Athclare Castle, Athclare, Co. Louth

Athclare Castle, Athclare, Co. Louth

Athclare Castle stands as a sturdy testament to medieval Irish tower house architecture, built from roughly coursed limestone and greywacke rubble with neat limestone corner stones set vertically.

Athclare Castle, Athclare, Co. Louth

This three-storey structure rises over a north-south barrel vault, its walls showing a slight inward slope that gave these fortifications their characteristic defensive strength. Nearly square in plan at about 10 metres north to south and 8 metres east to west, the castle incorporates a spiral stairwell tucked into the southeast corner whilst garderobes occupy the northwest angle, a practical arrangement typical of such fortified dwellings.

The castle’s defensive features reveal its relatively late construction within the tower house tradition. A simple loop at ground level pierces the north façade, fashioned from carefully dressed limestone with a single round-headed arch stone, whilst a cross-loop with expanded terminals sits high in the stairwell’s north wall. Though two modern doorways now breach the east façade; one leading to the broken spiral stair and another providing access to the barrel-vaulted ground floor; the original entrances have vanished from view. A large window, now blocked, once brightened the third storey’s south wall, suggesting the upper floors served as the lord’s private chambers.



Perhaps most intriguing are the castle’s decorative elements, documented but now hidden from public view due to the building’s precarious state. Two elaborate fireplaces once warmed the tower’s chambers: one at first-floor level bore chamfered, punch-dressed stonework adorned with ivy-like leaf patterns, whilst another, since relocated to an adjoining house, featured a running pattern of leaves in relief alongside a curious quadruped with its head turned backwards. These ornamental touches speak to a level of comfort and artistic ambition beyond mere military necessity. Today, the ground floor serves mundane duty as a farm building, with more recent agricultural structures clinging to the tower’s western side, themselves remnants of a house built when the castle fell from use.

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Tempest, H. G. 1947 Fireplace in Athclare Castle. County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society Journal, 11, 186. Tempest, H. G. 1948 Cussack’s Cross and Hurlestown Castle. County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society Journal, 11, 4, 314. Balfour, B. .R. T. 1924 Two Residences of the Towney Family in Louth. County Louth Archaeological and Historical Society Journal, vol. 5, 4. 267-9.
Athclare, Co. Louth
53.81522871, -6.39778582
53.81522871,-6.39778582
Athclare 
Tower Houses 

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