Drominagh Castle (in Ruins) — Drominagh Demesne

Located on the low-lying northern shore of a small bay on Lough Derg's E shore. In the Annals of the Four Masters it is recorded that Drominagh was taken in 1598 by Redmond Burke to use as a base for raiding Clanrickard (Cairns 1987, 22; AFM, vol. 6, 2079). Described in the Civil Survey (1654-6) as an 'old ruined castle and bawne, the walls onely standing a decayed orchard & twenty cottages' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 311). Donnogh Kenedy of Lackeene is listed as proprietor in 1640 (ibid.). The poorly preserved remains of a tall rectangular three-storey tower house (TN006-006001) and bawn (int. dims. 32m N-S; 33m E-W) built with uncoursed limestone rubble. The original bawn wall, which was attached to the NE angle of the tower, was used as the E wall of this later building with a small trabeate doorway inserted into the S end of the E wall. The original entrance to the bawn is now destroyed and was located along the N wall and was protected by a two-storey gatehouse with barrel-vaulted ground floor. The barrel vault over the ground floor is incomplete at its W end in order to accommodate a wooden stairs to give access to the first floor. Inside the bawn area to the W of the tower house there is a small dome-shaped structure covering two open-ended E-W tunnels which are separated by an E-W wall. According to the local landowner the small tunnels, which have lintelled roofs, were possibly places to store food because of their constant temperature. Tower house formed E boundary of bawn wall with main bawn area to W of tower house. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008