House — indeterminate date in Ballynaclogh

Situated on a S-facing slope, N of Nenagh River with an associated earthwork castle (TN027-003001-) to the W. The sixteenth-century Inquisition Post Mortem of James the ninth Earl of Ormond describes the manor of 'weyperous' (Ballynaclogh) as consisting of 'one castle, one hall, once chapel with a thatched roof and 2 rooms covered with tiles' (Gleeson 1951-2, 130-31). The surviving building complex has been subject to much alteration which has obscured the overall plan. It consists of a much altered rectangular building (dims. 21m x 7.3m; wall T 1.25m) orientated N-S and constructed with roughly coursed limestone rubble. A large pointed, sandstone window, of thirteenth-century date, has been inserted into the N wall. It is decorated with roll-mouldings and engaged columns with leaf-shaped spurs on the bases. The upper portion of the W wall collapsed in recent years and has been rebuilt. However, two original gun loops survive at ground-floor level. At the N end of this W wall the surviving lower portion of a chimney stack is supported on four corbels - it projects from the external face between ground and first-floor level. Internally the fireplace has been reconstructed. Towards the S end of the W wall there are the remains of an internal cross-wall (T 0.6m) which has brick and slate incorporated in the masonry. The S wall is no longer standing and the E wall was completely modified when the W gable of a later seventeenth-century house was incorporated into it. This seventeenth-century building consists of a long rectangular room (int. Wth 5.8m) with a small room (ext. Wth 2.25m) running parallel to the N side. It appears to have been divided from it by a wooden partition, the shadow of which is visible in surviving internal plaster. As only the W wall of this small room survives the original plan is not possible to ascertain. A chimney stack in the centre of the W gable of the main room projects internally, providing fireplaces at ground and first-floor level. There is also a rectangular ope in this gable at first-floor level. The smaller, parallel room, also has fireplaces in its W gable at ground and first-floor level. The S wall is lower than its original height and is surmounted by eighteenth-century crenellations. The N and E walls do not survive above ground. 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