Castle — Ballyowen

Ballyowen Castle is a 16th/17th century fortified house (Gowen 1995, unpub. ). A drawing by Beranger (1766) shows a large rectangular building with a projecting corner turret (Harbison 1998, 56-7). The existing structure is rectangular in plan (L 11.6m, Wth 5.7m) which survives to first floor level with a projecting NE corner turret. It is built of roughly coursed masonry. The main chamber is entered from the ground floor through round arched doorway (now blocked) which is centrally placed. The external face of the door has a carved stone surround with a rounded arch and protruding keystone. It displays a bar-bolt recess. There are also later inserted doorways in the E wall. The interior is lit by a small rectangular window in the N wall between the doorway and the turret, and a possible ope with a segmented arch in the W wall. The square turret rises to two storeys and is lit by plain square opes. There are four entrances into it, an external blocked doorwayin the E wall, an entrance at ground floor level in the S wall, a second entrance at first floor level in the S wall and a possible entrance at second floor level in the S wall. A series of beam slots suggest that the turret originally had a semi-basement. Musket loops are located at thislevel in the N and W wall (Simpson 1996, Joyce 1912, 355; Irish Builder 1897, 22). A scar of a wall which was bonded into the turret indicates the former existence of a N range. Excavations in 1995, prior to development identified a clay-bonded wall lying to the N of the castle associated with medieval pottery, interpreted as a stone-building of 15th-century date. Remains of a large stone building were also revealed to the E of the castle. This was rectangular in plan with a chimney in the E wall and pre-dated the castle (Simpson 1996, 28). Compiled by: Geraldine Stout Date of upload: 26 August 2011