Inchiquin Castle (in ruins) — Inchiquin

Situated in the W side of a bawn (CL017-057003-) and immediately to the S of a tower house (CL017-057001-), on a rocky bluff jutting S into Inchiquin Lough. Drawn as a long rectangular structure within a complex labelled ‘Inchiquin Castle (in Ruins)’ on both the first (1842) and Cassini (1920) editions of the OS 6-inch map. According to Ua Cróinín and Breen (1997), ‘Inchiquin Castle’ was built in 1459 by Teige an Chomhaid Ó Briain, King of Thomond and became the home of the barons of Inchiquin, an important branch of the O’Brien family.   This 16th/17th-century house (int. L c. 30m NNE-SSW is defined by crude walls (T 1.22m) of limestone rubble interspersed with dressed limestone blocks (Ua Cróinín and Breen 1983, 42). The seven-bay structure has a central entrance doorway flanked by three large rectangular windows on either side in the E wall. There is a large window on the S wall with surviving fragments of square hood moulding and jambs (ibid.). Fragments of mullion and transom lie on the bare limestone bedrock outside this window (ibid.). There are four fireplaces on the W wall, the N two projecting (c. 0.2m) on the outer face of the wall. Between these two N fireplaces is a small light and a possible small doorway, although Ua Cróinín and Breen (op. cit.) interpreted this as a window. Joist-holes for supporting the first floor of the house are visible along the length of the E and W inner wall-faces (ibid.). At the level of this first floor are remains of at least six windows in the E wall, although none appear to be over the central bay of the doorway. These windows must have been dormers (i.e., accommodated in attic gables or hips facing E) because the pitch of the S gable rises from the same level as these windowsills. The flues of the two southern fireplaces in the W wall are supported by external corbels from this level. The chimney stack of the second chimney from the N rises above this level; there are no decorative flues here, but barge stones may indicate at least one hipped extension in the centre of the house (ibid.). There may have been four more fireplaces on the first floor (Macnamara 1901, 343; Ua Cróinín and Breen 1997). Ua Cróinín and Breen (1997) also noted evidence that the house was rendered internally and externally, and they posited that many holes in the inner wall-faces may have held wooden tenons for mural panelling. The doorway in the W wall of the house leads to a platform and a rough path to the S, where it reaches the lakeshore. This area is strewn with masonry debris, but it is possible that the doorway provided access to a bay just W of the house, and the shelf of land at the S.   Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy and Conn Herriott   Date of upload: 13-10-2025