What is recorded here

Upper Court, Upperwood Demesne was a crenelated castle inside a large bawn with three towers, drawn in the Down Survey (1655-6) and built by Bishop Oliver Cantwell around 1500 beside the Episcopal Palace. Robert Shee Irish Papist held it in 1640, but Sir William Evans Morres later razed the square castle and reused its stones for Uppercourt House. The old walls vanished beneath Kilkenny soil, leaving only a gap in the ground where angle towers once caught the light.

The Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of Freshford depicts a crenelated castle-like building flanked by two lower buildings and enclosed by a large bawn with two angle towers and a third central tower or gatehouse midway along the wall in the foreground. The Down Survey (1655-6) barony map of Crannagh similarly shows a large crenelated building with an enclosing bawn with towers on each of the three angles drawn. The proprietor in 1640 is listed as Robert Shee Irish Papist. According to Gillespie (1973, vol. 25, 42), 'In the year 1500, Bishop Oliver Cantwell built a castle at Uppercourt beside the Episcopal Palace [KK013-022002-]'. In the late 18th/early 19th century Sir William Evans Morres began to build the present-day Uppercourt House (ibid. 44). The square castle, which was beside the Episcopal residence and stood behind the present day stables, was razed to the ground and the stones were used in the building of the house' (ibid.). The castle is not visible at ground level. Compiled by: Jean Farrelly Date of revised upload: 30 July 2019

Upper Court was depicted in the Down Survey (1655-6) as a fortified structure with a large bawn, indicating it served as a defensive residence for a local landowner during the turbulent period following the English Civil War. Its architectural features suggest its importance in providing security and symbolizing the owner's status.

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