Site of Castle, Ballymount Great, Co. Dublin
The architectural remains at Ballymount Great offer a fascinating glimpse into 17th century Irish manor house construction.
Site of Castle, Ballymount Great, Co. Dublin
What survives today forms a roughly rectangular courtyard, with various outbuildings extending east and west from the original manor house. Only the north gable wall and southwest corner of the main house remain standing, built from lightly bonded masonry featuring distinctive block and dot decoration on the quoins, a characteristic detail of the period. The north wall rises two storeys high, measuring approximately 16 metres in length and 8.2 metres wide, with a splayed embrasure at ground level and evidence of a first floor fireplace. Attached to the north end sits a rectangular vaulted chamber, its interior dimensions measuring 9.5 metres long by 3.7 metres wide, with a window piercing the northern wall.
Archaeological excavations in 1997 revealed significantly more of the manor’s original footprint beneath the ground. The eastern section of a substantial stone building was uncovered, though its gable end had been destroyed by modern sewer works at 62.09 metres above sea level. Excavation work directly east of the standing remains exposed the central portion of the structure, including foundation walls, a partition wall, internal post holes, and a series of cobbled floors with drainage features. These floors yielded a mixture of medieval and post medieval finds, suggesting the site had a long period of occupation and use.
The excavations also revealed several 17th century walls, including the southwest portion of the manor house and the north wall that now forms the southern boundary of the barrel vaulted building. Among the discoveries was a section of stone wall embedded within the cobbled surface, measuring 2.6 metres in length, 0.74 metres wide and 0.3 metres high. The remains of a later outhouse structure were also recorded, adding another layer to the complex building history of this site. Together, these archaeological investigations have helped piece together a clearer picture of the manor’s original layout and its evolution over several centuries.