Ballyduff Castle (in ruins) — Ballyduff Lower

Situated at the base of a N-facing slope at the edge of the floodplain of the W-E Blackwater River. It is on the S bank of the river, with the stream c. 100m to the N. It was built in 1627 by the carpenter Andrew Tucker for the Earl of Cork (Power 1952, 18). This is a rectangular house (ext. dims. 15.2m E-W; 9.5m N-S; int. dims. 13.2m E-W; 7.65m N-S) of three bays and three storeys with an attic. The walls are c. 0.8m thick, and survive complete except the N wall that is reduced to the second floor. There are rebates on the walls to support the upper floors, but it was re-floored at some stage with joists set directly into the E and W gables, possibly by the Drew family who gained possession of it later in the 17th century (O'Connell-Redmond, 1918, 5, 64), although it is marked as a ruin on a Taylor and Skinner map (1788, 125). Externally, there is evidence that a wall extended N from the NE angle, probably part of a court or bawn in an area now occupied by ranges of farm buildings. The entrance is in a projecting tower (ext. dims. 3.7m E-W; 2.6m N-S) at the centre of the N wall. It does not survive, but traces of a recess overhead suggest that it had an armorial plaque originally. The ground floor had two large windows (Wth c. 2.2m) on both the N and S walls, each probably of four lights with a square hood moulding like the only surviving complete window on the second floor S wall. There is an inserted internal wall at the ground floor, E of the centre. There are single large fireplaces in the W and E gables at the ground floor, and that on the E may have had an oven at the NE. Throughout the house the fireplaces appear to have had wooden mantels beneath segmental arches. The stairs return (ext. dims. 4.77m E-W; 3.85m N-S) at the centre of the S wall has small lights, and small rectangular windows, but its only two-light window is in the S wall at the ground floor. The first floor has one fireplace in the W wall and two in the E, with evidence of a wooden partition separating the fireplaces on the E gable. There are two lights in both the E and W gables, but in addition there are two gun-loops at the NE angle. Externally there is a string-course over the windows on the N front and the entrance tower. The third floor has two fireplaces in both the E and W gables with two lights in each gable, and the windows are largely destroyed, but were probably of three lights, as suggested by the hood moulding surviving at the E end of the S wall. There are two lights for the attic in the E and W gables, which also have large chimney stacks, and the stairs tower had a chamber at this level with two lights and a fireplace in the S wall, but the gables of this and the entrance tower do not survive. O'Connell-Redmond, G. (1918) The castles of north-east Cork and near its borders. JCHAS 24, 1-6, 62-6, 93-103, 145-51. Power, Rev. P. (1952) The placenames of the Decies. (second ed.) Cork University Press. Taylor, G. and Skinner, A. (1778) Maps of the roads of Ireland. Reprint 1969, ed. by J. H. Andrews. Irish University Press. Shannon. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Waterford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1999). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Revised by: Michael Moore Date of upload: 9 August, 2011