What is recorded here

Indicated, Ballymagauran is a ruined tower house in County Cavan, Ireland. Rough limestone walls still stand two stories high, holding a splayed window and a chimney beside the broken remains of a doorway. A destroyed stone head lies at the north-west angle, its grooves suggesting a grotesque carved before 1600. The castle has lost much of its shape, but it still keeps the sharp edge of the place where it was built.

Remains of rectangular building (int. dims. 9.5m E-W; 5.9m N-S) of rough, uncoursed limestone masonry. Plain splayed window in W end of S wall. Fireplace and chimney in E end of S wall. The structure was apparently two stories in height. Lying on the ground is half of the doorway arch. Dressed stone indicates a late 16th or early 17th-century date. Remains of a largely destroyed stone head at NW angle. Davies (1947a, 94-5) recorded that this 'although barbarously mutilated in recent years, looks from the grooves under the chin to have been a grotesque of a type not likely to have been made after 1600'. (Wilsdon 2010, 184-6) The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cavan' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1995). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 December 2008

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