The College (in Ruins) — Townparks (ardee By.)

The following description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 17 July 2007 A three-storeyed rectangular building of limestone and greywacke rubble with some well-cut limestone quoins. It was originally larger with a further building at the N side of the standing remains. The ground floor has a barrel vault running E-W and a doorway in W end of the N wall. The doorway has hammer-dressed blocks of limestone for its jambs with a semi-circular arch of greywacke and limestone. There was an opening in the S wall (Wth c. 0.9m), now blocked, which has punch-dressed limestone jambs and is the remains of the original outer doorway, the one in the N wall being an internal opening which led to the now-missing portion of the building. A square-shaped murder hole, now blocked at first-floor level, can be observed over the original entrance. A blocked window can be seen immediately to the E of the N doorway but it is evident that the ope was made in the wall after the destruction of the N portion of the building. Access to the first-floor must have been gained from the ground-floor level in the now completely destroyed N part of the building, possibly at the NE angle of the present structure where there appears to be the central pillar for a spiral staircase. There is a fireplace in the W gable at first-floor level, probably a later insertion, and the remains of a stairwell in the NE angle which ascended to the second floor. The stairwell spirals anticlockwise to the second floor, giving access to the formerly existing N portion, and some of the corbels to carry it can be seen in the N wall. There is a single-splayed ope at first-floor level in the E wall of the NE angle, and a semi-circular recessed area which contains the garderobe with a chute (0.3m sq.), the exit of which is now blocked at ground-floor level. The recess has a max. depth of c. 0.6m and a height of c. 1.35m. In the N face of the N wall there are the remains of another fireplace which belonged to the now-destroyed N portion of the building. There is a third fireplace at second-floor level in the E gable, while a further one appears to be inserted at this level in the W wall which effectively blocked off a simple slit ope that can be observed from the outside. The second floor was wooden and was supported on beams set into wall recesses. There are broken-out openings in the E and S walls which were presumably originally window opes. The college was built in 1487 by Walter Verdon (Tempest 1952b, 145) as a residence for the chantry chaplains, but later alterations took place on the N side in the sixteenth century and in modern times when it was used for storage, probably for grain. (CLAJ 1939, 181-208)