Castle — tower house in Liberties OF Carlingford

Remnants of a late medieval fortified tower house dating to the 15th/16th century survive in the basement of the 'Watch Tower'. Originally this tower house would have overlooked the medieval harbour. Little is known of its history but it may be one of the three castles which Captain Venables refers to in his account of the assault and capture of Carlingford in September 1649. (Gosling 1992, 45) The building was converted for use by the Coast Guard in the nineteenth century. All that survives of the medieval building is a high vaulted ground floor (int. dims. 7.2m E-W; 4.82m N-S) entered through double doors (Wth 2.3m; H at centre 2.25m) from the lower level facing the harbour. The Coast Guard had clad the entire interior with tongued and grooved timber and had inserted a wooden stairs into the west wall, connecting the basement with the more modern section above. Removal of some of the timber cladding in 2008 allowed for more detailed survey of the structure. Externally the building is rectangular (10.62 E-W; 7.95 N-S) and is entirely plastered. There is a narrow modern extension on the north side. On east side facing the harbour there is a slight base batter (H c. 1.5m; max projection of c. 0.2m). The N, S and E walls are 1.52 to 1.60m thick. The vault is rounded in shape and in the centre is 4.3m above the present modern brick floor, with the springing starting 2.5m above floor level. There are two modern windows in the S wall, which are likely to have removed all traces of earlier openings that may have been in these locations. Near the E end of the N wall is a double-splayed loop with a lintelled head (int. H 0.85m; Wth 0.65m). Towards the W end of the N wall there is a high-level (1.94m above floor) small cupboard (Wth 0.51m; H 0.43m) with a wooden frame around it, with marks of hinges at each side for two small doors. It is rather rough inside with a good face only on the west side and lintels above. The W wall has been cut into and altered a number of times over the centuries. The latest of these involved the insertion of wooden stairs, contemporary with the nineteenth-century timber cladding. Before this stairs was inserted there appear to have been two large recesses in the wall. The recess to the south is rectangular in shape (Wth 1.13m; H 2.18m; D 0.86m). There are two heavy timber lintels at the top but behind these the opening continues upwards like a chimney flue to where it is cut across by the wooden stairs. The opening has rough light timber jambs at each side and the lower part has been filled in with masonry to a height of 1.27m. This was built around a stove pipe, which served a stove formerly sitting on the floor of the room in front of this alcove. The pipe continues upwards through the flue and a space was quarried through the wall for it to avoid the top of the stairs. The second recess is wider and higher (Wth 1.5m; D 1.34m) and its base is 1.1m above ground level. Its height before the stairs was put in is unknown as the rough opening for the stairs extends up beyond the vault, leaving the end of the vault visible in section from the west. Behind the remaining timber cladding there are traces of either an older well built flue or a doorway and in the north side of the present ragged opening there appears to be a blocked-up passage at a high level, possibly descending through the wall southwards with traces of a lintelled roof. Compiled by: Claire Breen and Con Manning Date of upload: 22 November 2011