Castle — Carneycastle

Situated on flat pasture with extensive views. Present remains consist of the W wall of the tower house along with the W end of the N and S wall returns with no visible remains of the E wall. The surviving tower (ext. dims. 9.5m N-S approx. 5.95m E-W; wall T 1.3m) is four storeys high with a barrel vault over the first floor; elsewhere the building had wooden floors carried on large corbels. The spiral stairs in the SW angle are destroyed and a nineteenth-century dovecote has been inserted into the NW angle of the building. There is a machicolation visible at wall-walk level over the centre of the W wall. The main doorway (now destroyed) was probably located at the centre of the S wall. The windows consist of flat-headed single-lights at ground-floor level with twin-light ogee and flat-headed windows at second and third-floor levels. A single-light round-headed window in the SW angle has an interlace ring-headed cross decoration over the external head of the window. At first-floor level on the centre of the W wall there is a finely carved head in relief on the external face of the sill-stone of a window. A window on the NW angle at second-floor level has punch dressing in patterns similar to the mint in Carlingford, Co. Louth and Coole Castle, Co. Offaly which are both sixteenth century in date. A bawn wall (TN010-052002-) is attached to the SW and NE corners of the tower house with a nineteenth-century house and outhouse located inside the bawn area (ext. dims. 34.6m E-W; 47m N-S; wall T 0.82m). The bawn wall is constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble with base-batter. A round-arched gateway with rebated punch-dressed jambs and hood-moulding over an arch with decorated terminals is located at the centre of the S wall. 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