OBriens Castle (in Ruins) — O'brienscastle

Known as O'Brien's Castle or Béal a Fíor Bhearna, Twigge's list of castles states that it was built by Turlough O'Brien, Bishop of Killaloe, who died in 1466 or one of his successors of the same name who was bishop 1482-1525. It was owned by an O'Brien sept until Brian and Teige O'Brien were deprived of it after the 1641 rebellion. During the Cromwellian period (1653-1658) the castle was garrisoned by Partliamentarian troops, during which time they removed the native Irish from a one mile radius of the castle. By the end of the 17th century it became the property of the Butlers of Rossroe Castle, but it may have been abandoned by the mid-18th century. It does not appear on a list of inhabited castles in Co. Clare at the year 1808 according to Hely Dutton's records. It is situated within the centre of a well defined rectangular earthwork (Cl026-070002-). Rectangular structure (ext. dims. 13.5m N-S; 8.5m E-W) of five storeys which is built of limestone with a base batter and good quoins, although much of the exterior is ivy-covered. The pointed doorway (Wth 1.1m; H 2.1m) protected by a yett in the N wall leads to a lobby protected by a murder hole which has a guardroom (int. dims. 2.35m N-S; 2.15m E-W) with a N-S wicker-centred barrel vault, a cupboard and a single light. A pointed and chamfered doorway leads from the lobby to the ground floor chamber (int. dims. 8m N-S; 4.47m E-) which has corbels in the E and W walls for the ceiling and embrasures in the W (blocked) and E (converted into a lintelled doorway) walls. From the lobby a damaged doorway leads to a short lintelled passage (L 1.65m) and the spiral stairs at the NE angle. The stairs is light by eleven lights in all, and at the first floor leads to a guardroom (int. dims. 4.05m E-W; 2.57m N-S) over the lobby with a light in the W (round-headed) and N (destroyed) walls. A lintelled passage (Wth 1m; L 6.5m), supported by a cross-arch which is visible from the ground-floor chamber leads from the spiral stairs, S of the guardroom, to a garderobe in the W wall. This passage also provided access by a lintelled doorway (Wth 0.74m; H 1.32m) to the 1st floor under the N-S barrel vault with traces of wicker centring. A pointed doorway (Wth 0.83m; H 1.92m) leads from the stairs to the second floor which has two enlarged windows in flat-arched embrasures (Wth 1.75m; H 2.45-2.55m). The S wall has a damaged window and embrasure (Wth H 2.4m) while the W wall has a damaged rectangular window towards the S end. There is an intact rectangular ashlar fireplace (Wth 2m; H 1.7m; D 1m) with a chamfer and masons mark and a jiggled keystone at the centre of the N wall, and there are corbels in the E and W walls to support the ceiling. A pointed doorway (Wth 0.65m; H 1.82m) leads from the spiral stairs to a room over the guardroom which has an ogee-headed window (Wth 0.15m; H 1.33m) in the W and a round-headed window (Wth 0.2m; H 1.15m) in its N wall, but the dividing wall with the main second floor chamber is broken through. A pointed doorway leads from the spiral stairs to the third floor main chamber under a N-S vault with window embrasures in each wall, that on the S with an ogee-headed window. This room has a lot of original plaster, and a passage, supported on a cross-arch leads from the stairs to a garderobe in the W wall. There is a chamber in the N wall with two lights entered from the stairs. A pointed doorway leads from the spiral stairs to the main chamber on the fourth floor which has a light with a slop-stone at the N end of the E wall, a damaged twin-light ogee-headed window at its centre and an ogee-headed light at the S end. There is a fine ogee-headed light in the S wall and a damaged twin-light ogee-headed window in the W wall. All the embrasures were round-headed. A doorway led from the stairs to a chamber in the N wall which has lights in the N and W wall, the latter with a slop-stone. Its S wall is largely destroyed, but there was a doorway to the main chamber. The spiral stairs continues to the wall-walk which does not survive. (Ua Croinin and Breen 1998, 7-10) Compiled by: Michael Moore See attached document with details from Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report). Uploaded courtesy of R. Ua Cróinín and M. Breen. Date of upload: 10 December 2014