Sheanmore Castle (in ruins) — Shean More

Located towards the top of the N-facing slope of a broad E-W ridge. References to Shean More date from the 15th century, but references to the Fitzgerald castle date with certainty to 1580 when it was burned by the Earl of Ormond. It was forfeited by Maurice Fitzgerald in 1584 after the Desmond Rebellion when it was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh who leased the castle to Thomas Colthurst, but by 1598 it was occupied by a Mr Duff (O'Connell Redmond 1918, 62, 64). It was let to a Thomas Jackson in 1640 (Simington 1942, 5). This is a rectangular tower (ext. dims. 12.65m E-W; 9.7m N-S) surviving to the first floor with a base-batter and quoins, although most of the quoins have been robbed-out. A rectangular doorway (Wth 1.3m) towards the E end of the N wall, with only the chamfered lintel survivng, leads directly to the ground floor (int. dims. 7.45m E-W; 5.5m N-S) which has embrasures in the N, S and E walls. There is a round-headed doorway, largely robbed, directly overhead on the first floor. A mural chamber at the S end of the W wall has a single gun-loop. The loft over the ground floor, which was supported on corbels in the N and S walls, has an E-W wicker-centered vault overhead and a light in the W wall. Access to the loft was probably by a trapdoor from the ground-floor chamber. A mural stairs in the N ingoing of the E embrasure rise in the E and N walls with two gun-loops to the first floor which had embrasures in the E, W and S walls, and a fireplace (destroyed) in the S wall. A garderobe chute from a higher level is broken out at the E end of the S wall, and the N and S walls have three surviving corbels each to support the ceiling. A low doorway at the N end of the W wall leads through a lintelled passage to the well-preserved bartizan or machicolated structure at the NW angle, which has chambers projecting over the N and W walls, with three gun loops in each chamber. A rectangular enclosure (dims. 40m E-W; 33m N-S) to the N defined by low scarps may represent a bawn. 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. Simington, R. C. (ed.) (1942) The Civil Survey AD 1654-1656, vi, the County of Waterford. Irish Manuscripts Commission. Dublin. 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: 26 July 2011