Reverse image of gun loop on north curtain wall. curtain north on loop gun of image Reverse

southwest corner tower. corner southwest

Photograph of Ballintober Castle by Martina Cleary; Cleary; Martina by Castle Ballintober of Photograph

View looking East from outside the ditch at the the at ditch the outside from East looking View

courtesy of the National Library of Ireland, 2122.TX(3)33; 2122.TX(3)33; Ireland, of Library National the of courtesy

outside the east gate in 1779 by Bigari, reproduced reproduced Bigari, by 1779 in gate east the outside

showing the castle; View of Ballintober Castle from from Castle Ballintober of View castle; the showing

Detail from Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1838 1838 of map six-inch Survey Ordnance from Detail

Images on cover page, clockwise from top: from clockwise page, cover on Images

View looking West along ditch and north curtain wall. curtain north and ditch along West looking View

up to guard against unwarranted access. access. unwarranted against guard to up 1889 (north is facing to the right side of the image). the of side right the to facing is (north 1889

Ground plan of Ballintober Castle, after O’Conor Don Don O’Conor after Castle, Ballintober of plan Ground drawbridges to cross the ditch, which could be pulled pulled be could which ditch, the cross to drawbridges

west sides. The entrances would have been fitted with with fitted been have would entrances The sides. west

and survives particularly well on the north, south and and south north, the on well particularly survives and extensive ivy growth on the walls. the on growth ivy extensive

represents patterning grey structured less been ruined. A large ditch, or fosse, surrounds the site, site, the surrounds fosse, or ditch, large A ruined. been

sharp lines represent stonework while the the while stonework represent lines sharp the presence of a rear, or ‘postern’ gate, which has has which gate, ‘postern’ or rear, a of presence the

plan view of the southwest tower. The The tower. southwest the of view plan

A corresponding gap in the west wall may represent represent may wall west the in gap corresponding A

Rural Settlement Project, showing a basic basic a showing Project, Settlement Rural

towers protect the principal entrance on the east wall. wall. east the on entrance principal the protect towers

by the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Medieval Programme’s Discovery the by

There are four projecting corner towers and a pair of of pair a and towers corner projecting four are There Unprocessed laser scan image acquired acquired image scan laser Unprocessed

82m East-West. East-West. 82m c. by North-South diameter internal

. 85 m in in m 85 . c measuring size, in large quite nevertheless importance of defence. of importance

in length, giving a sub-square ground plan that is is that plan ground sub-square a giving length, in the narrow window lights reflect the the reflect lights window narrow the

such symmetry; all four sides are slightly different different slightly are sides four all symmetry; such indicate a complex vault structure, while while structure, vault complex a indicate

example. Ballintober Castle is not laid out with with out laid not is Castle Ballintober example. of recesses in its roof line that may may that line roof its in recesses of

king’s castle at Roscommon is an elegantly designed designed elegantly an is Roscommon at castle king’s The ground floor retains a sequence sequence a retains floor ground The

from them, leaving the central area unrestricted. The The unrestricted. area central the leaving them, from a self-contained chamber of apartments. apartments. of chamber self-contained a

on the curtain walls and the towers which project project which towers the and walls curtain the on built in three storeys, each of which was was which of each storeys, three in built

where the emphasis on accommodation focussed focussed accommodation on emphasis the where Ballintober’s southwest tower was was tower southwest Ballintober’s

design changed in the second half of the 13th century century 13th the of half second the in changed design castles in Wales, such as at Caernarvon. at as such Wales, in castles

then surrounded by defensive ‘curtain’ walls. The The walls. ‘curtain’ defensive by surrounded then Comparison is with the great Edwardian Edwardian great the with is Comparison

C

impressive central towers or keeps, which were were which keeps, or towers central impressive castle was built by Anglo-Normans. Anglo-Normans. by built was castle

astles in the 12th century were built with with built were century 12th the in astles and is a significant indication that the the that indication significant a is and

Poster, No. 6). No. Poster, de Burgh work in northwest Ireland, Ireland, northwest in work Burgh de

from 1227, and at Roscommon built from 1269 (see Roscommon County Council Heritage Heritage Council County Roscommon (see 1269 from built Roscommon at and 1227, from feature particularly associated with with associated particularly feature

are polygonal in shape, and this is a a is this and shape, in polygonal are Norman castles still standing in Roscommon, including the royal castles at Rindown built built Rindown at castles royal the including Roscommon, in standing still castles Norman

The outer walls of the corner towers towers corner the of walls outer The Ballintober Castle is a fine example of a ‘keepless castle’, and is one of several Anglo- several of one is and castle’, ‘keepless a of example fine a is Castle Ballintober

they are considered to be small. small. be to considered are they

a sequence of occupation that extends into the 17th century. Although ruined today, today, ruined Although century. 17th the into extends that occupation of sequence a

gatehouses from the late 13th century, century, 13th late the from gatehouses

Castlerea. The castle was built at the very start of the 14th century, and has witnessed witnessed has and century, 14th the of start very the at built was castle The Castlerea.

walls, and while they are similar to other other to similar are they while and walls, B

