Rathgormuck Castle (in ruins)

Situated on a gentle N-facing slope. References date from 1640 when it is described as having a bawn and being in Monadiha townland (Simington 1942, 112). The castle was forfeited by Nicholas Power in 1655 when Robert Davies came into possession (Decie 1981). This is a rectangular tower (ext. dims. 8.35m N-S; 7.5m E-W) reduced to two floors (H c. 8m) with a vaulted loft over the ground floor and a projecting tower (ext. dims. 3.1m N-S; 2.25m E-W) at the S end of the W wall. There are cut-stone quoins at the angles and a base-batter on all walls, except those of the projecting tower and the S wall. There is a large, segmental-arched opening (Wth 2.15m) in the S wall, and a modern entrance in the N wall provides access to the ground floor which has a blocked window in the W wall and a recess at the S end of the E wall. The stairs to the upper floors may have been at the SE angle and the loft under a N-S vault was supported on corbels in the W and E walls. The first floor has windows, probably altered in the 19th century, in the N, S and W walls, and a fireplace at the N end of the E wall with a chimney rising above. There is a face-corbel on the outer face of the N wall and O'Donovan c. 1840 (O'Flanagan 1929, 72) recorded a similar corbel on the same wall but this is now obscured by ivy. O'Donovan also described a second castle (WA003-039002-) c. 50m to the E. Rathgormuck church (WA003-04001-) is c. 100m to S. (Decie 1981, 52-5) Decie (1981) Notes on Rathgormack castle. Decies. No. 16, 52-9. O'Flanagan, M. (Compiler) (1929) Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Waterford collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1841. Typescript. Bray. Simington, R. C. (ed.) (1942) The Civil Survey AD 1654-1656, vi, the County of Waterford. Irish Manuscripts Commission. Dublin. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of upload/revision: 24 February 2011

Rathgormuck Castle was built by the Power family, who held it in the 17th century, and it was forfeited by Nicholas Power in 1655 during the Cromwellian conquest. The castle is remembered for its historical association with the local Power family and its documented presence in early modern Irish records.