Site of Castle, Drangan More, Co. Tipperary

Co. Tipperary |

Masonry Castles

Site of Castle, Drangan More, Co. Tipperary

On a gentle hillside in Drangan More, County Tipperary, the grass covered pastures conceal the remnants of what was once a formidable castle.

Nothing remains visible above ground today; where the fortress once stood, farm buildings now occupy the site, with a silage pit carved deep into the eastern end of the hillock. The only surviving fragments are modest: a limestone water spout built into a farmyard wall and a chamfered limestone block incorporated into a nearby outbuilding, silent witnesses to the structure that once dominated this landscape.

Historical records paint a clearer picture of what stood here. The Civil Survey of 1654 to 1656 identifies James Oge Butler, an Irish Catholic gentleman of Kilveligher, as the owner in 1640, noting "a demolished burnt castle adjoining to the River Suir wanting repair" on his lands. By the 1840s, when Ordnance Survey letters documented the ruins, the castle walls still stood impressively; the north wall reached approximately 10.3 metres high, whilst the remaining walls ranged from 3 to 4.5 metres. The structure measured roughly 8.5 by 9.7 metres externally, with walls a metre thick, built using the grouted construction technique typical of medieval Irish tower houses. A pointed doorway pierced the north wall near its western end, and fragments of associated buildings stood some 28 yards to the east.

Local tradition weaves an intriguing tale around the castle's origins, claiming it was one of twenty one castles built by William Burke for each of his sons along the River Suir between Ballygriffin and Ardfinnan. Whilst this story likely belongs more to folklore than fact, it speaks to the castle's place in local memory. Confusingly, the site has also been known as Kilmoyler Castle, though no castle appears on the 1840 Ordnance Survey map at Kilmoyler itself, suggesting the name may have migrated to this Drangan More location over time.

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