Killaleigh Castle

Situated on flat pasture with extensive views. An early seventeenth-century Z-plan fortified house, four storeys high, built with roughly coursed limestone rubble. The ground plan consists of two diagonally opposed rectangular towers, the SE tower (15.66m SE-NW; 9.58m NE-SW: wall T 1.44m) containing the main living area, with the NW tower (5.2m SE-NW; 6.85m NE-SW) containing a stone stairs with unusual stone banister which is still intact. At wall-walk level there are five tall rectangular chimney stacks with funnel-shaped caps, one at each gable end, one on the SW wall and two more on the NE wall. There is a bartizan at wall-walk level on the N and S angles. The main entrance is located on the SW wall and consists of a round-arched doorway with rebated jambs and is protected externally by a machicolation at wall-walk level and internally by a murder-hole. Also at wall-walk level there are a series of drain-holes and drip-stones. The windows consist of flat-headed single and twin lights with hood-mouldings over. There is an interesting crossloop at first-floor level on the SW wall with a large circular-shaped gun port directly above at first-floor level. Internally the building has been heavily modified in the nineteenth century by the insertion of a series of barrel-vaulted roofs between ground and first-floor level. The original stone stairs has been replaced by a wooden stairs along with two flat-headed doorways at the rear of the house in the NE wall. No original fireplaces or architectural features are visible inside. A possibly original bawn wall (TN010-017002-) is located to the SW of the fortified house with nineteenth-century outhouses attached to the internal face. According to Craig (1982, 129) this was an O'Connor house, with a datestone of 1601 - the location of this datestone is unknown. 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 in the early seventeenth century as a Z-plan fortified house, Killaleigh Castle, Sopwell was likely constructed by a local gentry family for defensive and residential purposes. Its architectural design and strategic location make it an important example of early modern Irish castle building.