Nicholastown Castle (in ruins)

On the edge of a limestone outcrop with a sharp drop immediately E of the site, in pasture, c.100m SW of Garryroe House. John Keting of 'Nicholestown' is named in an indenture of 1542 (COD IV, 230). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6), the land at 'Nickolstowne' was owned by 'Richard Keatinge of Nickolstowne, Esqr Irish Papist' in 1640 and 'Upon the sd lands stands a Castle, the walls of a house within a bawne' (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 317). This ruined tower house is located in the NW angle of a rectangular bawn (TS082-043002-). The tower house (int. dims. 7.15m x c.7.1m; walls 2.4m T) is constructed of roughly cut limestone blocks, randomly coursed, with pebble-filled mortar and base-batter (H 3m; Wth c.0.4m). Cut stone quoins survive on the upper level of the NW angle and at the base of the NE angle. The N wall partially survives up to parapet level and part of the N end of the W wall survives. The E end of the S wall also survives, though the SE angle is gone. There is a lot of collapsed rubble around the base of the walls in the interior, with a large hollow in the centre. There is a central broken-out window in the N wall at ground-floor and first-floor level and a wall-cupboard visible at first-floor level. The stairs do not survive but were probably located at the SE angle, where a door jamb projects from the S wall. With stairs in this angle, it is likely that the entrance was on the E wall, within the bawn. The second floor was vaulted, springing from the E and W walls, though it only survives at the N end of the W wall. There is evidence of a mural chamber in the thickness of the N wall, at second-floor level. Remains of a third floor are visible at the NW angle with evidence of a parapet and circular bartizan above. The bartizan has three surviving gun-loops. It rests on a double corbel on the N and W walls, with a single, chamfered corbel on the angle and two gutter-stones projecting from the base. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 26 August 2011

Nicholastown Castle was built in the 16th century, with John Keting of Nicholastown named in a 1542 legal document, indicating the family's presence and status in the area. The castle is remembered for its historical association with local landholding families during the Tudor period.