Castle (in ruins) — Kilcloggan

Located at the bottom of a slight S-facing slope. A preceptory of Knights Templar, known as Kilcloggan, is traditionally said to have been founded by O'More of Laois in the late 12th century (Redmond 1900, 220-5; Gywnn and Hadcock 1970, 330), but is more likely to have been based on a grant of the church of St. Alloch by Henry II in 1172 (Colfer 2002, 196). The grant comprised the parishes of Hook and Templetown. Allock or Eallóg (Doologe) was a son of Díona, daughter of a Saxon king, and Brachan, a Welsh king (Ó Rian 2011, 280-1). The name Kicloggan is a corruption of Cill Eallóg – Alloch’s church. When the Templars were suppressed after 1312, much of their property, including Kilcloggan, was transferred to the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem. A comprehensive inventory of the Templars’ chattels at Kilcloggan in 1307 survives, but it does not detail their land-holding or the buildings (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 275-8; Colfer 2004, 56). The Hospitallers were suppressed in 1541 and the Kilcloggan possessions in Shelburne were ultimately granted to the Loftus family by 1596 when Dudley Loftus lived at Kilcloggan (ibid. 118). If the Templars had a caput or centre for the manor it was probably close to the parish church (WX049-008001-) at Templetown, c. 1.2km to the SSW, and the nearby earthwork (WX049-007----) may have been a ring-work castle (Barry 1987, Fig. 14). (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 259 302; Walsh 1969) Kilcloggan castle was probably the centre of the Hospitaller manor and would have been built in the 15th century. Many of the Hospitaller commanders up to the Suppression in 1541 are known (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 279-84). In 1541 360 acres in Hook were held by Alexander Redmond of the Hall (WX054-002----) and 120 acres were held by Nicholas Laffan of Slade (WX054-08001-), but the castle and 120 acres at Kilcloggan was the demesne land of the Hospitallers. Seventeen smallholders, with holdings of between 3 and 18 acres, paid feudal dues for a total of c. 170 acres, and nine other free tenants had larger holding of 20 to 60 acres and paid a money rent for a total of c. 300 acres (Hore 1900-11, vol. 4, 284-5). Kilcloggan was held by Henry Radcliffe from 1587 but it had come into the possession of Sir Dudley Loftus by 1596 and it remained in the Loftus family into the late 19th century (ibid. 293; Walsh 1970; Jeffrey 1979, 152-4; Colfer 2002, 205-08). The castle is a rectangular tower (ext. dims 6.1m NW-SE; 5.7m NE-SW) with projecting towers at the N and W angles to accommodate the stairs and garderobes respectively, surviving complete (H to wall-walk 17m). It has four floors and good quoins but there is no base-batter, and a fragment of the bawn wall with the jamb of a gateway that has three short bar-holes to secure it extends NE from the N angle. Most of the dressed stone is an Old Red Sandstone conglomerate. The rebuilt entrance of the tower, protected by machicolation, towards the S end of the SE wall leads directly at present to the vaulted (NW-SE) ground floor, which has traces of wicker-centring in the roof. There is an embrasure in the SW wall, but there is no evidence of a murder-hole. The mural stairs in the SE wall is destroyed but it continues in the NE wall to the first floor over the vault, which is entered by a lintelled doorway at the N angle. This floor (int. dims 4.4m NW-SE; 3.12m NE-SW) has blocked rectangular windows in the NW and SE walls, the latter with seats, a fireplace on the SW wall, and a destroyed garderobe at the W angle. A lintelled doorway at the N angle gives access from the stairs to the destroyed wall-walk of the bawn wall that extended off to the NE but is now removed. A newel stairs rises at the N angle to the second floor which is entered by a lintelled doorway. This floor has ogee headed windows in the NW and SE walls, a fireplace in the SW wall and a garderobe at the W angle. The floor was supported by corbels in the NE and SW walls. The newel stairs continue to the third floor, but its doorway is largely destroyed. At this level there are ogee headed windows with seats in the NW and SE walls, and a rectangular window in the NE wall. The floor-space extends into the garderobe tower and there is a rectangular window in its SW wall. The floor was supported on corbels in the NE and SW walls and there are corbels in the same walls at ceiling height. The newel stairs continues to the parapet, where the stepped crenellations are perfectly preserved. There are lookout platforms at the N and E angles, accessed by steps protruding from the parapets of the SW and NE walls. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Wexford' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1996). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 4 February 2014 Compiled by: Michael Moore