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Milltown Castle (in ruins) — Milltown

Castle — tower house
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Milltown Castle (in ruins) — Milltown
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What is recorded here

On an area of outcropping rock, fenced off from improved pasture, c. 45m to SE of the Kiltanon River. A multi-storey tower house over a wicker vaulted basement. Depicted and named ‘Milltown Castle (in ruins)’ on OS historic mapping. The castle appears to survive as described by Ua Cróinín and Breen (1997, vol. 6, 189) and was built by Domhnall MacConmara c. 1490 and by 1570 had passed to the O’Brien’s. The MacNamara clan held the castle in 1618 and it was during the following 30 years that they are understood to have carried out renovations on the castle including additional fireplaces, chimneys and large windows (ibid.). One of the last recorded owners is Philip Bigoe who was granted the castle after the Cromwellian wars of the 1640s. The SE, SW and NW walls stand to full-height and are completely laden with ivy from basement to chimney level which obscures all features. According to local information, the NE-wall collapsed in 1981. It is now strewn down the side of the rock outcrop and consists of random rubble and some roughly hewn limestone protruding from a thick layer of moss. The survey of this structure is very limited due to the heavy ivy obscuring the interior and the exterior. On the exterior, all cut stone has been robbed out of the SW basement window and the surround is not visible on the NW basement window due to ivy cover. It is also inaccessible within the interior due to the collapsed NE wall which almost seals the basement just below the apex of the pointed wicker vault. A narrow gap affords a view into the basement at this point, however access is not easily gained and is not advisable. The following images have been uploaded: CL035-005002-_01 From SW. Landscape view of tower house and bawn. CL035-005002-_02 From SE. Interior of basement window, in NW wall (view only – not accessible). CL035-005002-_03 From SE. Wicker-centred vault over basement. CL035-005002-_01.pdf Risteárd Ua Cróinín and Martin Breen, The Castles and Tower-houses of Co. Clare (unpublished report).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. Revised by: Mary Tunney, Alison McQueen and Vera Rahilly Date of revision: 11 December 2017

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