Ballygeehin Castle (in Ruins) — Ballygeehin Lower

Owned by the Fitzpatricks, Lords of Upper Ossory. The castle was burned down in 1600 to prevent it being converted into an English garrison (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 56). Partial remains of NE wall (L c. 16.2m), SW wall (L c. 7.3m) and NE angle tower survive of this uncoursed rubble limestone tower house with a slight base-batter. Evidence of a barrel-vaulted entrance way running NE-SW. Large splayed ope in NE wall at first-floor level. Bawn wall (LA023-035001-) (wall T c. 1.1m) with a series of gun loops is attached to SE angle encloses an almost circular area. According to Carrigan the townland name means the Town of O'Gihin or O'Gahan. The castle was described by Carrigan as 'a very curious old building. It is 45 ft. long externally, and only 12 ft. wide internally, with a projection at the north-east corner, rectangular below and rounded above. The east side-wall is 30 ft. high; the south wall is entirely destroyed; some fragments of the other walls remain. The walls are from 3 and a half to 4 ft. thick, but to strengthen the west side-wall, another wall of the same thickness was built up against it all along the outside. The courtyard (LA023-035001-) wall is still in fair preservation; it is 12 ft. high all round and was, together with the castle surrounded by a deep fosse' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 56). Revisited and surveyed by Michael Moore on the 30 May 1994 and described a situated on gently rolling country with a hill c. 300m to NNW, wide views all around. Only the NE wall survives to a max. height of c. 4m. It has a slight external base batter. The outline of the rest of the structure can be made out through cairn material (H c. 1m). The only features on the tower house (ext. dims. 12m NW-SE; 7.05m NE-SW) are a putlog hole near the N angle, a destroyed light, a large embrasure (Wth. 2.7m) with a high round arch. There are two small lights in this embrasure. There is a wall built onto the N angle of the tower house, it is at an obtuse angle to the tower house and it is not belonging to a projecting tower but that of a bawn wall (LA023-035001-). The tower house itself has no sign of a barrel vault. Abutting the E angle of the tower house is the wall of the bawn (H 3m ; T 1m) with evidence of a wall walk along the bawn. It runs in straight line off to the S (L. 50m). The bawn was irregular in shape made up of at least 4 sections of straight sided walls, may have been at least octagonal in shape. The available area of the bawn measures 65m NE-SW; 41m NW-SE but the NE-SW dimension may have been 50m. There are four gun loops in the wall, two of them at a point where the wall changes direction sharply. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007