Moycarkey Castle, in
Moycarky townland,
County Tipperary
County Tipperary ( ga, Contae Thiobraid Árann) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary, and was established in the early 13th century, shortly after t ...
, is a tower-house located inside a large rectangular bawn with round flanking towers at the north-eastern and south-western corners. The entrance to the tower-house is protected by a double murder-hole.
The
castle was the central stronghold of the Cantwell family, underlords of the Butlers of Ormond, who had castles in other places as well, including one at
Mellisson in the
Slieve Ardagh barony in the townland of
Sandfordscourt.
An Edmund Cantwell of Moycarkey Castle had a daughter, Catherine, who married the Hon. John Butler, a son of
the second Viscount Mountgarret. A William Cantwell was listed as the proprietor of the castle in 1640.
In 1889, Bassett's directory of the county noted that "
he castlehas a large square tower, with high surrounding wall. A fissure in the tower was caused by lightning over a hundred years ago." and that the ruins were on the estate of a John Max.
[ George Henry Bassett]
The Book of County Tipperary
1889, reprinted in 1991 as ''County Tipperary 100 years ago: a guide and directory, 1889'', page 394
References
Castles in County Tipperary
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