Castle — unclassified in Garrynamann Lower

On top of a glacial deposit on a flat island with Kings River c. 80m to N-NE and a steam which flows from Kings River to the W and runs 20m S of the motte and bailey (KK027-029001-) before rejoining Kings River to the SE. The bailey is raised above the island, which is probably liable to flood. The ground around the base of the bailey was formerly marshy but has been reclaimed (Ó Drisceoil 2006, 262). There are good views E and W along valley floor, but otherwise the view is impeded by rising ground to N and S of the rivers. The bawn follows the perimeter of an earlier bailey which adjoins a motte (KK027-029001-). The motte and bailey was probably built by Geoffrey FitzRoberts in 1192-3 when he founded the town of Kells (Empey 1984, 36). Early 13th-century references to the ‘castelli’ at Kells are likely to relate to the castle on the motte which was probably timber (ibid, 36-7). An inquisition of 1621 mentions the ‘fortilagium’ of Kells which may relate to the bawn (ibid., 37). The FitzRobert lordship ended c. 1308-1312, passing to a succession of absentee lords in the 14th century, including le Poers, Berminghams and Prestons and then in the 15th century to Thomas Butler, prior of Kilmainham and his heirs and in the 16th and 17th centuries to the Viscounts Mountgarret (ibid.). The ground level within the bailey/bawn slopes to the NW and is undulating, with a number of low mounds and hollows. There is no visible trace at ground level within the bawn of a masonry castle (KK027-029002-), which may have been built contemporaneously with the bawn. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 16 November 2017