Town Wall — Fethard

The medieval town walls surround most of the present town of Fethard, although the town has developed beyond the walls to the NE-E and to the S along the Clashawley river valley which runs parallel to the town wall. The earliest known murage grant for Fethard dates to 1292 (Cal. doc. Ire., 1285-92, No.1015). Further grants, were made from 1367 onwards over a period of at least a hundred years (Chart. privil. immun., 71). In 1608 the incorporation charter of James I empowered the town authorities ‘to take fines, forfeitures, &c., same to be applied to the repairing of town wall and fortifications’ (Laffan 1906, 148). The oval circuit, enclosing an area of 7.5 hectares, is almost complete, apart from a stretch (L c. 35m) of the W circuit immediately N of the W gate (TS070-040033-), a stretch (L c. 25m) of the E circuit immediately N of Wick/Wickett/Pierce's gate and a stretch (L c. 50m) at the SE angle. The wall (N wall T 1.36m; max. H 7.77m), which had an internal wall-walk, is composed of large blocks of randomly coursed limestone with small rubble fill and pinning stones. The wall-walk was accessed via the town gates and mural towers and also from stone steps, subsequently robbed out, at the NW end of the circuit and E of the North Gate. Originally the town had five gates, one guarding each access route into the town. The gate at the E end of Madam's bridge (TS070-040018-) at the W end of Main Street was demolished towards the end of the 19th century, though portion of the S half survives indicating a gatehouse at least two-storeys high. On the 1840 25-inch OS town map a rectangular building (dims. c. 8m NE-SW; c. 4m NW-SE) is indicated as 'Madam Castle'. On the NW angle of the town wall there was a mural tower indicated on a map by Miles Swiney dated 1763 (NLI MS. F 55, 8 and reproduced in O’Keeffe 2003, map 9). This tower is not indicated on the OS 6-inch maps and is not visible at ground level. The N gate at Sparagoulea is the only surviving town gate. This gate (Wth 3.5m) has a round arch and was originally higher, probably with a room above it, but the upper courses were removed when they became too unstable in the early 20th century; a pedestrian archway was also broken through the adjacent town wall around this time. Attached to the E side there is a rectangular gatehouse (dims. 7.2m x 5.9m), at least three storeys high, the uppermost of which is barrel-vaulted. There is a mural passage in the N wall and two windows are visible. In the W wall there is a single loop with an external splayed embrasure and in the S wall at second-floor level there is a single-light ogee-headed window with an external double chamfer. The gatehouse is marked on the 1840 25-inch OS town map as 'Currikeen Castle'. At the NE corner of the town wall there is a circular mural tower which has a round-headed, single-light window near the top. It is possible that the mural tower was altered when it was incorporated into the military barracks (Thomas 1992, vol.2, 102). A gate variously called Wick/Wickett/Pierce's gate, c. 65m S of the circular mural tower at the W end of Barrack Street, was only demolished towards the end of the 19th century. An excavation in 1994 revealed the position of the town wall which appears to have joined the gatehouse at its SE corner (Moran 1995, 81). Another mural tower on the E circuit, c. 25m S of Wick/Wickett/Pierce's gate is depicted on Swiney’s 1763 map and is no longer visible at ground level. At the S end of the E circuit of town wall there was a gate on Burke Street, providing access to the Augustinian friary (TS070-040004-). A house (TS070-040027-) adjacent to this gate contains a mural stone stair and probably formed part of the gatehouse. In the SE angle of the town wall there is a blocked loop (H 1.3m; Wth 0.12m), with an external splay and two other smaller loops, one immediately to the E of the loop described above and the other is at a higher level in the S section of wall E of Watergate. Incorporated in the external face of SE angle there is a sheela-na-gig (TS070-040007-). The gate which the street was named after, Watergate, is not visible at ground level. The S circuit of town wall, from the SE corner of Holy Trinity graveyard westward to Convent Bridge (Madam's Bridge), is restored, along with a three-storey rectangular mural tower in the SW angle of Holy Trinity graveyard. The mural tower (ext. dims. 6.9m x 5.5m), as well as the N gate, appear to be of 15th-century date and were probably built with money received from the later murage grants (Bradley 1985, 48). The original doorway is at ground level in the N wall, with a later doorway inserted in the W wall. At first-floor level there is a pointed doorway facing E onto the wall-walk of the town wall. This first-floor chamber is lit by six windows, including two pairs of windows in the S and W walls and has a pointed vault. A pointed doorway in the N wall leads to a mural stair which rises in the W wall to the second floor. This stairs is partially contained within an external projection in the W wall. The second floor is lit by three windows. A stairs in the NW angle leads to the roof where there is a turret along its W side. Another mural tower on the S circuit of town wall, c. 25m S of the W gate is depicted on Swiney’s 1763 map but is no longer visible at ground level. Excavation of the town wall immediately S of the Barrack St gate produced pottery of late 13th/early 14th century which appears to be contemporary with the town wall (Moran 1995, 81). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 12 May 2015