Ballymote Castle

In low-lying level terrain, skirted by a stream, on the W side of Ballymote town. A late 13th-century Anglo-Norman fortress built by Richard de Burgh c. 1300 (Leask 1941, 69-70; Sweetman 1985-6; McNeill 1997, 101 and fig. 56; Sweetman 1999, 105-8). It appears to have been occupied for a short time before it was taken by the MacDonaghs in 1317 though probably not held permanently by them until after 1350 when the de Burgh influence started to wane. It is a large enclosure castle typical of the period and having close affinities with the castles built by Edward I in Wales.

The castle is almost square in plan (int. dims. 41.9m E-W; 40.1m N-S) and consists of a large twin-towered gateway, in the middle of the N wall, four angle towers and a tower midway along the E and W curtain walls (see plan Sweetman 1985-6, fig. 2). Similar castles of the same period are to be found at Ballintober and Roscommon town in county Roscommon, as well as at Ballyloughan, county Carlow (Brindley and Kilfeather 1993, Inv. no. 699). Another castle with close connections is the no longer extant Sligo Castle (O'Conor 2002).

The gatehouse is much ruined and has only its southern portion (back wall) standing to its full height. The northern section has been destroyed down to ground level. Partial excavation in 1981 revealed the full plan of the twin-towered gatehouse. The towers are three storeys high with a central gate passage which has the remains of a portcullis slot at its northern end. The chambers over the gate passage no longer exist nor do the upper chambers of the towers. Steps in the eastern tower give access to the first-floor level but there is now no evidence of how the upper floor was reached. There are the remains of a fireplace in each tower at ground-floor level. The first-floor level of the gatehouse, which has only its S wall standing, has mural passages and small chambers in it. The windows in the S wall central area, overlooking the passage, are smaller and out of line with those of the towers and are alterations. The outer curved walls of the towers had a double facing and were up to 3.2m thick. The towers are D-shaped (int. dims.: W tower 5.9m E-W; 3.3m N-S; E tower c. 6m N-S; 4.5m E-W). The gate passage is c. 9.5m long by 2.4m wide. The S face of the gatehouse has water spouts which would allow run-off into the enclosed area of the castle.

The NE angle tower is single storey, five-sided internally (5.5m SE-NW) and externally almost horseshoe-shaped. There are two opes with six steps up from ground level to each. The centre E wall tower is D-shaped with a solid or closed back or straight side and is 3 storeys high (int. ground floor 2.6m by 2.8m). The first floor is accessed from the battlement level only, the second floor via steps from the wall-walk level of the curtain wall. The first and second floors have fireplaces in the S wall. The ground floor appears to have been for storage only and can only be accessed at ground level. Along this section of the curtain wall, just below the wall-walk, is a large horizontal slot to take a wall-plate.

The much-ruined SE tower is also D-shaped with a closed back and is three storeys high. Internally it is five-sided with a stairs in the W wall, a chamber in the NE wall and with an arrow-loop. The garderobe at ground-floor level exits into a shallow ditch. The S curtain wall has a central doorway which leads to intramural steps at each side that lead to the wall-walk level. The total wall thickness here is 2.6m, the wall-walk is c. 1m wide. The SW tower is single storey and is open-backed. It is D-shaped externally and three-sided internally. It is very similar to the NE tower except that it has a garderobe, which exits into a drain outside the wall.

The central W curtain tower is three storeys high and is D-shaped with a closed back. Immediately inside the doorway at each side are intramural stairs. Those at the S lead directly to the parapets of the curtain wall but the other leads to the first and second floor chambers as well as the wall-walk. The wall-walk is one storey higher at this side than that of the E curtain. This was a residential tower with a garderobe at both ground- and first-floor levels. The NW tower is five-sided internally although two sides are very short. It appears now as a single storey tower but must have been originally two because of the height of the curtain wall adjoining it.

Excavations in 1981 (Sweetman 1985-6) showed that there was no moat on the S side of the castle but merely a flooded area. There is a slight base-batter on the towers and curtain walls which may be slightly greater if the low-lying flooded area continued around the castle originally. However there is no evidence at the gatehouse that there was ever a drawbridge and the garderobe exits are clearly visible as if they emptied into a shallow ditch or swamp.

The castle was repaired by Sir George Bingham c. 1580 when his 'arms' were erected on one of the towers (Ó Muraíle 2002, 241), but this plaque is now lost. The manuscript, known as the Book of Ballymote, is said to have been written, at least in part in Ballymote Castle c. 1391. It is now housed in the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin. The 'Red' Earl's Road (SL033-147----) was reputedly built by Richard de Burgh to link Ballymote Castle to Boyle Abbey, county Roscommon (RO006-068005-). According to Timoney and Timoney (2001, 21), de Burgh is also credited with building the road known as 'Bothar an Corrann' (SL033-145----) to get from his castle at Ballymote into county Roscommon. (Sweetman 1985-6, 114-24)

This is a national monument in State care (no. 638).