Rathurles Castle

Situated on relatively level ground in a small wood, with the Ollatrim River c. 25m to the E. A round, three-storey tower house (int. dim. 6m; wall T 3m) of roughly coursed limestone blocks, largely destroyed above first-floor level. The entrance at ground-floor level at E is through a pointed doorway, rebated externally, with a yett-hole in the S jamb. There is a lobby with a murder-hole overhead and a doorway to the S leads to a second lobby which in turn gives access to spiral stairs in the S and the main chamber to the W via a round-headed doorway. This chamber is lit by three flat-headed single-lights in large rectangular embrasures. The first floor was carried on wooden beams and has a corbelled dome ceiling. It was lit by four round-headed single-lights. A doorway in the S embrasure of the E window gives access to a mural chamber containing the murder-hole. The spiral stairs are lit by small, flat-headed loops and have collapsed above first-floor level. The exit chute of the garderobe is visible in the external SW face, though much of the exterior is greatly obscured by ivy. Well-executed details such as hanging-eyes, together with punch tooling and drafting on stonework indicate a late sixteenth-century date for this tower house. 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

Rathurles Castle was built in the late 15th or early 16th century by a local Gaelic family, likely the O'Connors of Offaly, as part of the defensive and political landscape of the time. It is remembered as a typical example of a tower house from the late medieval period in Ireland.