T O’Conors of Connacht, who currently reside some 10 km away at Clonalis House, House, Clonalis at away km 10 some reside currently who Connacht, of O’Conors

the entrance have rounded outer outer rounded have entrance the

allintober is a privately owned castle under the care of its ancestral occupants, the the occupants, ancestral its of care the under castle owned privately a is allintober he towers that project to protect protect to project that towers he

baronial castle in North Roscommon North in castle baronial Ballintober Castle, an early fourteenth-century fourteenth-century early an Castle, Ballintober

Detail from the Ordnance Survey’s 1838 six-inch maps showing the relationship of the castle to the old church yard and the present-day village to the south. Aerial photography shows a series of earthworks east of the castle that suggest the axis of older settlement, which may indicate elements of the medieval borough associated with the castle.

allintober Castle does not stand in isolation. BThe village today is a planned settlement laid out probably in the 18th century but between it and the castle lies an old church yard dedicated to St. Bridget in which is a series of tombstones, including that of Charles O’Conor Don, died 1634. A holy well is located on the sloping ground to the west and attests to an early foundation, while a market cross, which does not survive today, is indicated on the early Ordnance Survey maps to Ballintober Castle the north of the church yard and may suggest where the fairs and markets occurred within the medieval settlement. County Roscommon Aerial photography indicates a sequence of earthwork features lying to the east of the castle and north of the church, highlighting a now disused roadway and associated earthwork features. It is possible that such elements indicate the location of an earlier settlement associated with the castle. Despite the remarkable sequence of remains, archaeological study of Ballintober has been minimal. The standing remains alone warrant detailed study but the recent addition of the geophysical data highlights the potential whose secrets remain to be realised.

Further Reading Graham, B. J., ‘Medieval settlement in county Roscommon’, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 88c (1988), 19-38. McNeill, T., Castles in Ireland. Feudal Power in a Gaelic world, (Routledge, New York and London, 1997), 101-103. O’Conor Don, ‘Ballintubber Castle, County Roscommon’, Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 9 (1889), 24-30. Murphy, M. and O’Conor, K., Roscommon Castle. A visitor’s guide, (The Printworks, Roscommon, 2008). O’Conor, K., ‘English settlement and change in Roscommon during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries’, in A. Horning, R. Ó Baoill, C. Donnelly, P. Logue (eds), The Post-Medieval Archaeology of Ireland 1550-1850, (Wordwell, Dublin, 2007), 189-203.

Credits Acknowledgements An action of the County Roscommon Heritage Plan 2012-2016. Ballintober Development Assoc. Funded by Roscommon County Council. Ballintubber Tidy Towns Assoc. Clonalis House Text and layout by Niall Brady, Project Director of the Discovery Programme’s Medieval Rural Anne Connon, Historian Settlement Project, 2002-10. Dept. of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht Cover Photograph of Ballintober Castle by Martina Cleary, created during her Art@Work Residency Richie Farrell, County Librarian at Cruachan Aí Heritage Centre, 2009. Nollaig Feeney, County Heritage Officer Antiquarian drawing by Bigari, reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland, 2122.TX(3)33. The Heritage Council John Nicholls, Geophysicist OSi mapping © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. Licence number 2010/18/CCMAl Brian O’Carroll, Architect Roscommon County Council. Kieran O’Conor, Archaeologist The Discovery Programme; Brian Shanahan, Archaeologist The National Library of Ireland; Irish Lady’s Tresses Ballintober Castle is in private ownership. Target Archaeological Geophysics. Please do not enter the castle without permission from the owner.

Produced by Roscommon County Council © 2012 Ballintober Castle, built to impose the king’s presence on Gaelic lands but quickly passing to O’Conor hands

he Anglo-Norman castles in Roscommon were designed to contain the Gaelic lordships fter the O’Conors split into two distinct lines in 1385, Ballintober became the principal Tin the north of the county. The construction of Ballintober castle is not documented and Aplace for the O’Conor Don, while nearby Tulsk was the centre for the O’Conor Roe. it has been suggested that it was built by the O’Conors, but current thinking is that the great The castle remained a setting for political intrigue, between O’Conor factions, and between earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgh, whose family was closely connected to the court of King Gaelic and English interests. Edward I, is responsible for its construction. As the most northerly of the great castles in the The narrative of ownership, construction, attack and rebuilding that can be pieced county, Ballintober was built to impose a presence on the O’Conor lands. The 13th century together from a series of entries made in the contemporary chronicles can also be seen in the was a time of expansion in Ireland and across Europe, but this trend was not continued into archaeology and architecture of the standing remains. The gaps in one source are filled in the 14th century, and during this time de Burgh interests were curtailed with the result that the part by the evidence from the other, making Ballintober Castle a most useful place in which O’Conors took possession of Ballintober Castle by 1362. to learn about the complex relationships between the different cultural groups that lived in later medieval Ireland.

