Dublin Castle

Attached two-storey octagonal tower projecting from southwest corner of southeast range of State Apartments, built c. 1800. Flat roof, concealed behind crenellated parapet, with painted smooth-rendered walling, impost string to ground floor openings, stringcourse between floors, and moulded granite corbel course carrying parapet. Square-headed window openings to first floor, with painted masonry sills and six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows, and round-headed recesses to ground floor southeast, southwest and west facets, each with sunburst fanlight but lacking windows. Square-headed door opening to ground floor of south facet, having timber double-leaf door with flush mouldings, and square-headed entrance overhead to first floor, having double-leaf half-glazed timber door with six-pane overlight. Interior has polished marble slab floor, plain plastered walls with moulded skirting and dado, plastered ceiling with simple decorative central rose and consoled and dentillated moulded cornice. Double-leaf half-glazed door to northeast facet, opening onto State Apartments Podium Terrace, with timber six-panel door in west facet with eared, moulded architraves, and square-headed door and window openings to outer facets with moulded architraves, plinth blocks and plain linings. South facet opens to bridge, leading to Castle Garden.

This octagonal tower is part of the terrace running along the south side of the State Apartments range of the Dublin Castle complex. Its form and detailing are a nineteenth-century interpretation of the defensive nature of the Castle and City Wall. The form is elegant, the stringcourses and mouldings helping to add visual interest to this small but tall structure, and the building is enhanced by the varied types of opening and the retention of appropriate joinery. The interior is similarly elegant. The tower leads to a footbridge that provides a link at first floor level between the State Apartments and the Castle Gardens.