Site of Castle, Gardenfield South, Co. Limerick
Co. Limerick |
Masonry Castles
In the gently sloping pasturelands of Gardenfield South, County Limerick, lies what may be the remnants of a medieval O'Noonan castle.
The site today presents as a flattened rectangular area, measuring roughly 42 metres north to south and 28 metres east to west, bordered by low scarped edges on its eastern and southern sides and a roadway to the west. To the north, an irregularly shaped mound of higher ground hints at the castle's former presence, accompanied by a deserted single-storey house and the ruins of what appears to be an old farm building.
Local historical accounts suggest this farm building might actually stand on the exact spot where the castle once rose. Writing in the early 20th century, historian Curry noted that a barn occupied the castle site, whilst the irregular raised ground could represent the ghostly outline of the tower's foundations and the elevated area might mark where the bawn, or fortified courtyard, once stood. The subtle earthworks and scarped edges that define the site today offer tantalising clues to its defensive past, though centuries of agricultural use have softened its military features into the pastoral landscape.
The O'Noonans held this castle until the aftermath of the Desmond Rebellion in the 1580s, when it was confiscated by the Crown as punishment for supporting the failed uprising. Historical records from Westropp and Dunlop confirm the site's connection to this prominent local family, whose fortunes, like those of many Gaelic lords, were dramatically altered by the Tudor conquest of Ireland. Today, only these gentle undulations in the Limerick countryside remain to mark where this once-proud stronghold commanded the surrounding lands.
Ref: LI04707
04-Essential
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Visitor Notes
Added by
Pete F
O’Flanagan, Rev. M. (Compiler) 1929 Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the county of Limerick collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey in 1841. Bray
Westropp, T.J. 1906-7 The ancient castles of the county of Limerick. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 26, 54-264.
OSL – Ordnance Survey Letters. Letters written by members of the Ordnance Survey’s ‘Topographical Department’ (T. O’Conor, A. O’Curry, E. Curry, J. O’Donovan and P. O’Keeffe) sent to headquarters from the field (1834-41). MSS in Royal Irish Academy.
Dunlop, R. 1924 An unpublished survey of the Plantation of Munster in 1622. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 128-46.
