Castle Ruins — Glaspistol

Three storeys high and built of limestone blocks and greywacke roughly coursed, with a slight batter all the way round its base. It has a tower at the NE angle which projects eastwards, rises above the level of the tops of the walls of the main building and contains the stairwell. On the outer face of the N wall there is clear evidence of the pitch of a roof of another building which was formerly attached to that side of the tower house. The original doorway, which is E of centre in the N wall, has only two jambs surviving and these are at the W side. The NW angle has a tower which rises above the level of the tops of the walls and would have matched the NE tower in height were it not broken. It has a narrow ope at second-floor level constructed of punch- dressed limestone with a single lintel and sill stones. There is a plain rectangular ope almost directly over the doorway at first-floor level and a slit in the N face of the N angle at the same level. The E wall has a window at first-floor level with a hood moulding and decorated panels. There is a two-light window above it at the second-floor level, constructed of hammer dressed limestone, and a single-light ogee-headed window with hood moulding immediately above it at third-floor level. There is an armorial plaque on the outer face of the E wall just below the two-light window. The S wall has a large rectangular opening at ground level, now blocked, similar to one at first-floor level which has limestone jambs with a late type of punch dressing. This wall also has a blocked two-light window at second-floor level. The W wall is covered with ivy and other than a slit ope at first-floor level no features can be discerned from the outside. The entrance to the stairwell is to the E side of the main doorway and has a two-centred arch of finely punch-dressed limestone. A murder hole, square in plan, is situated overhead between the entrance to the stairwell and the main doorway. There is a barrel vault with wicker centring over the ground floor. It has a double-splayed ope at the E and W gable ends, and one in the W wall with a large embrasure. There are two cubby-holes in the S wall and one in the N side of the embrasure of the ope in the W wall. There is a rectangular guardroom to the W of the entrance with a large cubby hole in its W wall and a single-splayed ope in the N side. At the first-floor level there is a fireplace in the N wall. Its lower jambs are still in place and are of chamfered punch-dressed limestone. A chimney stack, presumably a later addition, rises above the level of the tops of the walls and is supported by masonry fill between it and the NW angle-tower. A doorway in the centre of the W wall at first-floor level gives access to a mural passage, which to the S leads to a single-splayed ope and to the N to the garderobe recess which is U-shaped in plan. The second floor was carried on corbels set in the N and S walls, beams in the E wall and on the thickness of the W wall. There is no easy access at present to the second floor but it can be clearly seen from the stairwell that the mural passage at this level in the W wall only existed at the N side where the garderobe is contained. The roof over the second-floor level was carried by large beams. The third-floor level had a low head clearance, being only c. 1.5m high, and was not accessible from the stairwell. This level may have been used for storage and access was probably gained by wooden steps from the second floor. This arrangement is also found at Dunmahon (LH012-018----). The towers at the NW and NE angles rise above the tops of the walls by c. 2m. The doorway to the first floor level from the stairwell has a two-centred arch of punch-dressed limestone with bar holes behind the jambs. This is not repeated in the doorway at the second-floor level. The wall walk could be reached via the stairwell but is no longer accessible. (Wright 1758, bk II, pl. XIII; D'Alton 1844, 405) The above 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: 17 July 2007