Castle Otway — Cloghonan

Situated on level ground in gently rolling pastureland. Described in the Civil Survey (1654-6) as a 'castle partly repaired at the Common Wealthes charge' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 230). Several landowners are listed as proprietors, including 'Daniell Kenedy of Ballintotta[,]Dermod Kenedy of Shanballyard[,]Richard Butler of Kylcash Esqr All Irish Papists' (ibid.). According to Bence-Jones (1988, 74) the tower incorporates part of the original Clohonan or Cloghanane Castle which was granted to John Otway 1665 and later renamed Castle Otway. A late sixteenth/early seventeenth-century tower house (int. dims. 10.75m NE-SW; 13.9m NW-SE; wall T 1.15m-1.2m) which has been incorporated into an eighteenth-century house and rebuilt in the nineteenth century. There is a doorway in the NE face with later stairs to the NE descending to basement of the eighteenth-century house. The N jamb with chamfered edge has dressing typical of the late sixteenth/early seventeenth century. Original flat-headed single lights with gun loops on either side are in the W end of the NW wall and the E end of the NE wall. A single-light in the NE wall had a wooden lintel below voussoirs composed of slender slabs. This light is blocked up as it is facing into a room in the eighteenth-century house. There is a wall cupboard on the NW wall in the W corner. A window in the NW wall has traces of a wooden shutter with iron hinges. No base-batter evident on external face. 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