Templehouse castle (in Ruins) — Templehouse Demesne

In level pasture, on the N shore of Templehouse Lake. A rectangular (22m N-S; 12m E-W) two-storey structure (see plans in Lynn 1985-6, 106; Sweetman 1999, fig. 78), standing on the W side of a complex of ruined buildings (SL033-026002-, SL033-026003-; SL033-026004-), built of uncoursed limestone in a lime mortar, with a distinct base batter (H c. 2m). The partially ivy-clad walls stand to full height except the W wall which, apart from short returns at either end, does not survive. The structure was refurbished in the 15th/16th century and again in the 19th century. In the former case, vaulting was inserted over the ground floor and the floor levels changed slightly. In the latter case, parts of the interior were used for farm buildings and a bellcote was erected on top of the N wall; Lynn (1985-6, 108) suggests that the bellcote indicates a religious function for the building but bellcotes of this form are typical of 18th/19th-century demesne farmyards. The vaulting covered the entire ground floor and consisted of two segmental wicker-centred vaults springing from the E and W walls and an inserted medial wall which was arcaded. Only fragments of the vaulting and the medial wall now survive. There are four inserted 15th/16th-century embrasures at ground-floor level: one each in the N and E walls and two in the S wall. These were probably all windows; the best preserved is that in the N wall which has wicker-centred vaulting over the embrasure and a single light. Each one was adapted in the 19th century to take either a wooden door or window frame, fragments of which are still in situ. Slightly N of centre in the E wall, at 1st-floor level, is the original doorway; the inserted vaulting blocked the lower part of this doorway. The door-surround is composed of plain limestone blocks and has a bluntly pointed arch; the rear embrasure is square-set and has a tall pointed arch. South of the doorway is a very ruined embrasure and there are two further such embrasures in the S wall. There is a better preserved window embrasure in the N wall but this is now covered with ivy. From the E side of this window a narrow mural stairs rises to the NE corner where it is lit by two small slit windows. The stairs rises further through the E wall to wall-top level. The outside face of the E wall shows many repairs and alterations, including the plaster-scar of a building which stood against its S end. The earliest reference to a castle here is dated 1271 when it was 'broken down by Hugh O'Connor' (Lynn 1985-6, 105). The identification of this structure as belonging to a Knights Templar foundation is extremely speculative (see SL033-026007-) though the base of an early medieval high cross (SL033-026005-) lies within the ruin. The original form of the building is much more typical of a 13th-century hall-house (Sweetman 1999, 100) than a religious foundation. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Sligo' compiled by Ursula Egan, Elizabeth Byrne, Mary Sleeman with Sheila Ronan and Connie Murphy (Dublin Stationery Office, 2005). Date of upload: 18 January 2008