Bawn, Ballintruer Beg, Co. Wicklow
At the base of a steep west-facing slope in Ballintruer Beg, County Wicklow, the remnants of a tower house and its adjoining bawn tell a story of medieval Irish fortification.
Bawn, Ballintruer Beg, Co. Wicklow
The tower house sits on level ground, with gentler slopes extending to the west and north, creating a naturally defensible position that would have been carefully chosen by its original builders.
The surviving architecture reveals intriguing details about the site’s construction. The south wall of the tower house extends westward for a total of 16 metres before turning northward for 3.5 metres, though this perpendicular section now stands only a single course high. A gap measuring 1.5 metres wide in the western portion likely marks the location of an original doorway, with a small segment of wall extending roughly 2 metres beyond it in an east-west orientation.
What makes this site particularly interesting is its layout within a larger oval enclosure, suggesting multiple phases of defensive planning. The possible bawn, a fortified courtyard typical of Irish tower houses, would have provided additional protection and space for livestock and daily activities. These architectural features, documented by Mary Tunney in December 2012, offer valuable insights into how landowning families in medieval Wicklow balanced domestic needs with defensive requirements in an often turbulent political landscape.





