Castle Bullock Castle — Bullock

The coastal castle of Bullock (Blóic) (DU023-020001-) now in the grounds of Our Lady’s Manor nursing home run by the Carmelite order stands on a natural rise of ground overlooking Bullock Harbour and quay (DU023-020004-) to the NE, a turret (DU023-020006-) stood 135m to the SE which was a mural tower on the ‘Old Town Wall’ (DU023-020002-) of the medieval settlement (DU023-020----) or fishing town of Bullock.  Bullock Martello Tower (DU023-033----) stands 380m to the SE. The historic town of Dalkey (DU023-023----) lies 780m to the S.  Sandycove Martello Tower (DU023-019----) is visible 520m to the NW.  Bullock Castle stands in the parish of Monkstown, in the archdiocese of Dublin, barony of Rathdown, in Dun-Laoghaire Rathdown.  Bullock castle consists of a gatehouse/gatetower with adjoining hall and solar or garedrobe tower which formed the northern perimeter of the bawn wall built to defend the medieval seaport and fishing village of Bullock.  The harbour and village of Bullock was protected by town defences described as an ‘Old Town Wall’ which had at least one angle tower located 135m to the S of the castle as shown on the 1837 edition of the Ordnance Survey six-inch map.  This stone wall was described by William Wakeman in 1848 as the castle of Bullock was ‘furnished with a bawn of this kind, but it is much larger than usual’ (Wakeman 1848, 141). The reference to the larger than usual bawn wall, is the description of the large walled area or masonry defences that protected the harbour, quay, castle and fishing village of Bullock.  The entrance to the fortified settlement and harbour was defended by the castle which stood on the N perimeter of the town/village defences. The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Dublin recorded that in Bullock there was ‘one Castle, slated, a Seaport, & a Bawne alsoe a good haven, the Buildings Valued by the Jury at one hundred poundes’ (Simington 1945, 268).   The 1655-59 Down Survey map of the parish of Kill and Monkstown depicted Bullock Castle as a small castellated tower with two dwellings and is annotated ‘Bullock Towne’ indicating a possible clustered settlement around the castle and harbour of Bullock (NLI, MS 714/52). On this map a line is depicted cutting off the headland/harbour of Bullock which may be the line of ‘Old Town Wall’ which enclosed the castle, harbour and settlement of Bullock. The terrier of the 1655-59 Down Survey map of Kill and Monkstown parish recorded that; ‘in Bullocke is a ffayre Antient Towne Fishing’ (NLI, MS 714/52).  In 1781 Bullock Castle and settlement was described by the Tipperary antiquarian and artist Austin Cooper as; ‘the small maritime village of Bullock which has likewise been mentioned by Mr. Wilson with the former, he is equally accurate……..This place tho’[ugh] much decayed exhibits a complete Walled town in Miniature, from the Cas[tl]e. a Wall extends east, to a small tower, part whereof still remains; & thence turning north, at a proportionate distance where Cabbin now stands; (but formerly a tower) (Price 1942, 68). Bullock Castle was described by William Wakeman in 1848 as follows; ‘Bullock castle is an oblong building, originally two stories high, with towers of unequal height, and rising above the body of the structure at either end. The seaward tower, upon the ground-floor, contains the original doorway and inner porch. From the right hand side of the latter feature rises a spiral stair, communicating to the upper apartments, and to a series of small rooms in the same tower, which appear to have been bedrooms. Beneath, or through the opposite tower, is a round-headed gateway, leading into the spacious courtyard or bawn of the castle. The upper portion of this tower was divided by floors into small closets, probably bedrooms. The apartments between the towers are large, measuring 23 feet 6 inches [7.2m], by about 17 feet [5.2m]. The first and second stories were furnished each with an ample fireplace and spacious deeply-recessed windows, with round or rather semicircular-headed opes. The ground-floor is vaulted by a heavy barrel arch of stone. There is a garderobe to the first floor, and the whole of the upper walls are gracefully battlemented, in a style which is almost peculiar to Ireland. At an angle of the bawn or courtyard, may be seen a small watch-tower with similar finishings’.   Today the castle stands on the SW shore of Bullock Harbour on elevated ground overlooking Harbour Road. Bullock castle or gatehouse consists of a low central rectangular block with higher projecting flanking towers on SW and SE angles. The tower on the SW angle contains the gateway into the bawn of Bullock castle, harbour and settlement.  The SE tower contains the spiral stairs which provides access to the upper levels of the castle and possible bedrooms with garderobes serving as a solar or bedroom tower.  The central block stands three storeys high with a crenellated parapet. The walls are built of randomly coursed granite with dressed granite quoins. A carved head with conical-shapel helmet with straight bar noseguard projects from a quoin stone on the SW corner of the S wall of the castle at first floor level. The ground floor consists of a barrel-vaulted chamber (int. dims. L 6.2m x Wth. 4.7m) that serves today as a chapel.  