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Situated on a small, flooded island, close to the N shore of Lough Ourna. Approached by boat, all that remains visible are two wall fragments protruding above the water level. By the mid-seventeenth century the tower house was being described as 'the stumpe of a castle' and 'John Grace of Ballylensy Esqr. Irish Papist' is listed as proprietor (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 342). The island (dims. 20.2m N-S; 17.76m E-W) was delimited or retained by a ruined, narrow, drystone wall (max. H 1m) with a landing at N. It is possible that the island is an artificial construction which may originally have been a crannóg (TN015-048002-). Of the tower house itself only the NE angle (max. H 4.05m) survives, composed of roughly coursed limestone and sandstone rubble. There are the remains of a pointed doorway in the N wall giving access to the ground floor, with a straight stair rising to the W. Also visible within the angle are a garderobe chute and internal partition wall. Remains of springers on the internal face of the N wall indicate a former E-W vault over the ground floor. (FitzPatrick 1985, vol. 2, part 4, 44-8)
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
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