Indicated — Kilcash

Kilcash went from de Valle to Ormonde possession between 1538 and 1545. The manor of Kilcash is mentioned in a will dated 1545 of James Butler, the 9th Earl of Ormonde (Flood & Flood 1999, 37). It was 'one of the chief strongholds of the Ormonde Butlers [and became] the seat of a junior branch of the family from 1639-1758' (Bence-Jones 1988, 298). The Civil Survey (1654-6) records at Kilcash a 'Castle and dwelling-house the roofe and lofts whereof are burnt and a Bawne with divers thatcht cabbins' (Simington 1931, vol. 1, 271). In the Hearth Money Records of 1665-7 Richard Butler of Kilcash is taxed for three fireplaces and in 1677 there is a reference to his 'mansion house of Kilcash' (Flood & Flood 1999, 47). In the late 18th century 'the great hall of the house is described as hanging with paintings and the park was well stocked with deer' (ibid. 76). In 1758 John Butler of Kilcash 'became de jure 15th Earl of Ormonde. The Castle afterwards fell into decay' (Bence-Jones 1988, 298). Walter Butler 18th Earl of of Ormonde "sold the materials of Kilcash 'for a trifling consideration' to a merchant from Carrick-on-Suir called James Power c. 1800 (ibid. 78). Situated on break of S facing slope in undulating terrain, surrounded by pasture. Slievenamon rises to N. Church (TS078-036001-) located to W. This two-storey house with attic was built onto the W wall of a tower house (TS078-037----). Only 3 bays of the S-facing wall (L 12.55m; wall T 1.25m at base, narrowing to c. 1m at 1st floor level) of the 17th century house survive, with evidence of a fourth bay. The house was two storeys high with attic. Most of the window surrounds are broken out, though one clearly survives on E side of 1st floor at W end - the window was narrowed at a later date. Where the surrounds survive they are of cut limestone, chamfered externally with punch tooling and drafted margins. No heads or sills survive. Crude wooden lintels support the three lower opes. The ground floor window embrasures are straight sided, while the first-floor windows are splayed internally. One of the lower opes was probably a door with steps down to the exterior. Original plaster does survive around some of the original window openings revealing a block-and-start pattern of false stonework around the window which was fashionable throughout the 17th century. The masonry is mostly sandstone rubble, roughly coursed, with external render. A series of beam-holes at parapet level probably held a wooden cornice to support an overhanging eave. In the W face of the adjoining tower house there is the steep-pitched roof scar of the 17th house and also a short length of the N wall (L 0.75m) of the house projects from the W wall of the tower house. Also a doorway has been broken though the 2nd floor S end of the W wall of the tower house to allow allow access to the attic of the 17th century house. The interior of the S wall shows how wooden floors rested on an offset on the S wall while the floor of the attic rested on pairs of corbels, just above the head of the window embrasures. There are a range of buildings located immediately N of the E end of the tower house which are likely to be 17th/18th century in date, they form three units, the most southerly has the remains of a brick wall oven at the W end of its N wall and the most northerly has a fireplace in the N wall. Beyond this range, further eastward, at a distance of c. 20m, there is another building which was a bakehouse (TS078-037003-). Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 12 January 2015