Castle — Killusty North

On the NW side of a farm courtyard. A 1ate 17th-century house (TS070-101002-) adjoins the SW gable of the tower house. There are good views in all directions. The Civil Survey (1654-6) records that 'Kyllosty' 'hath on itt a Castle, an Oarchard & Garden' and that 'James Brittin of Kyllosky Irish Papist' was proprietor in 1640 (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 171). A rectangular three-storey with attic tower house (dims. 10m NE-SW; 8.5m NW-SE; wall T 1.4m) with a circular stair turret (int. diam. 2.15m; wall T 0.8m) projecting from the W angle. It is constructed of limestone rubble, roughly coursed, with some sandstone and there is a slight, gradual base-batter (H 2.2-2.7m; Wth 0.15-0.2m). Some patches of harling survive on the exterior. A crack runs up the centre of the SE wall. The windows, with one exception, are all flat-headed and chamfered externally with punch-tooling within drafted margins. On the upper floors of the main block, the two-light windows, where they survive, have external hood-mouldings. The stair turret is lit by single-light windows and has a number of gun-loops. There is a projecting stone course at the top of the turret. All floors throughout were wooden, carried on corbels and were entered via pointed doorways from the spiral stairs. The ground floor was entered through a doorway (Wth c. 1m) in the SW wall. This cut limestone doorway, only the upper surround and embrasure of which are now evident, is blocked up. It may have continued in use when the 17th-century house was built onto this wall, providing access from one building to the other. The main ground floor chamber (dims. 7.9m NE-SW; 5.74m NW-SE) was lit by two windows, a broken out and blocked up window in the NW wall and an elliptical-headed loop in the SE wall. At some stage, probably in the 18th or 19th century, a fireplace was inserted into the NW embrasure, the excavated flue feeding into the fireplace at first-floor level. There is a large opening in the SE wall which was probably broken out to provide access from the yard. A 1909 sketch shows a modern door in this position (OPW files). The first-floor was lit by at least three windows, possibly four. Only the flat-headed single-light window at the N end of the NW wall is intact, the others, in the centre of the NE wall, at either end of the SE wall and possibly at the S end of the SW wall are all broken out or blocked up to varying degrees. There was fireplace, largely broken out, in the centre of the SE wall. At the W end of the NW wall, entered via a flat-headed doorway, there is a small garderobe chamber (L 2.05m; Wth 0.59m) which was lit by a flat-headed loop. The second floor was lit by five windows, four of these, at the N end of the NW wall, centrally placed in the NE and SW wall and at the E end of the SE wall, were probably two-light windows, though only the latter is relatively intact. There is a small broken-out single-light window at the S end of the SE wall. There is a large well-cut fireplace centrally placed in the NW wall, with a flat polished limestone chamfered lintel and chamfered jambs; the W jamb has an unusual elaborately carved chamber stop. There is no original fireplace in the SE wall at this level but a small 18th or 19th-century fireplace with brick surround has been inserted into the flue of the first-floor fireplace. The third floor was lit by four windows, a two-light window in the centre of the NE wall and single-light windows at the N end of the NW wall, E end of the SE wall and S end of the SW wall. A second embrasure in the SW wall is possibly for a gun-loop. The lower courses of the attic level survive, indicating that there was a single-light window in the NE and SW gable and possibly also a gun-loop at the W end of the latter gable. Each wall of the main block was surmounted by a gable, flush with the exterior, which occupied the centre of the wall but did not continue to the angles. A 1909 sketch shows a cut limestone chimney on the NW gable and the base of a chimney on the SE gable (OPW files), neither of which survive. There was a bartizan at the E angle, of which only the corbels supports and part of the base survive. On the SE wall, near the S angle there are two large drainage spouts projecting out, c. 0.6m apart, each with a separate hole in the masonry c. 0.15m above. On the NW wall there is a single drainage spout near the N angle. The tops of the walls have been capped with cement. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of upload: 5 December 2012