Ballymaquiff Castle (in ruins) — Ballymaquiff North

In pastureland on the summit of a low ridge c. 15m to the W of the Claremorris to Limerick railway line. In existence in 1574 when 'Bally McDuffe' castle was in the possession of 'Redmund McHubert' (Nolan 1901, 113). It comprises a fairly well-preserved rectangular tower (10.4m NE-SW; 9m NW-SE) at least four storeys high. The original doorway, centrally placed in the NE wall, gives access to a lobby with a murder-hole above. From the lobby, doorways lead to the spiral stairs in the N corner, the guardroom to the S and to main ground-floor room. There are subsidiary chambers to the NE of the main rooms on the 1st floor and between the 2nd/3rd floors. Stone vaults exist between 1st/2nd and 2nd/3rd floors. There are fireplaces in the SE walls of the ground and 2nd floors, the former is an insertion into a window embrasure. A passage opening off the stairs between 2nd/3rd floors, runs along the NW wall to a garderobe in the W corner, its exit chute is visible externally at the base of the SW wall. An intramural passage also opens off the side of a window embrasure in the SW wall on the 2nd floor. It runs SE and may possibly lead to a concealed chamber below it in the thickness of the vault arch. Little or no trace of the side-walls of the 3rd floor remain. All the surviving windows are flat, round or ogee-headed single lights. Wicker-centring survives on the main vaults, the vault of the guardroom and on some of the window embrasures. A short length of walling (L c. 3m, H 2m) abuts the mid-point of the SE wall of the castle; it runs SE to edge of a scarp. It could possibly be part of original bawn wall. (O'Flanagan 1927, Vol. 2, 601) Compiled by: Galway Archaeological Survey, UCG Date of upload: 23 August 2021