Black Castle (in ruins) — Loughgur

National Monument subject to a preservation order placed on the monument in 1976. Impressive castle known as Black Castle standing on the E shoreline of Lough Gur at the base of Knockadoon Hill with Lough Gur Castle (Bourchier's Castle) (LI032-022034-) 550m to N, site of Killalough Church (LI032-033----) 160m to SS and New Church (LI032-024001-) 510m to SSW. The castle stands on the E shoreline of Lough Gur with marshy land to W which prior to drainage works carried out in the 18th century formed part of the lake leaving the access to the castle via stone built causeway (LI032-031001-) which gave access to the S side of Knockadoon. Access onto the stone causeway was protected by a square-shaped castellated gateway (LI032-031002-) now levelled located 120m S of the curtain wall of Black Castle. This structure is marked as 'Gateway (Site of) on the revised OS 6-inch map. The stone causeway ran N from the gatehouse traversing the waters of Lough Gur running up to a second gatehouse projecting from the curtain wall (LI032-031003-) of Black Castle. Roughly midway along the stone causeway there is a deep water-filled ditch (approx. L 440m) running roughly E-W from the E shoreline of Lough Gur into the W side of the Balie Islands as depicted on the 1838 ed. OS 6-inch map. This drainage ditch appears to have been excavated by Henry Baylee of Lough Gur Castle in the 18th century in his attempt to lower the water levels on Lough Gur (Lenihan 1866, 725). The curtain wall of the castle has large cyclopean type masonry and has unusual shouldered window embrasures which possibly indicate a pre-Norman date. The wall thickness measuring 2.4m, the unusual window embrasures, the lack of a returning wall on the W, N and E sides suggest that this wall may have been a pre-Norman wall built originally as a straight stretch of wall cutting off the access onto Knockadoon in a similar fashion to a promontory fort. The impressive stone causeway may also have been constructed in the pre-Norman period and this stone wall may have been the pre-Norman Dún or fortification of Knockadoon which was then refortified in the medieval period with the construction of two gatehouses and a tower onto the SW angle which became known as 'Black Castle'. The castle appears to be a multi-period structure consisting of a rectangular-shaped tower (approx. int. dims. 7.6m x 4m; Wall T 2.3m) on SW angle of an earlier curtain wall (H 4.6m; T 2.4m) which has a gatehouse to E. This tower house was known as the 'Black Castle' as depicted on the OS 6-inch maps. The lack of upstanding remains of a curtain wall on the N, E and W sides make it impossible to be certain about the original layout of the castle courtyard. The tower has been added onto the SW angle of the curtain wall and is not on line with this curtain wall which only ran along the S side of Knockadoon and did not form a rectangular-shaped ward or courtyard. The stretch of curtain wall acted as a defensive wall on the S side accessed from the causeway (LI032-031001-) with the waters of Lough Gur providing defensive element on the other sides of the castle. This would explain the lack of a curtain wall or any evidence of wall footings of a curtain wall on the N, E and W sides of the castle. The S curtain wall acted like a stretch of town wall preventing access onto the island of Knockadoon with 'Black Castle' added onto the SW corner of this curtain wall at a later period which would explain why the castle wall is not on line with the curtain wall. Entry to Knockadoon was along a stone causeway flanked on either side by the waters of Lough Gur which gave access to a gatehouse acting like a town wall gateway which gave access to a roadway leading around the base of Knockadoon and onto Lough Gur Castle located 575m to the NE. Evidence of a cobbled stone roadway can be seen inside the curtain wall of the castle directly in line with the gatehouse entrance. The projecting gatehouse has gun loops in the E and W walls which provide flanking fire along the external face of the curtain wall. Good evidence of wicker centring on the underside of the gateway arch and the cut stone gateway has punch dressed jambs of late medieval date. Directly inside the gateway on the E and W faces of the gateway embrasure are the remains of wooden beam holes running through the thickness of the curtain wall. These wooden beam slots appear to be the remains of timber bracing for strengthening the fabric of the wall. A drawing of the castle by Thomas Dineley dating from around 1680 shows the great tower of the castle and the gatehouse at the N end of the causeway with no evidence for any angle towers on the curtain wall of the castle (Shirley et. al. 1867, 195). On this illustration a castellated gateway is depicted at the S end of the causeway now levelled and a second gatehouse at the N end of the causeway which was located on the S side of the curtain wall. Dineley described this causeway as 'The long bridge wth Drawbridges'. This SW angle tower has a vaulted roof over the ground floor and the S wall was the best preserved standing c. 10.m high the remaining walls stand approx. 3.65m high (Westropp 1906-07, 181). This tower is marked on the OS 6-inch map as 'Black Castle'. The entrance to the ward of the castle was through an entrance defended by a gatehouse (D 4.6m) located in the centre of the S wall pierced with arrow loops on either side of the gatehouse. The NW angle tower known as the Black Castle stands 50m W of the entrance gate on the SW angle of the curtain wall. The curtain wall survives upstanding at S along with a short stretch of the wall on the W side elsewhere it has been removed. There are no visible remains of the curtain wall to the N or E. The causeway and gatehouses was described by Fitzgerald as following; ‘It is solidly built of stone, 432 feet [132m] long, by 22 feet [6.7m] wide. It is 7½ feet [2.3m] high on the eastern, and about 10 feet [3m] on the western side. It was the only approach to the island [Knockadoon]; was defended by a castle (long since levelled to the ground, but shown in Dineley’s sketch) placed 77 feet [23.5m] from the head of the causeway. The foundations of this castellated gateway are quite visible, and are 23½ feet [7.1m] square. One hundred and sixty-two feet [49.3m] farther on is a very wide and deep foss[e], and 177 feet [54m] from this, at the insular end of the causeway, still stands the ruins of a fortified gateway from which a strong wall was drawn along the edge of the lake till it met the Black Castle’ (Lynch 1895, 246). The remains of Black Castle was described in 1826 as following; ‘This hill on the S side was defended by two very strong castles, the approach to which was by a causeway fifteen feet [4.6m] broad and six [1.8m] high: one of these called the Black Castle still remains. Both were connected by a wall near fifteen feet [4.6m] high and eight [2.4m] thick, made up of immense blocks of stone, they are the largest that can be seen in any building of this kind in the county. A very strong arched gateway in this wall was the entrance into the hill. Over this arch, which is about fifteen feet [4.6m] in depth, was another strong building, and on each side of it were two lodgments with loop-holes’ (Fitzgerald and McGregor 1826, 309-10). The Ordnance Survey Letters of 1838 described the castle as following; ‘In this parish at the foot of Knockadoon Hill at the south side of Lough Gur lake are the ruins of a castle called “Black Castle”. It is a mere ruin but it can be ascertained that it was a square tower on a strong wall which fortified this hill and rendered access to Lough Gur Castle on this side almost impossible. This tower measures on the inside 25 ft. [7.6m] by 13ft. 4in. [4m]. The arch over the ground floor remains and the part of the south wall now standing is about 35 feet [10.6m] in height; the other walls are destroyed down to about 12 feet