Drummin Castle, Drummin, Co. Tipperary North

Today, only grass-covered wall footings mark where this fortification once stood, positioned on a gentle rise with views across the undulating countryside. Historical records from 1641 reveal that Lord Ikerrin and John Purcell held the castle in trust for the proprietor of nearby Ballyknockan, placing it firmly within the complex web of landholding that characterised 17th-century Ireland.

When Ordnance Survey officials documented the site in the 19th century, they found considerably more than what remains today. The castle's stump then measured roughly 13.6 metres east to west and 7 metres north to south, still standing to first-floor level with clear evidence of a barrel vault that once spanned this floor. Two narrow defensive openings, known as slit opes, were visible in the southern wall, and the surveyors noted that the entire structure had been built without any dressed stone; a practical, if modest, approach to castle construction.

The site's proximity to another castle location immediately to the east suggests this area held strategic importance, perhaps controlling routes through the upland terrain or overseeing agricultural lands below. Whilst modern visitors will find little more than subtle earthworks where Drummin Castle once stood, these foundations serve as tangible links to the medieval and early modern periods when such fortified houses dotted the Irish landscape, each one a centre of local power and a refuge in uncertain times.