Lissofin Castle (in ruins) — Lissofin

On top of a rectangular limestone rock outcrop (CL035-055001-), in rough pasture with reasonable views in all directions, across a gently undulating landscape. Named ‘Lissofin Castle’ on the 1841 and 1921 edition OS 6-inch maps. According to Curry in 1839, Lissofin is Anglicised from Lis-Aodha-Finn referring to the Fort of Hugh the Fair (OSL, vol. 2, 284). The following historical details are cited by Ua Cróinín and Breen (1997, vol. 6, no. 116). Lissofin castle was a McNamara stronghold associated with McNamara Finn who was an ancestor of Hugh the Fair. It dates to the 15th century and was repaired by Rory McNamara in the earlier 16th century and was apparently forfeited in favour of the O’Brien’s sometime in the later 16th century. Ellen Butler is recorded as the owner in 1570 and by the 1580s Donough O’Brien had retained possession. The castle is recorded as being in ruins by 1611 and was rebuilt by William Costello in 1641, who is assumed to have been a tenant of the Earl of Thomond. It is mentioned in the account books of the Earl in 1685 and is described as being in a good state of repair in 1703 with up to 19 cabins on its estate. Only the NW wall (L c. 10.75m; T 1.95m) survives to a height of three storeys, with a very short return of both the SW wall (L c. 3.5m; T 0.8m) and the NE wall (L 2.75m; T 1m). The first floor is carried on a wooden floor and was vaulted over, though this vault has completely collapsed and only the scar survives on the internal face of the NW wall. There may have been a storage level under the vault. The tower house is constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble with a base-batter (H 2.2m; Wth) and large quoins at the W angle. The quoins at the N angle have been robbed at ground-floor level and are obscured by ivy above this, as is much of the NE end of the NW elevation. It is likely that the tower house was originally entered through the NE wall as there is a small guardroom at the NW end of this wall. This vaulted guardroom was lit by a round-headed loop in the NE wall. Of the ground-floor chamber, only the NW wall and NW end of the SW wall survive. There was a single-light window in the NW wall, broken out, within a splayed outer embrasure and straight-sided inner segmental-headed embrasure. The short return of the SW wall has the remains of a window, only the NW side of the outer splayed and inner straight-sided segmental embrasure survive. The upper floors of the tower house are no longer accessible. There is evidence of mural chambers in the NE wall (Salter 2004, 44) and it seems likely that the upper floors were accessed from a stair in the E angle. The first-floor window in the NW wall is broken out, though the inner embrasure, which rises from floor level into the vault, survives. There is a wall cupboard in the W side of the embrasure. There was also a window at the NW end of the SW wall, though only the NW side of the inner and outer embrasure survives. Between first and second-floor level there is a garderobe chamber, lit by a round-headed loop at the SW end of the NW wall. It is likely that this chamber was accessed from a mural chamber in the NE wall. The garderobe chute was possibly reused as a chimney flue during later occupation, as the internal masonry of the chute has collapsed, possibly having been quarried into to provide fireplaces. The second-floor chamber was lit by a two-light ogee-headed window in the NW wall, with external hood-moulding. The remains of internal wall plaster at first-floor level possibly date to the last period of occupation. The interior space at ground level contains a large deposit of sod-covered masonry at the NW and NE sides. A mature thorn tree is located in the E corner and a dense clump of briars are located along the SE side. According to local information, the tower house was struck by lightning a few hundred years ago and large blocks of masonry broke off. Some of these were apparently broken up and drawn away to construct field walls and outbuildings in the vicinity. Since then, at least three large blocks of masonry have fallen and are resting on the SW side of the bawn platform (CL035-055001-). The tower house well (CL035-055003-) is c. 35m to ESE of the surviving castle ruin. The following items have been uploaded: CL035-055002-_01.jpg From E. Landscape view of tower house and bawn. CL035-055002-_02.jpg From NE. Landscape view of tower house and bawn. CL035-055002-_03.jpg From SE. Interior of NW-wall: First and second floor level. CL035-055002-_04.jpg From SSW. Exterior of short return of SW-wall. CL035-055002-_01.pdf 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. Compiled by: Mary Tunney, Alison McQueen and Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 9 January 2018