Whites [sic] Castle, Police Barrack — Athy

On the E bank of the River Barrow, beside Cromaboo Bridge (KD035-022008-). In 2006 and 2008, Mr. Ben Murtagh was engaged by the owner to conduct a historic building study of the structure and identified at least four construction phases (Murtagh 2011, 145-81). In the primary phase, in the first-half of the 16th-century, a four-storied rectangular (ext. 11.75m N-S; 9.35m E-W) ‘urban tower house’ with battlements and roof was constructed, and now forms the S-half of the present building on the site. Built of quarried roughly dressed grey limestone blocks laid in irregular courses with lime mortar, the walls have a base batter and well-dressed quoins on each corner. Although a modern render obscures many original features, and a later building obscures the N gable-wall face, some fine punch-dressed stones are visible on surviving original windows. On the W sidewall, an original cross-loop has a direct line of fire onto the adjoining bridge and two further blocked loops were identified in this wall. On the S gable wall, there are two single light windows; a round-headed one on the first floor and, directly above, an ogee-headed one. There is an angle loop in the SE corner, and a second possible blocked angle loop in the NE corner. The E sidewall contains two blocked single-light windows, one above the other. A pointed-arched doorway, with an external rebate for an iron grate, in the S gable wall - off the street - gave to a lobby with a guard room to the W and a staircase to the E. This doorway was subsequently closed down and a window inserted into it when a later doorway was inserted at the S end of the E sidewall. A crucifixion plaque (KD035-022018-) and a memorial stone (KD035-022023-) were inserted into the outer face of wall on either side of the original doorway. Later internal renovations and dry-lining obscured some original features. The main ground floor room, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, is almost square (5.2m N-S; 4.7m E-W), and was originally lit by three tall loops: one in the W wall which was replaced by a larger window, a round-headed loop in the N wall which had a later fireplace inserted into its embrasure, and an ogee-headed loop in the E wall. Large beam-sockets in the N wall indicate the original 4th floor-level. ‘Phase II’ occurred c.1802, when a three storey rectangular extension (9.45m N-S; 9m E-W) was added at the N, and doubled the size of the structure to facilitate its use as a prison in the aftermath of the 1798 rebellion. Three uniform floor levels were created throughout the entire structure, and the present battlements and hipped roof were constructed. On top of the W wall, some original gutter stones survive and indicate that the original wall-walk and roof was more-or-less at the same level as the present one. A passage way was created at ground floor-level in the N wall of the tower house to access the new structure in which vaulted cells lit by narrow loops were constructed to keep prisoners. Larger windows with iron bars were used at first and second floor-levels, and a number of similar windows were also inserted into the tower house, where it can be seen that they don’t match its original floor levels. ‘Phase III’ occurred between c. 1830, when the building become an RIC police barracks, and 1872, when renovations included the insertion of sash windows and the construction of a further small extension at the N end. ‘Phase IV’ lasted from the late19th-century to the present, when the structure was used as a private residence. The small N extension was removed and the interior was dry-lined. In 2006, archaeological excavation (Excavation Licence No. 06E0426) in the garden adjoining the castle to the E revealed an in-filled mill-race of apparently 18th-century date (Devine 2009, 236-7). Compiled by: Gearóid Conroy Date of upload: 11 December 2013