Bawn, Coolamber, Co. Longford
In the northwest corner of what was once a formidable defensive site in Coolamber, County Longford, stands the remains of a fortified house surrounded by an almost perfectly circular bawn wall.
Bawn, Coolamber, Co. Longford
The bawn, measuring 39 metres north to south and 38 metres east to west, follows the perimeter of an elevated platform that may have originally served as a medieval ringwork. With walls nearly a metre thick but now standing only 30 centimetres high, the structure’s footprint is still clearly visible, including evidence of what appears to be a rectangular tower projecting from the southwestern section, possibly a mural tower or garderobe.
The relationship between the various elements of this site presents an intriguing historical puzzle. The platform beneath the bawn might represent an earlier ringwork, a type of timber castle popular in medieval Ireland, which was later refortified with stone walls and the addition of the fortified house. Alternatively, all three components; the platform, house, and bawn; could have been constructed as part of a single defensive complex during the same period. This type of layered fortification was common in Ireland during the transition from medieval to early modern periods, when landowners needed to adapt their defences to changing military technologies and social conditions.
Today, whilst the fortified house and bawn walls are largely reduced to their foundations, they offer valuable insights into the defensive architecture of plantation-era Longford. The site demonstrates how Irish fortifications evolved over time, potentially incorporating earlier earthworks into newer stone defences, creating a palimpsest of military architecture that spans several centuries of Irish history.