Cahir Castle, Cahir

On an island of rock outcrop in the River Suir, S of Castle Street. This castle was built in the 13th century either by Philip Worcester (died c. 1218) or his nephew and heir William who was granted Philip's lands in 1225 (Burke 1909, 272-3). It passed by marriage to the Berminghams, who lost it to the Crown in 1332 (ibid. 273). In 1375 it was granted to James Butler, the third Earl of Ormond and the Butlers continued to live in Cahir castle until the 18th century despite fluctuations in the family fortune (Manning and O'Shaughnessy 1999, 6-16). In 1599 the Earl of Essex, with the aid of newly developed artillery including cannon, culverin and two 'petayers' or mortars, captured the hitherto impregnable castle as part of a campaign to quash an Irish rebellion (Cairns 1985, 110). The castle was again captured in 1647 by Lord Inchiquin on behalf of the Cromwelliams and had to be retaken by Cromwell in 1650 (Manning and O'Shaughnessy 1999, 10). In the 18th century the family left the castle vacant and moved to a new house (now Cahir House Hotel) facing the main square of the town (Bence-Jones 1988, 53). Between 1840 and 1846 repair works were carried out on the castle by the then owner Richard Butler of Glengall and his architect William Tinsley (Manning and O'Shaughnessy 1999, 15-16). No further work was carried out until the castle was taken into State care as a National Monument in 1964.

Although Cahir castle was built in the 13th century, its appearance today is largely due to 15th and 16th-century rebuilding and 19th and 20th-century restoration. Within the curtain wall, which itself incorporated six mural towers/turrets, there is a great hall, a square keep and three courts. The keep was actually the gatehouse of the original 13th-century castle and bawn, the latter now forming the inner court. The keep was originally two storeys high. The arched gateway through the centre of the ground floor has a vaulted chamfer on either side and a large chamber above at first-floor level. In the 15th/16th century the gate of the keep was blocked up and a gate built immediately E of the keep. At this stage an extra floor was inserted at first-floor level the gatehouse was also heightened by the addition of battlements with a gabled attic within. Also during this period a projecting square turret was built onto the SW angle. The 15th/16th-century doorway, placed at the W end of the N wall, is protected by a machicolation at parapet level, there is evidence for an external yett and on entering the lobby it was defended by a cross-loop facing the doorway. The flat-headed single and two-light windows with hood-mouldings date to the 16th-century modifications. On the E wall of the keep there is an unusual incised carving depicting the interlocked outline of two heads and a central figure (Holland 1988, 15-17). The great hall was also entirely rebuilt in the 19th century, only the present W wall is early. The S wall may have originally extended further back incorporating the large fireplace to the W of the N face of the keep, though it is also probably that the fireplace was built to serve a kitchen beyond the hall (Manning and O'Shaughnessy 1999, 34). A large three-storey square tower at the NW angle of the bawn dates from the 15th century (Manning and O'Shaughnessy 1999, 32). The original entrance, which is in the S wall and entered from the hall, was protected by a murder-hole (ibid.). The ground floor is vaulted with two early gun-loops in the N wall and the first floor has a fireplace and a garderobe chamber (ibid.). The circular tower to the N of the entrance gate and the ground floor of the NE tower in the inner court, appear to have been prisons. To the W of the NE tower there are steps leading down to a well tower, an important feature in times of seige. The rock-cut steps seem to be early in date, though the upper portion of the tower is probably 17th century. The house known as 'Cahir Cottage' (TS075-048016-) and the conical roofs of the towers at the S end of the outer court were built in the 1840s.