Kilcrea Castle, Kilcrea, Co. Cork
The bawn wall of Kilcrea Castle in County Cork stands as an impressive defensive structure, reaching about 6 metres in height with walls roughly 1.4 metres thick.
Kilcrea Castle, Kilcrea, Co. Cork
While largely intact, the western ends of both the north and south walls show signs of later reconstruction with thinner walls. The western section of the north wall has suffered more severely, with approximately 3 metres having completely collapsed where it once connected to the main tower’s eastern wall. Evidence of former internal structures can be found throughout: a garderobe chute opening on the outside and wall press inside the north wall, a low square-headed window near the southern end of the east wall, plus a ground-floor wall press and first-floor slit window along the south wall.
Projecting eastward from the southern end of the eastern bawn wall stands a two-storey tower measuring 4.2 metres east to west and 6.1 metres north to south. A significant gap in the west wall at ground level likely marks the location of the original doorway. The ground-floor chamber, measuring 2.8 by 3.3 metres, features a lintelled recess in the north wall with a stone base containing a circular hole 28 centimetres in diameter, now sitting just below ground level; this chamber was originally covered by a vault that has since been lost.
The first-floor chamber could be accessed through a doorway in the southwest corner from the southern bawn wall walk. Natural light entered through centrally placed windows on all four walls, each featuring splayed, lintelled embrasures with single square-headed lights, though the western embrasure differs in being square-set with a door on its south side. This door leads to spiral stairs in the southeast corner that provide access to the tower’s wall walk. Notably, the western window is flanked by gun loops, both of which have been blocked up, suggesting defensive modifications made during the castle’s active use.