Bawn, Coan West, Co. Kilkenny
On a broad, boggy terrace above the River Coon's gorge sits the remnants of what was once a formidable castle complex in County Kilkenny.
Bawn, Coan West, Co. Kilkenny
The site offers sweeping views north and south along the Coon, down to the Dinin river valley, and across to the rolling hills that frame the landscape. Today, visitors will find a raised platform about half a metre high and 45 metres square; the only visible remains of what locals once called Caisléan Chuain Fheidhlim Uí Neill, or the Castle of the Whelps of Feilim O’Neill.
The castle itself met an unceremonious end around 1830 when it was demolished to provide building materials for the nearby Coon chapel, which now stands immediately east of the site alongside a graveyard. According to historical accounts from 1839, the castle had already been reduced to foundations by then, sitting at the centre of ground surrounded by an impressive defensive trench; eight feet deep and twelve feet wide. Local tradition held that the structure had stood to considerable height until just twelve years before those observations were made.
What made this castle particularly notable was its construction from greenstone and grouting, marking it as a substantial defensive structure. Historical documents from 1790 refer to it as Castlecoonfeily, whilst various Irish names including Cushlawn-aChooing have been recorded. Though the castle’s cellars reportedly survived intact into the 19th century, nothing now remains visible at ground level save for the raised platform of the bawn, a fortified enclosure that once protected this medieval stronghold.