Castle — Portanure

Associated with a fortified house (LF025-006001-). On the 1837 edition of the OS 6-inch map this rectangular bawn (c. 63m ENE–WSW; c. 42m NNW–SSE), possibly of late 16th/early 17th-century date, is shown intact. A building protruding from the centre of the E wall may have been a gatehouse or the fortified house. Angle towers are evident on all four corners. On the OS 25-inch plan (surveyed 1911), the S half of the E wall and most of the S wall do not survive. Only two angle towers are shown: a circular one at the SE corner and a square-shaped one at SW. A building occupies the NE angle of the interior. When visited in 1976 (SMR file) the bawn (H c. 4m) was very ruined but good sections of the walls remained in place on the E, S and W sides. Sections of the W and N walls had been partly rebuilt. Both of the angle towers (H SE tower c. 4m) survived and gun loops were evident on the ground floors of both. The interior was used as a farmyard and a house was built in the NE corner. Little now survives of the E wall and its S half has been re-pointed in recent years. Most of the S wall has been levelled and only a short section of its E end survives. Sheds have been built against the interior of the W wall. The N wall is intact for most of its length but it has been reduced to half of its original height. The angle tower (ext. diam. c. 4.4m) at SE survives to a height of two storeys. It is constructed of uncoursed rubble limestone. Gun loops are evident on both floor levels and there is a narrow, slit ope on the first floor. No visible surface trace of the SW angle tower survives; a haybarn occupies its site. The interior is still used as a farmyard and a number of outbuildings have been constructed within it. A dovecote (LF025-007----) lies c. 60m to the SSE. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 24 September 2012