Reeves Castle — Reeves

The castle is marked on the Down Survey (1655-6). On the E side of a bawn (KD015-002002-) located on a short, low, pasture spur which projects NE into tillage, c. 700m S of the River Liffey. A small, fairly well-preserved, almost square (dims. L 6.6m N-S; Wth 6.1m), four-storied, unvaulted structure, with a semi-circular stairs-tower projecting E from the SE angle, is built of randomly coursed, unbattered, limestone blocks with roughly dressed quoins (av. wall T 0.85m). The building is entered through a modern doorway (Wth 1.15m; H 2.1m), with a redbrick, flat-arched top, centrally placed in the W wall, which is probably broken through an older window ope. A modern rectangular ope (Wth 0.4m; H 0.7m) pierces the wall immediately S of the doorway. Ground-floor level has a modern, concrete floor and is lit by a centrally placed loop in a narrow embrasure in the N wall. Heavy plaster obscures other features including the original, pointed-arched doorway (Wth 0.75m; H 1.14m) at the E end of the S wall, which is only visible on the outer wall face, which is abutted by a late-18th/19th century farmhouse, now uninhabited. A low, square-headed doorway (Wth 0.7m; H 1.4m) at the S end of the E wall gives access to the projecting, semi-circular tower (int. diam 1.4m) containing a spiral stairs (clockwise), which is lit by four loops; two looking N (between ground and first-floor level, and between first and second-floor level) and two looking S (at first and third-floor levels). First-floor level is accessed off the stairs through a plain, square-headed doorway. Its wooden floor, at 2.07m above ground floor level and supported on a large, central, reinforced steel joist, may be higher than the original floor level, and was used as a granary. This level is lit by a plain, square-headed window in a gently splaying embrasure which has a gently rising top and a steeply plunging sill, centrally placed in the W wall, and by a loop in a square-headed embrasure with gently falling sill, centrally placed in the N wall. A central window in the S wall is broken out as a doorway giving access to the adjoining farmhouse. Second-floor level is accessed off the stairs through a fine pointed-arched doorway. This floor is lit by loops in gently splaying embrasures centrally placed in each wall, the loop in the S wall now plastered over but visible on the outer wall face. Third-floor level is accessed off the stairs through a plain, square-headed doorway, and is lit by centrally placed loops, in gently splaying embrasures, in each wall. Access is blocked to the battlements which are reduced to a few courses in height and sloped down from E to W to carry a modern corrugated roof. A string course projects (Wth 0.15-0.2m) under the battlement line and small gutter holes survive on the E wall and at the higher, E ends of the N and S walls. Traces of a defended gate-arch on the W side of the castle are visible on the outer wall face at the N end of the W wall. Here the E jamb (H 2.2m) of a gate arch, of very well-dressed quoins survives, with a scar-line of robbed-out quoins above at second floor level from where an arch stone springs W. Also associated is a blocked doorway with massive jamb stones, but with only a thin flag lintel, which gave access from the tower house to a narrow rectangular guard chamber above and inside the gate arch, the scar lines of which are visible to the N and S of the doorway. An armorial stone (KD015-002003-) is affixed to a wall of the adjacent, farmhouse. (CUCAP BOC 39) A ringfort site (KD015-001----) lies c. 75m to the NW. Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 10 June 2011