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There
is precious little material available about this pretty
well preserved Irish tower. It was built sometime in the
fifteenth century by the FitzGeralds of Burnchurch in
County Kilkenny. 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. This furnishes a
natural gable at both ends of the roof as well as an
additional defensive level of battlements. There are
numerous narrow rooms in the walls, including a "secret
room" on the fourth floor. The rounded chimney may
be a later improvement [that on the model is square], and
the fireplace in the 5th floor Hall sports a "joggle
voussoir arch", whatever that is. The castle
originally had a bawn with a 41 foot tall tower at one
corner. Though the old drawing, date unknown, shows
remnants of buildings, only the round tower [see both
below] appears to be standing in pictures I found on the
internet and in a library book. Burnchurch was apparently
last occupied in 1817, but it can be explored. If you
have further information, please let me know! |
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