Neigham Castle

Within the NE quadrant of a moated bawn (KK025-001002-). According to Lanigan (1981, 250), ‘the castle was built by Sir James Butler father to the 8th Earl of Ormonde not too long before his death in 1487’. The castle is depicted on the Down Survey (1655-6) parish map of Dungarvan, in the barony of Gowran, Co. Kilkenny (Hibernia Regnum, courtesy of Trinity College Dublin). It is described in the terrier for Dungarvan Parish as, ‘on Neigham a castle in good repaire’ and Sir Edward Butler is listed as the proprietor in 1640 (NMI MS720).

A rectangular tower house (dims. 12m x 10m) consisting of three storeys beneath a stone vault (Salter 2004, 75). The upper floor/s and battlements do not survive. Constructed of roughly coursed limestone rubble with a base-batter (H c. 3m) and well-cut quoins. There is a crack running up through the centre of the E face and another running up the N side of the W face. The tower house was entered via a doorway at the W end of the S wall at ground-floor level. The outer door surround is missing and surrounding masonry broken out. The entrance was protected by a murder-hole positioned between the outer and inner doorway. There is a garderobe exit at the S end of the E wall. The ground floor was lit by a loop in the centre of the N wall and central loops in the E and S wall respectively, the latter loops being broken out and the wall breached to provide ground-floor access. The first-floor is entered from a mural stairs which rises in the W wall. There are numerous loops lighting both the stairs and mural chambers, including the garderobe. The remaining windows are externally chamfered flat-headed single-light windows, except that in the centre of the E wall at first-floor level, which is pointed. The S jamb and sill of this window are missing and there is a blocked up breach to the S and beneath it. There is an angle-loop at first-floor level in the NE angle and at second-floor level in the NW and SW angle.