What is recorded here

Urra Castle was a tower house on a knoll in County Tipperary, reduced to standing walls by 1654 and bulldozed in 1985 for a silage pit. Nicholas White, Marcus Magragh and Daniell Kenedy held land nearby, perhaps watching the valley from its stones before men erased most of them. A doorway base still stands amid scattered fragments, proving the castle existed even when memory and marble both resisted keeping it.

Situated on a knoll of outcrop, overlooked by a higher knoll c. 100m to the E, in a small valley. Described in Civil Survey of (1654-6) as 'an old castle and bawne the walls onely standing' (Simington 1934, vol. 2, 303). Several landowners are listed as proprietors, including 'Sr Nicholas White of Leaslipp in the County of Killdare Knight Irish Papist[,]Marcus Magragh of Bleane in the Barrony of Upp Ormond Esqr.[,]Daniell Kenedy of Bollycregane Irish Papists' (ibid.). Little survives of this site above ground. It was bulldozed in 1985 to provide stone for the construction of a silage pit. Portion of E wall remains (T c. 0.8m) - the internal face has collapsed and the external face retains a mound of clay and collapsed masonry. The lower section of a doorway remains in situ and the area is strewn with architectural fragments which have punch dressing. There is no visible trace of the bawn (TN014-001002-) above ground. The above description is derived from 'The Archaeological Inventory of County Tipperary. Vol. 1 - North Tipperary' compiled by Jean Farrelly and Caimin O'Brien (Dublin: Stationery Office, 2002). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload/revision: 22 September 2008

This remains an important historical record, but the official description says the monument is no longer visible or has been destroyed. The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.