Site of Castle, Donaskeagh, Co. Tipperary South

Co. Tipperary |

Masonry Castles

Site of Castle, Donaskeagh, Co. Tipperary South

In the lush pastures overlooking the Multeen river valley in County Tipperary South, the remnants of Donaskeagh Castle tell a quiet story of Ireland's turbulent past.

Today, little remains of what was once a fortified structure; the castle site now appears as a square knoll measuring roughly 11.6 metres east to west and 9 metres north to south. This raised earthwork, defined by gentle scarps no more than a metre high, likely conceals the original foundation stones beneath centuries of accumulated earth. On the eastern side, where grazing livestock have worn away the grass, fragments of masonry and stones peek through the eroded surface, offering tantalising glimpses of the structure that once stood here.

The castle's documented history stretches back to at least 1569, when records mention the castle at 'Doneskeoghe'. By the mid-17th century, the Down Survey map of 1655-6 still showed the castle standing, though the Civil Survey of 1654-6 paints a picture of decline. At that time, the castle sat on lands leased by Sir Phillip Percival but owned by Richard Butler of Kilcash, and was already described as being 'out of repayre'. This description suggests the structure had fallen into disuse well before the upheavals of the Cromwellian period.

When the Ordnance Survey Letters were compiled in the 1830s, the surveyors found even less remaining, noting that whilst the site of the castle was clear, none of the walls were intact and the building's original extent could no longer be determined. The castle sits within what appears to be a much older, heavily eroded enclosure, with a small pond visible to the south-southwest; features that hint at a once more substantial defensive complex that commanded this strategic position above the river valley.

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