Taffes Castle, Liberties Of Carlingford, Co. Louth

Taffes Castle, Liberties Of Carlingford, Co. Louth

Standing in the Liberties of Carlingford, County Louth, Taaffe's Castle is a formidable four-storey tower house that rises from the landscape, its walls constructed from roughly coursed greywacke and limestone rubble with finely dressed quoin stones at the corners.

Taffes Castle, Liberties Of Carlingford, Co. Louth

The rectangular structure features a projecting tower at its southwest angle housing the main stairwell, whilst the principal entrance, marked by a two-centred limestone arch of nine dressed blocks, sits at the western end of the south wall. Above this original doorway, now blocked, corbels support a machicolation at parapet level; a defensive feature that allowed defenders to drop objects on attackers below. The castle’s interior reveals a complex arrangement of chambers and passages, including a mural passage running the length of the west wall from the southwest to northwest angle, where the original stairwell begins its ascent to the upper floors.

The architectural details speak to the castle’s late sixteenth-century origins, with particularly fine windows punctuating the thick walls. The east wall boasts an exceptional second-floor window featuring hood moulding, decorated corner panels and a cusped ogee-headed arch, all crafted from punch-dressed limestone. Throughout the structure, various chambers served different purposes; garderobes occupy the northeast angles on multiple floors, their chutes exiting at ground level, whilst fireplaces in the north wall provided warmth to the first and second floors. The defensive nature of the building is evident in the numerous slit openings that pierce all four walls, some later converted to gun loops, reflecting the evolution of military architecture over time.



A slightly later annexe extends from the north side of the castle, likely dating to the late sixteenth century based on similarities in construction techniques and decorative elements, including matching chimney stacks carried on sandstone corbels and comparable hood mouldings. This addition retains its crenellated walls and wall-walk, which oversails slightly and incorporates drainage holes. Evidence of a bawn wall with an entrance arch projects southward from the southeast angle, suggesting the castle once stood within a larger defensive complex. Though now serving as a private warehouse and largely inaccessible to the public, the castle remains an impressive example of late medieval fortification, its walls bearing witness to centuries of Irish history in this strategic location near Carlingford Lough.

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Cassidy, B. 1983 Carlingford – a medieval town. Unpublished B.A. thesis. Queen’s University, Belfast. Tempest, H.G. 1952 Gossiping guide to Co. Louth (3 parts). Dundalk. Dundalgan Press. Anon. 1908 Proceedings – summer meeting and excursions. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 38, 291-322.
Liberties Of Carlingford, Co. Louth
54.04082127, -6.18632838
54.04082127,-6.18632838
Liberties Of Carlingford 
Tower Houses 

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