Unprocessed laser scan image acquired by the Discovery View looking west into the northwest tower The ornate principal fireplace on the third Programme’s Medieval Rural Settlement Project, showing a basic plan through a fracture in the wall, revealing a tier of floor is one of several features view of the northwest tower. It is entered by a doorway in the southeast two tall windows, with curving ashlar lintels on that attest to the opulence of the O’Conor corner, with a stairwell rising through the building in the southwest the upper storey. residence. corner, leading to the principal chambers in the northern section.

he northwest tower was substantially The O’Conors were now significnant reworked in the 17th century. Its four-floor landowners in the early modern period, Much of the cut stonework has been removed from the castle but many T elements remain that reflect the quality of the design, such as this door structure is described as a seven-room fortified and their investment in such building is a jamb leading from the stairway into the second storey of the northwest house. Large mullioned windows and stairs are testimony to their growing wealth. tower. Its tooled margin sets out the interior punch dressing, where the finished in elegant ashlar stonework, and the The eastern corner towers are more ruinous mason would have used a chisel to score the stone’s surface, with the resulting play of light on the surface contributing to the quality of the principal fireplace, located on the third floor today but that on the northeast angle was also architecture. has an inscription of 1627. a chamber tower.

eophysical survey is a technique that is The resistance survey in turn revealed a Gwidely used to ‘look’ below the surface series of clearly defined buildings arranged levels to assess the nature of the buried around a central courtyard. The structure in deposits. Surveys conducted in 2008 and the northwest measures c. 12 by 8 m in size 2009 by Target Archaeological Geophysics and appears to have buttresses, suggesting were made possible by grants from the it is a church. The building in the southwest Heritage Council and are the first use of is much more substantial, and measures c. View across the grassy interior looking at the north curtain wall this technology at Ballintober; revealing a 30-35 m long and 15 m wide. Subsequent remarkable sequence of information. survey identified that the foundations are not A large curving ditch feature in the continuous, and seem to represent a series of t first sight, the vast interior space or bawn may represent ruined buildings, and a large southwest quadrant may indicate the presence piers, and these may have supported a timber- of the castle today seems empty, but there irregular hollow lies over the central area; A of a pre-existing enclosure on the castle site. framed structure. It is tempting to see here are gable features built into the west curtain overall however the grassy space gives little Important locations were continually used the sequence of buildings referred to in the wall indicating the presence of buildings indication of what occurred within the castle’s and reused over time. In the present instance, Inquisition of 1333, which included a hall, nestled beneath. A series of platform features interior. the curving ditch might represent a former chamber and kitchen. Gaelic residence that was destroyed and built upon by de Burgh, to establish his mark and that of his king on ancestral O’Conor lands.

Ground penetrating radar provides an indication of the depth of the builldings. Magnetic gradiometry highlights cuts and fills in clay. Resistance survey in this limestone landscape is useful for The red highlights the extent of the Anomalies are highlighted as darker patches. Many represent detecting stone features, and has revealed a series of large foundations at a depth of 90-110 cm below pits. A significant anomaly in the southwest quadrant is a internal structures arranged around a central courtyard. the surface. The foundations continue curving ditch feature that may indicate the presence of a pre- Ballintober may be a keepless castle, but the geophysical data beyond the depth of survey at 150 cm. castle enclosure. illuminates the nature of settlement within the walls.

The O’Conor lands of Sil Murray are divided between O’Conor Don and O’Conor Roe The first reference An Inquisition following the death of The first annal entry O’Kelly, Mac Dermot, and Teige son of O’Conor Sir Richard Bingham, Ballintober is The Castle of to Ballintober is the Earl of Ulster records ‘an old castle indicating that the Irish Roe attack Ballintober; a battle was fought in President of among a list of Ballintober is when a mercenary surrounded by a stone wall, which possessed Ballintober which many were wounded, both within and Connacht, captured English castles the demesne killed a Gruelach/ would be very useful for keeping the notes that Cathal Óc without the town. One of the attackers took a Ballintober. Sir burned by rebels of Sir Hugh warrior, and was peace of those parts...In the castle are and Aodh son of Felim chip from the end of a wattle and set fire to it, Edward Fyton desired in the Nine O’Conor Don. himself killed. It ruinous buildings, a hall, a chamber, O’Conor, king of Connacht, casting the wattle into the bawn. It stuck in the a ward to be placed Years War of the does not suggest a kitchen, and other houses, worth from the family that was side of a house, and was burned, as was the there. Elizabethan Age. who owned the nothing beyond cost of repairs, later to be O’Conor Roe, adjoining house, and finally the greater part of castle at that time. because they need great repairs’. seized Ballintober. the town. The bawn was also burned.

1311 1333 1362 1385 1434/5 1570 1596 1617

Roscommon Heritage Poster Series, No. 7. Produced by Roscommon County Council © 2012. An action of the County Roscommon Heritage Plan 2012-2016. Funded by Roscommon County Council. Text and layout by Niall Brady. Cover Photograph of Ballintober Castle by Martina Cleary. Antiquarian drawing by Bigari, reproduced courtesy of the National Library of Ireland, 2122.TX(3)33. OSi mapping © Ordnance Survey Ireland. All rights reserved. Licence number 2010/18/CCMAl Roscommon County Council. The Discovery Programme. Target Archaeological Geophysics. Ballintober Castle is in private ownership. Please do not enter the castle without permission from the owner.

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