Castle — Archerstown

Situated in flat terrain in pasture. A house (TN041-072003-) and farmyard are situated immediately W of the tower house. A flat-headed single-light window with hood-moulding, probably from the tower house, has been inserted at the S end of the E face of the house at first-floor level, probably in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. There are other fragments of window jambs in the grounds in front of the house. Only the E half of the tower house remains, the E wall (L c. 8m), the E end of the N wall and a stair tower at the S end of the E wall survive up to three storeys high. It is likely that the tower house was at least one storey higher originally. Formerly there was a vault over the ground floor and over the second floor. It is built of limestone rubble with weathered, horizontally laid, cut limestone quoins and a slight base-batter (Wth 0.2; H 0.9m) on the E face. A labourer's cottage has been built up against the external N face and its roof line partially obscures the first floor. Another building abuts the N end of the E wall. At ground-floor level there is a blocked embrasure with splayed ingoings at the N end of the E wall. Externally in the E wall at ground-floor level there is a narrow loop with crude limestone surrounds (H 0.72m; Wth 0.9m; H above ground level 1.76m). At first-floor level a cusped ogee-headed window, with a wide internal splay, is at the N end of the E wall. Also at first-floor level there is a round musket-hole at the E end of the N wall, above this, at second-floor level, there is a small loop. The S face of the stair tower has been modified at ground-floor level where there is evidence of two blocked openings, one above the other. The W face of the stair tower does not survive, though there are fragmentary remains of the wall return up to second-floor level. The W wall was rebuilt at ground level with an accompanying N wall built to form a small shed and a buttress, probably early in the twentieth century, as evidenced by a date of 1907 inscribed in the mortar of the buttress. The original entrance doorway to the tower house has been inserted into this rebuilt W wall. This pointed doorway (Wth 1.13m; H 1.85m) is rebated externally, including the threshold and has punch tooling and drafted margins. A blocked hole in the N jamb of the doorway may have been a yett-hole. A well, now covered with a man-hole, lies 2m W of the reinserted doorway, and is said to be the original well of the tower house, though it is probably partially on the original line of the S wall of the tower house. The second floor rested on a wooden floor supported by corbels and had a vaulted roof - the remains of the spring are visible on the N wall. At the N and S end of the E wall of the main chamber at second-floor level there are two poorly preserved relieving arches. The stair tower would have been lit by a window in the S wall and one in the E wall at first-floor level. A jamb is all that remains of a doorway which provided access from the stairs to the first-floor chamber and to the second-floor chamber. No remains of the stairs survive, which suggests they were wooden. The Civil Survey (1654-6) refers to a bawn (TN041-072002-) and 'James Archer of Archardstowne Esqr. Irish Papist' is listed as proprietor (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 54). Possible keying stones for the bawn wall project out from the external E face of the tower house above the roofline of the abutting building. 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