Castle (in Ruins) — Kilbolane

At the W end of a low plateau; the ground falls away to the N, W and S. The original form of this keepless 13th-century castle was probably a square ward enclosed by a curtain wall with a circular tower at each corner, but only the SW curtain wall (L 38m), the S and W towers, and a length of the NW wall (L 29.8m) now stand (see plan in McNeill 1997, 140). It is an example of an 'enclosure' castle. The curtain wall (H c. 6m; T 1.8m) and towers were built of random rubble, with a pronounced low base batter. Parts of the deep moat that would have surrounded the castle also survive. The remainder of the castle was demolished c. 1696 to provide stone for nearby Kilbolane House (CO001-029----) (Bowen 1942, 78). Kilbolane house, now demolished was described by Bence-Jones (1978, 164) as a 'house built 1695...by John Bowen whose family had hitherto lived in a lean-to within walls of castle. House of 2-storey over basement, 5-bay front. Refaced with 1-bay central breakfront with Wyatt windows and a fanlighted doorway'. The castle was probably built in the late 13th century by Maurice de Rochford (MacCotter and Nicholls 1996, 205), and was acquired in the late 14th century by Thomas mac Shane FitzGibbon (ibid. 206). It was extensively renovated in the 15th century, when the upper levels of the towers and curtain walls were rebuilt and new vaulted ceilings were inserted in the towers (Heritage Castles of County Cork 2017, 68). Mac Shane's descendants held the castle until 1587 when it was granted to Hugh Cuffe; it was subsequently regained by the Gibbon heiress, Helena, and her husband William Power of Co. Waterford, whose descendants held Kilbolane until the mid-17th century (ibid., 244-5). The W tower is entered at ground-floor level through a doorway on its E side, from within the ward; there is a round masonry arch over the door but much of the surround has fallen. A circular ground-floor chamber (diam. 4m) is roofed by a flattened vault. It is lit by two windows, to the N and SW; both embrasures are roofed by flat segmental vaults, with slit lights. A door, in the S side of the SW window, leads to a curving mural stairs which rises to a lintelled door giving access to an hexagonal 1st-floor chamber (diam. 4m), roofed by a high pointed vault with wicker centering. The junction of wall-top and vault is crudely built, suggesting the vault may be an insertion. It is lit by windows in the W and SW sides, with both embrasures splayed and roofed by segmental vaults. The SW window has stone seats and a single ogee-head light. A partially collapsed door on the NE side leads to a short mural chamber (L 1.7m; Wth 0.6m) in the tower wall, and probably onto the wall-walk of the NW curtain wall but this area is now ruinous. Only the overgrown stump of the tower survives at 2nd-floor level. The S tower is entered at ground-floor level through a doorway to the N, from inside the ward. The round-headed door was rebuilt, as were other features in the tower, probably when it was fitted out in the late 17th century as a family residence (ibid., 58-9). The doorway passage has a collapsed vaulted roof; the chamber overhead (L c. 2m; Wth c. 1.4m) is covered by a segmental wicker-centered vault, and probably had a murder hole in the floor; there is a blocked passage on the N side of the doorway. A door with a concrete arch leads into a circular ground-floor chamber (diam. 2.75m), roofed by an unusual tent-shaped vault with wicker centering. It is lit by windows to the S and SW, slit lights with embrasures roofed by flat vaults with plank centering; there is a gun loop on the S side of the SW window. At the junction of the SE curtain (only the stump of which survives) and the S tower, at 1st-floor level, is an inserted door with a rounded brick arch. This gives access to spiral stairs, leading down to blocking at ground-floor level and up to the 1st-floor chamber of the S tower; the stairs may originally have been accessed from the ground-floor doorway into the tower. The circular 1st-floor chamber (diam. 4m) is roofed by a high pointed domed vault with wicker centering. It is lit by windows to the NW and S: the S embrasure has stone seats but the light missing; the NW one has a single ogee-headed light. A pointed-arch door, with the S jamb missing, leads N from the chamber into a mural passage in the SW curtain wall; a passage, roofed by a wicker-centered vault, extends 10m to where the drawbar socket and hanging eye for the door survive; the curtain wall does not survive at this height beyond the door, but the door may have led onto a wall walk. At the S end of the passage, on the E side, a narrow stairway rises c. 3m before continuing as a spiral to the 2nd-floor level; here, a mural passage, covered by a wicker-centered vault, in the SW curtain wall, leads to a garderobe. The spiral stairs appear to have continued up to the 2nd-floor level, but this area has now collapsed. The SW curtain wall (L 38m) has a moat (Wth c. 9m; D c. 1.1m) immediately outside of it for most of its length. The NW curtain (surviving L 29.8m) has an inserted door 16m from the W tower; this was probably inserted when Kilbolane House was built on this side of the castle (see above). The foundations of the wall (L c. 3m), with the base of the doorway, butts against the inside face of the curtain wall 7.3m SW of the inserted door. The NE curtain is entirely missing but part of the moat survives on this side (Wth c. 7m; D 2.15m) with a straight vertical facing on the inside (SW) edge. Roughly in the centre of the ward a low tin-roofed structure covers a circular well (diam. c. 0.5m). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Cork. Volume 4: North Cork' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2000). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. See also Heritage Castles of County Cork (Cork: Heritage Unit of Cork County Council, 2017), p. 66-8. This is a National Monument in State Guardianship (no. 490). See attached photographs CO001-021----_01: S tower, from SE. CO001-021----_02: S tower and internal face of SW curtain wall, from N. CO001-021----_03: W tower from W. CO001-021----_04: S tower and internal face of SW curtain wall, from E. CO001-021----_05: S tower and external face of SW curtain wall, from S. Date of upload/revision: 14 January 2009 and 18 May 2023