Old Barrack, Mill Land — Maryborough

According to the Annals of the Four Masters this fort was constructed by Francis Bryan, Marshall of Ireland, in 1548 on the lands of O'More. Originally known as 'Fort Protector' it was renamed Maryborough in honour of Queen Mary in 1556. Henry Wyse is described as captain of the 'Fort of Leix' in 1552 , while in 1565-6 Francis Cosbie was made constable of the fort, at this time its garrison consisted of 'one porter, one drummer, one ensign, one surgeon and 39 arquebusiers', (Bradley 1986, 51). The town was burnt in 1597 by Orie M'Rory O Mordha and again the following year. (O'Hanlon and O'Leary 1907, vol. 1, 429, 430, 476, 477). The fort was destroyed by Hewson and Reynolds the Cromwellian Generals in 1650 (Feehan 1983, 395). The ground plan of the fort is visible on map c. 1560. A rectangular enclosure (1120 x 1110 yards) with a projecting circular tower at NE corner and rectangular tower at SW corner. Entrance in W wall and in the S of the enclosure were a series of two-storied building. Outside was an external fosse partly fitted with water. The remains consist of N, S and E walls with a circular tower at NE corner (diam. c. 8m, wall T. c. 1.5m) and part of W wall. Within the fort was a rectangular building demolished about 1835 according to the OS letters (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 1, p. 74). Grose drew an illustration of the rectangular corner tower of the fort in the late eighteenth century (Bradley et al. 1986, 51). Situated on rising ground SW of the Triogue River. The ground plan of the fort is preserved in a map of c. 1560 and in another of late sixteenth century date, now in Trinity College, Dublin. These plans show a rectangular walled area (1024m x 1015m), with a projecting circular tower at the NE corner and a rectangular tower (17 yards x 14 yards) at the SW corner. The only entrance was in the W wall and a two storied range of buildings, described as 132 yards long, appear in the S quadrant of the fort. An external ditch partly filled with water is shown on the 1560 plan. This was subsequently backfilled and the owners of properties on Main St. acquired the extra piece of ground adjoining the wall of the fort. The line of the ditch is preserved in the kink which a number of these allotments have near the fort. The upstanding remains consist of the N, S and SE walls, a circular angle tower at NE angle, and a portion of the W wall. Sections are now concealed by later buildings and are inaccessible. The entrance was in the W wall in the portion which is now missing. The NW corner forms the boundary wall of the Technical School. The gapped lower section of the wall survives to a height of 2.5m and has an external batter. The NW corner is rounded and from here the wall continues eastwrads along Church St. where it forms the garden wall of two houses. The remainder of the Church St. section survives 5-6m high but is punctuated by entrances. Circular tower (int. diam. 8.2m; wall T 1.5m) at NE angle. Internally there is evidence for two floor offsets to accommodate the floor joists of a three storey high angle tower. The tower and the eastern section of the wall adjoining it is incorporated into the modern flour mill (Ranks Mills). The S end of the east wall borders Church Avenue where it has an external height of 3m but the interior is built up by landscaped school grounds. The S wall also borders the School grounds and survives to a height of 3.8m. The remaining short sections are presently behind the outbuildings and backyards of the houses fronting onto Main St (Bradley et al. 1986, 51-2). Excavations by Dominic Delany under licence number 03E0975 that were carried out in Church St during works carried out as part of the Portlaoise Broadband Project from June to December 2003. A cut, which may be associated with a moat surrounding the 16th century fort, was identified along Church Street. It was originally proposed to run the cable trench in the footpath close to the fort wall, but excavations at the W end of the street revealed a substantial culvert running immediately adjacent to the wall. At the E end of Church St a 1.25m square box was excavated that revealed a cut which probably represents the moat surrounding the 16th century fort (Bennett 2006, 297). Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 17 December 2007