Roscrea Castle

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Roscrea Castle
Gate building of Roscrea Castle

Gate building of Roscrea Castle

Alternative name (s): Caisleán Ros Cré
Creation time : around 1213
Castle type : Niederungsburg
Conservation status: restored
Standing position : Irish nobility
Construction: Quarry stone
Place: Roscrea
Geographical location 52 ° 57 '18.9 "  N , 7 ° 47' 54.5"  W Coordinates: 52 ° 57 '18.9 "  N , 7 ° 47' 54.5"  W.
Height: 101  m ASLTemplate: height / unknown reference
Roscrea Castle (Ireland)
Roscrea Castle
Area map of Roscrea Castle

Roscrea Castle ( Irish Caisleán Ros Cré ) is a low castle of the type of a moth from the 13th century in Roscrea in Irish County Tipperary . The castle consists of a fenced-in courtyard, a gate block and a tower each on the south-west and south-east corners of the enclosure. Together with the Damer House from the 18th century with gardens, the castle forms part of the Roscrea Heritage Center .

history

The south-east tower of the castle is sometimes called "King John's Castle", as its construction is attributed to King John Ohneland . Today's stone castle was certainly built after the king's death, but there is evidence that King Johann ordered the construction of a “motam et bretagium” (English: motte with tower) at this point in 1213. At the time of construction, the land belonged to the Bishop of Killaloe . Construction was overseen by Justiciar Henry de Loundres and was part of King John's efforts to consolidate the conquest of Ireland, especially in the central and southern parts of the country. In 1315 the castle was loaned to the Butler family of Ormonde Castle , who owned it until the 18th century. In 1646, during the reconquest of Ireland , the castle and town of Eoghan Rua Ó Néill were besieged. In 1650 the castle fell to Cromwell's troops and was briefly used by Cromwell's son-in-law, Henry Ireton . In 1703 she sold James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde , to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham . In 1722 the local merchant John Damer bought it and it later fell to the Earl of Portarlington . From 1798 Roscrea Castle was used as barracks for 350 soldiers and later it served as a school, library and tuberculosis sanatorium . In the 19th century the castle fell into disrepair; the collapse of a roof required extensive repairs in the 1850s. In 1892 Roscrea Castle was declared a "National Monument" and registered as No. 211 on the relevant list.

Construction and construction

The original, wooden castle was destroyed at the end of the 13th century and replaced by today's stone buildings. Between 1274 and 1295 it was spent over £ 875 and the construction was overseen by John de Lydyard . Today's structure consists of a 40-meter-wide courtyard, which is surrounded by a curtain wall and a moat . The walls are sometimes up to 2.5 meters thick. The castle was originally secured on the east side by a river and on the other sides by a moat. The castle has no donjon and so the main residential building is the three-storey gate building on the north side with a rectangular floor plan, which is flanked by two three-quarter round towers, one in the southwest and one in the southeast of the complex. The southwest tower, also called Ormonde Tower , has a room on the first floor with an open fireplace on the north side and a stucco coat of arms from the 17th century. The southeast tower, also called King John's Castle , is higher and has three stories. The original gatehouse dates from around 1280, but the current stone building was built for James Butler, 4th Earl of Ormonde in the 15th century. The gate building is about 27 meters high and originally had a bascule bridge and portcullis . The entrance has a barrel vaulted ceiling . There is a cellar dungeon under the gate tower, which was accessible via a trap door . In the 17th century living quarters on the second floor with were cross vault , three yokes , arched windows , a garderobe , a mantelpiece, a large, built-up, open fireplace with tooth capitols on the south wall and stepped gables added. The drawbridge was operated from this floor. A spiral staircase in the east corner of the building provided access to the upper floors. The slate roof dates from the 18th century. The building was renovated again in the 19th century. In the courtyard there are buildings from the 18th century and some modern structures. The southern part of the curtain wall is missing today. Some parts of the stucco decoration from the 1640s have been preserved to this day.

Damer House

In 1728 John Damer had a large Georgian house built on the castle grounds. The three-story, Queen Anne style basement house has nine lobbies and one of only two Queen Anne style stairs in Ireland. Damer House is considered to be one of only a few examples of pre- Palladian architecture in Ireland, but was to be demolished in the 1960s and replaced with an indoor swimming pool or bacon factory. Eventually it was saved after a campaign by Desmond Guinness and the Irish Georgian Society , which leased the house in 1973. The house was restored and opened to the public by the Irish Georgian Society from 1980 to 1983. The Roscrea Heritage Society then entered into the lease ; the restoration was completed in the 1990s by the Dúchas National Heritage Administration with additional financial support from Bord Fáilte and £ 100,000 from the State Fund for Architecture. The project cost more than £ 1.3 million and many original, contemporary details have been preserved. The house is now owned by the Tipperary County Council and administered by the Roscrea Heritage Society .

Awards received

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Tom McNeill: Castles in Ireland: Feudal Power in a Gaelic World . Psychology Press. 2000. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  2. ^ Roscrea Castle, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary . Castles Uncovered. 2011-2015. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  3. ^ Seán Duffy: King John's Expedition to Ireland, 1210: The Evidence Reconsidered in Irish Historical Studies . Issue 30, No. 117 (May 1996). Pp. 1-24.
  4. ↑ HG Leask: Irish Castles: 1180 to 1310 in Archaeological Journal . Issue 93, issue 1. 1936.
  5. ^ Full text of "The early Norman castles of the British Isles" . Archive.org. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  6. ^ A b T. E. McNeill: Mountains or Molehills? Different Uses for Mottes in the Lordships of Eastern Ireland in Archaeological Journal . Issue 168: 1. 2011. pp. 227-271.
  7. ^ A b The Standing Stone: Roscrea Castle, Co. Tipperary . The Standing Stone. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  8. ^ Bon anniversaire, "The Irish Aesthete . The Irish Aesthete. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  9. ↑ a b Kate Donovan: Roscrea confronts 'disgrace' of Damer House . The Irish Times. April 16, 1998. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  10. ↑ George Cunningham: Roscrea and District: Illustrated Guide, Monuments and Antiquities . Parkmore Press, Roscrea 1976.
  11. ^ National Monuments in State Care: Ownership & Guardianship: Tipperary North . Comhshool, Oidhreacht agus Rialtas Áitiúil. March 4, 2009. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  12. ^ George Cunningham: The Anglo-Norman Advance into the South-west Midlands of Ireland . Parkmore Press. Roscrea 1987
  13. ↑ P. Claughton, P. Rondelez: Early silver mining in western Europe: perspective of Irish . Mining Heritage Trust of Ireland. Issue 13 (2013). Pp. 1-8.
  14. ↑ Gleeson, Hist. Terr. Ely O'Carroll. P. 380 ff.
  15. ↑ Jane Fenlon: The Decorative Plasterwork at Ormond Castle: A Unique Survival in Architectural History . Issue 41 (1998). Pp. 67-81.

Web links

Commons : Roscrea Castle  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files