twin-light ogee-headed examples. There were also a number of circular and cross-shaped gun-loops. In early January 2011, following a severe cold spell, the S corner of the tower collapsed and masonry fell from the SE and SW walls between the 1st floor and the top of the tower, including the machicolation on the SE wall. The NW wall appeared to be in a more precarious state. (Cody 1989, 362-7) The tower stands within a very small rectangular bawn (GA095-028001-), off the NE side of which a later building (GA095-028003-) extends. There is an outer bawn (GA095-028002-) off the NW wall. The following images have been uploaded: GA095-028----_05.jpg Precarious NW wall GA095-028----_06.jpg Collapsed S corner Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 13 July 2023

Derrydonnell Castle was held by Tibbot McAwge in 1574 and by his son in 1598, reflecting the presence of Gaelic lordships in the region during the late 16th century. It is remembered as a site associated with the extended MacCarthy family, illustrating the political and territorial dynamics of Munster during the Tudor conquest.