King John's Castle

National monument No. 173. Annotated 'The Queen's Castle' on a map of Kilmallock town dating from c. 1600 (TCD, MS 1209/62). Later renamed 'King's Castle' and annotated 'King John's Castle' on the latest OSI 5k map. Described in the Urban Survey (Bradley et. al. 1989, 158-9) as following; 'The remains, which spanned St John' St., consist of a three-floored structure with base batter and protruding rectangular stair turret, lit by small rectangular slits, on the north-east. It is built of coursed limestone with long and short quoins and a pointed arch over the street. The modern street is diverted around the tower. There is a chamber to the west of the arch at ground floor level which was lit from north and south by rectangular windows with rectangular hoodmoulds (possibly inserted and now blocked) while the first floor was lit from the north by a small single light pointed window and from the south by two wide pointed openings. A similar arrangement occurs on the floor above although there is a large rectangular opening in the south wall. A drainage course occurs above this floor and the tower had stepped merlons'.

This castle was described by Thomas (1992, 135) as following; 'The Queen's Castle (now King's) is one of the features named on the 1600 map and survives astride the middle of the main street rather as a gate; it has been dated to the 15th—16th century (Bradley 1985, 452); it may be the 'main guard' of the Elizabethan period, a successor to the original castle first referred to in 1204—6 (Cal. doc. Ire. I 289; Westropp 1906), or even the original north gate (Nat. Mon. Irel. 30 suggests a late 15th century gate-tower).

Excavations within the walled town of Kilmallock (LI047-022---) by John O'Connor under licence No. 99E0215 on the 'King's Castle' as part of the Urban Renewal Scheme's monitoring work was described by the excavator as following; 'Advance test pits were dug under the archway of the King's Castle to determine the presence of archaeological deposits ahead of the insertion of ground lights. A cobbled surface (F275) was revealed extending south east of the arch at King's Castle. The cobbles were all c. 0.3m long and c. 0.1m wide. The surface was roughly in line with the entrance archway of the castle and measured c. 16m long by 4m wide. The lower layer of cobbles is a well made road consistent with surfaces found elsewhere in the town. An area of a field measuring 53m NE-SW by 60m NW-SE was to be stripped for the construction of a carpark. From it position, size and orientation the ditch (F60) would appear to be a defensive feature pre-dating the enclosure of the enlarged town by a stone wall. This supports the suggestion that King's Castle is sited on the original northern line of the town. No evidence exists for the presence of a defensive bank neither is there any indication of a trench which may have supported a wooden palisade or a wall foundation' (O'Connor 1999, 30).

Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of revised upload: 30 September 2019