The castle is entered through a round segmental-arched doorway in the S wall of the garderobe tower on the SE angle. The interior of the ground floor chamber is lit by slit opes in the N and S walls. There is a wall-press or cupboard in the S wall. The W tower is accessed by a gated passage at ground level. A spiral stairway in the E tower provides access from the ground floor to the upper floors of the central tower. Between the ground and first floor of the central tower is a mezzanine level which has a corbelled roof. The central chamber on the first floor (int. dims. L 7.25m x Wth 5.1m) has a fireplace in the centre of the N wall. The interior of the first floor is lit by two slit opes and a tall round-headed window in the N wall. There are small chambers off to the SE, NE and W side of the central chamber. The SE chamber is corbelled and contains a wall-press. Its interior is lit by slit opes.  On the second floor of the central tower there is a fireplace in the N wall, which is blocked up. The original corbels for the hood are present. There is a round-headed window in the W wall with a stepped embrasure. A chamber in the W tower is entered off the central chamber through a pointed arched opening. A second chamber is visible in the NE angle, it is entered through a pointed-arched doorway with a lintelled chamber off to the side. There is a third chamber known as the 'Abbots room' which is entered off the staircase leading to the wall-walk. It has a corbelled roof with a wall-press in the SW corner and is lit by single-light opes. The wall-walk at parapet level has stepped battlements.  Bullock Castle and Turret or bawn tower was painted by James Arthur O'Connor in 1830 with the title ‘A view of Bullock Castle and Bawn, Dalkey, Co. Dublin’.  The building was described recently by Christies Auction House as follows; 'Bullock Castle stands about two miles east of Dun Laoghaire harbour just above the shore of Dublin Bay Harbour on the road to Dalkey. It is thought to have been built by the Cistercian Monks of St. Mary's Abbey, Dublin, in order to protect their fishing rights. Following the suppression of the monasteries during King Henry VIII's reign it was leased to the Crown and later in the 16th Century it became the property of two brothers, Christopher and Richard Fagan, both of whom became Lord Mayors of Dublin. The ruined tower [DU023-020002-] to the left of the composition was a watch tower or defence in the curtain wall which extends to the right of the picture, which was built to protect the small harbour which could originally be reached only through an arch in the castle which still exists.  The two storey pedimented house in front of the castle was built in the first half of the 18th century, remodelled or rebuilt in the 19th Century, and demolished in the 1980s. The tower which was shown in ordnance survey maps of 1837 was demolished circa 1850. The castle itself, which has been restored, now forms part of Our Lady's Manor Nursing Home. In the background of the picture can also be seen Martello tower [DU023-019----] number 11 (South Dublin), Sandycove Point, one of the many built circa 1804-5 in order to defend Dublin from the possibility of invasion by the French under Napoleon Bonaparte' (https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-4089640).   Bullock harbour was associated in the medieval period with the Cistercian monastery of St Mary's Abbey (DU018-020048-), Dublin.  In 1345-6 a suit between Philip Wafre, Abbot of St Mary’s Abbey between 1337-51 and Walter de Bermyngham, Justiciar of Ireland between 1345-6 established the monasteries claim to the fishing tolls from Bullock by proving that Bullock was part of the manor Carrickbrennan, held by St Mary’s Abbey under a charter granted by Henry II, King of England between 1154-1189.  The abbot of the monastery or one of his officials had the right to select one fish from every fish-laden vessel which entered the port of Bullock (Gilbert 1884, Vol. 1, xlii).  In 1539-40 at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the lands and possessions of St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin, included the ‘Villata of Bloyke’ town of Bullock, whose chief tenants were Patrick Bermingham and John Gaben who were in the possession of two meassuages/dwellings in Bullock (Gilbert 1884, Vol. 2, 64). The 1654-56 Civil Survey of Dublin recorded that in 1641 the lands of Bullock in the parish of Monkstown, amounting to 90 Irish acres was in the possession of Christopher Fagan of Feltrim Castle (DU015-038----) near Swords, who is described as an ‘Irish Papist’ (Simington 1945, 268).  According to this survey the ‘Chief fish, Tith[e] fish, Custome fish, & Corne Tithes’ belonged to the owner of Bullock Castle.  In 1694 the tithes of the forfeited estate of Richard Fagan of Feltrim which included the ‘Tythes of Hay, Corn & Fish of Bullock’ were granted to Thomas Lord Coningsby of Hampton Court Castle, Herefordshire.  In 1703 John Allen of Stillorgan House (DU023-012001-) paid the sum of £1,750 to the Trustees of Forfeitures of 1688 for the forfeited lands of Bullock which included the ‘Lands of Bullock, with all Houses, Ways, Fishings & c. thereto' which was the ‘Estate of Richard Fagan, attainted’ (VRTI NAI Lodge/9/322).  Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien