Coolhill Castle (in ruins) — Coolhill

At the edge of a NE-facing slope, on top of a steep tree-covered precipice on the S side of the River Barrow with an extensive view to the NW-N-NE overlooking the river valley and beyond. The tower house was in the possession of the Mountgarret family in 1621 and was confiscated in 1653 (Carrigan 1905, vol. 4, 126). A four-storey circular late 15th/16th-century tower house (ext. diam. 10.8m) composed of granite rubble, roughly coursed, with a rectangular garderobe turret (ext. dims. 2m x 2.4m) projecting from the NW . The tower house is built on rock outcrop, some of which is visible internally at ground-floor level. At parapet level there are the remains of three machicolations, one above the main entrance in the E, the others in the SE and SW. The tower house was entered through a pointed doorway, only the uppermost S jamb and S side of the door-head of which survive. A yett-hole in the S jamb indicates that the doorway was originally protected by a yett. The entrance lobby is protected internally by a murder-hole. A pointed doorway opposite the main entrance leads into the ground-floor chamber which is vaulted, with very good survival of wicker-centring. The ground floor (int. diam. 5.1m) was lit by two single-light round-headed loops to the N and W, the former with a rectangular gun-loop in its W embrasure, and a cross-loop in the NE, all within large embrasures. There is a large recess in the SW similar to the embrasures but with no evidence of a loop. A pointed doorway on the S side of the entrance lobby gives access to a spiral stair which rises in the SE wall. The stair well is lit by a number of rectangular loops and also has gun-loops, including an equal-armed cross-loop opposite the doorway at first-floor level. The first floor (int. diam. 5.35m) is entered via a pointed doorway. It has three large embrasures, that to the N has a broken out single-light window with a wall-cupboard on the E side, that to the E has a rectangular gun-loop with head and lintel of which splay downward, with a wall cupboard on either side and the opening to the murder-hole is in the floor of the embrasure, while that to the W has a rectangular single-light window with a gun-loop to the S. Immediately N of the W embrasure there is a doorway giving access to the L-shaped passage of the garderobe, the passage has a window with a slop-stone beneath the sill and the garderobe itself is lit by two single-light windows, one on each side of the turret. Within the main chamber there are also three wall cupboards . The second floor, entered via a pointed doorway from the stair, was carried on a wooden floor. The windows are organised as at first-floor level, with wall cupboards in the N and E embrasures. There is also gun-loop in the SW wall. It has a similar arrangement of a passage in the W to a garderobe in the turret. In the main chamber there is a fireplace in the NW wall. The third floor, which also rested on a timber floor, has a similar arrangement to the rooms below. The windows are largely broken out, though according to Carrigan (1905, vol. 4, 126) one of these was a round-headed three-light window. It was entered via a pointed doorway, which has an upper jamb on the N side which projects internally to form a small ledge (L 0.48m; D 0.14m; Wth at top 0.12; Wth at base 0.18m) which tapers in towards the wall to N. There is a fireplace in the NE wall, the surrounds of which are broken out. The broken out loop in the garderobe passage in the NW has a slop stone beneath the sill. In the SSW there is a mural stair giving access to the parapet, it narrows as it rises. The parapet only partially survives in the SE and the machicolation here is higher than the other two, the supporting corbels project from the parapet wall, in contrast to the others where the supporting corbels project from the wall of the tower below the parapet. (National Monument No. 646) Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 23 August 2016