Outlined — Englishtown,limerick City

National monument No. 383. Late medieval tower house known locally as Fanning’s Castle which stands at the S end of King's Island, E of Creagh Lane and S of Mary Street, 55m N of the Abbey River and 130m SSE of St Mary's Cathedral (LI005-017015-). The castle was named after the Fanning family who were in possession of this building in 1641. The castle was also known locally as Whitamore's Castle named after Whitamore's Inn which was described in the 17th century as facing the Old Tholsel in Mary Street (Limerick Leader July 15, 1950). However in the 17th century the Town Hall was housed in the Exchange, of which the portico still survives standing behind the chancel of St. Mary’s Cathedral. Thomas Dineley a visitor to the city in the late 17th century stated the 'The Inns of the best accommodacon are at Mr. Francis Whittemares' (Shirley 1886, 440). The footnotes to Dineley's diary stated 'Francis Whittamore was mayor of Limerick in 1682' and that Whittamore's Castle was located in Mary-street (ibid.) Conservation work was first carried out on the building by the state c. 1940 (ibid.). In the 1950 article in the Limerick Leader the building was described as following; 'The house dates from about 1500. It fronted originally on Mary Street, and the present conspicuous remains really represent the hind portion with fireplace, doorway, Tudor windows and a graderobe. North of the ruin a stump of ancient masonry behind Creagh Lane houses marks the former home of the most notable of the Fanning's, Dominic. In 1646 a peace treaty was rejected, the existing Mayor was deposed and Alderman Dominic Fanning was appointed by the clergy and the local people as the new Mayor of Limerick (Gilbert 1879, 699). He took a prominent part in the resistance to Ireton, was taken after the fall of the city and executed in November 1651'. Thomas Dineley recorded that Dominic Fanning, Mayor of Limerick City between 1646-52 had held out 'against Ireton Cromwells son in law, for which he was hanged at this own door & his house is demolished to this day' (Shirley 1866, 441-2). Described in the Urban Survey (Bradley et. al. 1989, 259-62) as following: ‘This five storied tower house is located on the south side of English town behind the Vocational school. It originally overlooked the Abbey River. It is in a poor state of preservation; only the south wall (c. 11.5m high) being completely intact, the east wall is largely intact but with modern modifications, the south return of the west wall survives and the north wall is completely missing. The masonry is roughly coursed limestone with dressed limestone quoins and all the windows and doors in the south wall have chamfered limestone jambs. The present ground level is built up, c.2-3m higher than in gardens to the west, and covers most of the ground floor. This may have been barrel-vaulted as a broad (3.75m) segmental arch, most of the keystones of which are modern replacements, is visible just above present ground level in the south wall (internally) and another protrudes c.75cm above external ground level at the rear (north). No features of the ground plan are visible internally but externally the south wall has a round headed doorway and a rectangular window/door both of which are now blocked. First Floor There is a large splayed twin-light rectangular window with flat rear arch and window seats, now mostly missing, and a splayed round-headed door, now missing its rear arch, in the south wall. This must have led to an external wooden stairs or balcony, supported on corbels which are now missing, although some survive on the upper floors. In the south east angle is a rectangular door leading to a narrow passage in the thickness of the east wall which projects to the south beyond the line of the south wall; this may have formed a stair turret with spiral stairs to upper floor but now is partly rebuilt and no trace of the stairs is evident. In the east wall was a large fireplace, now missing; the chimney flue rises up through second and third floors. There is also a small wall-cupboard beside the fireplace. The west wall is featureless apart from a possible blocked opening. Second floor There is a large splayed twin-light ogee-headed window in the south wall with window seats and a round headed doorway with flat rear arch. Two corbels are visible externally just below the door to the east and possibly another to the west which may have supported a balcony/stairs. Both window and door are spanned by a single segmental arch. In the east wall is a rectangular door, leading to the stair turret, and wall cupboard beside the chimney flue. The west wall has a blocked flat lintelled door, apparently original, although one jamb is modern. Third floor The south wall has a splayed twin-light ogee-headed window with a flat/segmental rear arch and window seats and a rectangular door with flat lintelled rear arch. No definite corbels to support a stairs or balcony are visible on this level externally although there is a projecting stone on the west side of the second floor door just below the arch and another projecting stone on the west side of the third floor door itself. Just above the door, to the west is a drainage chute. In the east wall is a rectangular door leading to the stair turret and a wall cupboard beside the chimney-flue. The stair turret rises only to third floor level; on ground, first and second floors, moreover, the east wall continues south beyond the stair turret. Fourth floor Externally the south wall rises uniformly (i.e. there is no gable) to a height of 11.5m but internally there is a stepped flat topped gable built against the outer wall. In this gable is a single light splayed round headed window with a flat/segmental rear arch and window seats. It would appear that the roof rested on this gable and that the east and west walls did not rise any higher than the third floor. On the east wall, north of the chimney a pediment supports a slightly thickened wall, possibly a wall walk around the base of the roof with external parapet. On both east and west walls this parapet rises sharply, by c.2.5m, one metre south of the south wall to provide a higher parapet for the south wall with gable end’. Described by Harbison (1970, 152) as; 'The somewhat disappointing walls of a four-storey house built by a Limerick merchant named Fanning in the late 16th or early 17th century. It has unusually wide windows. Another building was added to the house later'. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 18 April 2018