Coortaur Castle (in ruins) — Ennisnag

On the brow of an E-facing slope overlooking the valley of the Kings River to the SE. The Kings River is 430m to the SSE and at this point a bridge is indicated on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Shillelogher, County Kilkenny. Formerly in the NE angle of a farmyard which was subsequently demolished. A large farm shed immediately NW of the castle location is visible on satellite imagery (Google Earth, imagery date 13 August 2015), it, along with another large shed to the N of it, had been removed by March 2017 (Google Earth, imagery date 24 March 2017). Depicted on the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Shillelogher, County Kilkenny as ‘Enessnagge’ castle within ‘Enishnagge Parish’ (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). On the 1st (1839) ed. OS 6-inch map it is indicated as, ‘Coortaur Castle (in ruins)’, while at the same location on the subsequent 1948 revision a cross marks, ‘Ennisnag Castle (Site of). The 25-inch OS map shows three walls of the castle standing, only the N wall is missing. It is described in the OS Letters (1839) as, ‘a ruined Castle in the same Townland, parts of the east and south walls only remaining, with the butt of a small round tower at its south west angle. It is called Innisnag Castle; [it] was twenty nine feet [8.8m] by nineteen [5.8m]; walls six feet [1.8m] thick’ (O’Flanagan 1930, vol. 1, 276 (93)). Carrigan (1905, vol. 3, 374) notes that, ‘The castle of Ennisnag has been taken down, for the most part, but its ruins still remain to a height of several feet. On the Ordnance Survey Map it is entered as “Courtaur Castle,” which is a misprint for “Court or Castle.”. It is no longer visible at ground level. See attached: KK027-018----_01 Extract from the Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Shillelogher, County Kilkenny as ‘Enessnagge’ castle within ‘Enishnagge Parish’ (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 27 March 2023