Castle (in ruins)

Situated on a N-S ridge in undulating countryside with a nearby ringfort (TN036-040----) to the N. A three-storey tower house (ext. dims. 11.65m N-S; 14m E-W; wall T 2m), which originally stood higher, built with coursed rubble stone with prominent batter. It was converted into a house in the eighteenth century. The main entrance consists of a blocked-up two-centred doorway with rebated punch-dressed jambs off-centre to the E on the N wall. This gave access to a lobby protected by an overhead murder-hole with access to the spiral stairs in the NE angle and the ground floor directly opposite the main entrance. There was a barrel vault over the ground and second floors with wooden floors elsewhere. A large-arched fireplace with brick oven was inserted into the W wall utilising the garderobe chute in the SW angle as a chimney flue. Other eighteenth-century insertions consist of two segmental-arched embrasures in the N wall. There is a large breach in the centre of the E wall with an original flat-headed slit ope in the centre of the S wall. Access to the upper floors was not possible at the time of visit due to blocked-up stairs. The earthworks (TN036-041002-) to the W and N of the tower house appear to be the wall-footings of a bawn wall and a rectangular building (ext. dims. 13m N-S; 15.5m E-W) respectively. 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 late 15th or early 16th century, Moyneard Castle was likely constructed by a local Gaelic lord or Anglo-Irish family as a defensive residence. Its importance lies in its architectural survival as a three-storey tower house, reflecting the transition in Irish castle design during the late medieval period.