What is recorded here

Cloncourse Castle stands as a four-storey ruined bawn in County Laois, its rough rubble walls still bearing splayed gunloops and a central projecting tower. The surviving structure hides a violent past behind chamfered limestone windows and machicolations that once looked down on a gated entrance. What remains is not a polite mansion but a fortified house shaped for defense, with fireplaces stacked along the east gable and water-spouts cutting across the south wall. Even in ruin, it reads as a place where people lived under the constant possibility of attack.

Four storey high fortified house (LA015-021) built with roughly coursed rubble with projecting tower in centre of S wall. Chimney stacks on the E and W gables. N wall destroyed. Fireplaces in E gable at 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor level. Rectangular shaped windows constructed with chamfered limestone. Machicolation on the top level over doorway. Three water-spouts projecting from the top of the S wall. Remains of a rectangular shaped bawn with outbuildings in the NE angle. Splayed gunloops present. Remains of gate house in centre of S wall. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2007

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.