Burnchurch Castle
 | This article has an unclear citation style. (January 2010) |
| Burnchurch Castle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | tower house |
| Location | County Kilkenny, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 52°34′33″N 7°17′49″W / 52.575930°N 7.296923°W |
| Construction started | 15th century |
Burnchurch Castle is a well-preserved 15th century Norman tower house, with a Round gate tower, in County Kilkenny, Ireland.
It is said to have been built and owned by the Fitzgeralds of the house of Desmond and continued to be occupied until 1817. In 1993, Burnchurch Castle and Tower, along with the Church of Ireland church and the lime trees became a National Monument.[1]
It is 6.5 km (4 miles) south west of Kilkenny, off the Clonmel Road, 6km from Ballybur near Cuffesgrange, outside the town of Callan, nearby to Kells Priory. It is in Burnchurch parish, in Shillelogher barony.
History
A statute of Henry VI of England in 1429 offered a £10 subsidy for the construction of fortified castles and towers.[2] The FitzGeralds of Burnchurch tower house was a result of this the forteenth-century mass production of the 'Ten Pound Castles' of Ireland. Burnchurch Catle and one in Clara are good examples of these characteristic Irish-style machicolation.
It may of been built by Maurice fitzGerald about A.D. 1215.
Architecture
The 12.5m high circular turret still remains. A walled courtyard was originally attached to the castle. It is six storeys high, and has an unusually large number of passages and chambers inside the walls. A great hall was formerly attached to the tower's outside wall, but this has now vanished, as has most a bawn with a 41 foot tall tower at one corner. Old drawings, date unknown, show remnants of buildings.
Many tower houses have mural chambers and passages hidden away within their walls, though few have the number and complexity of those found in Burnchurch Castle. Beneath there is a vault with the principal chamber above, lying just below a gabled roof. There are numerous narrow rooms in the walls, including a "secret room" on the fourth floor.
A curved outside staircase still provides access to the three upper floors of this little tower so it can be explored. It has mullioned windows and is noteworthy for its finely carved fireplace with a joggle voussoir arch and its tall round chimney. The rounded chimney may be a later improvement.
It is broadly similar in size and layout to Clara but differs in that the gable-end walls are carried up one story higher than the other two walls and form tow clongated turrets with their won rampart wals at the higest part of the building. [3] It is known for being one of several Irish towers with the slightly narrower sides of the castle extending up an additional floor, creating in essense a pair of tower wide turrets.
See also
References
Notes
- ^ Appendix Kilkenny County council development plan. National monuments protected by the State under the Monuments Acts, 1930, 1954 (Amended 1987)
- ^ (Johnson 1981, p. 26)
- ^ (Forde-Johnston 1979, p. 200)
Further Reading
- Johnson, Paul (1981), Ireland: a history from the twelfth century to the present day, HarperCollins Publishers, ISBN 978-0586054536.
- Forde-Johnston, James L. (1979), Great medieval castles of Britain.
External Links
- Go Ireland - Burnchurch Castle
- Tourist Images and Tour of Irish Castles
- History - The Barrons, or Fitzgeralds, of Burnchurch
- Old Image - Edwin Rae Collection (Digital Image Collection), Image and more Images
- Burnchurch Castle made of Lego
