Clonamicklon Castle (in ruins) — Clonamicklon

On flat, level terrain with very good views to the N and W. The view S and E is dominated by the Slieveardagh hills. The castle (TS049-002001-) was built c. 1306 by John Butler, son of Edmond Butler, the first Earl of Carrick. The Civil Survey (1654-6) lists ‘Pierce Lord Viscount Ikeryn Irish Papist’ as the proprietor of ‘Clonomilcon’ in 1640 and ‘Upon this land stands a good castle, a slate house with a large bawne’ (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 128). The bawn for the fortified house(TS049-002002-) is in fact the modified curtain wall (ext. dims. 45.8m NE-SW; 42m NW-SE; wall T 1.5m; max. H 4.4m; base-batter H 1.45m; Wth 0.7m) of a late 13th/early 14th-century Anglo-Norman masonry castle (TS049-002001-). It is constructed of limestone rubble, roughly coursed and has two original three-storey angle towers. The angle towers, one circular (ext. dims. c. 6m NW-SE; c. 5.5m NE-SE) at the S angle, the other D-shaped (int. dims. 2.6m E-W; 3m N-S; wall T 1.3m) at the E angle, were modified in the 16th/early 17th century with the insertion of windows, one with a hood-moulding, and a quatrefoil gun-loop at second-floor level in the E tower. The curtain wall is well preserved along the SE and SW side, though the latter has suffered in recent years due to fire damage. The E end of the NE side survives for 11.2m from the E tower, the remaining length as well as the N angle and the N end of the NW wall are not visible above ground level. The entrance, which is now broken out, is towards the S end of the SE wall. In the 16th/early 17th century a machicolation was added at parapet level, only the supporting corbels of which survive. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 09 January 2013