Archaeological Survey Ballintober Castle Ballintober, Co. Roscommon Ireland
RO027-048002-
Niall Brady
for
Castle Studies Trust 2014 Grant award
Figures 1-17 Source: Figure 1: Plan of Ballintober Castle O’Conor Don, 1899 Source of main map: Figure 2: Location Map OS 1:50,000 Discovery Map series ´
0 1 KM
Sources Figure 3: Landscape context, based on OS 6-inch/mile series RO 27, 34 surrounding townlands Townlands coloured for convenience Source: Figure 4: Ortho image showing aerial view of Ortho image courtesy of Roscommon present-day landscape County Council Notes: Figure 5: Map showing royal castles, Royal castles in blue De Burgh castles in orange de Burgh castles and other sites Other sites in green Roscommon Castle from 1269
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Ballymote Castle from early 1300s
Ballintober Castle from early 1300s
0 60 M
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Caernarvon Castle 1283-1293 (blue) 1295-1323 (red)
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Sources: Figure 6: Comparative ground plans of keepless Murphy and O’Conor 2008; O’Conor Don 1899; castles in Connacht and at Caernarvon Sweetman 1985/86;
Sources: Figure 7: Detail from John Browne’s Taken from Andrews 2003, Map of Connacht, 1591 original map TCD MS 1209/68 Top: John Johnston 1812, in Figure 8: Nineteenth-century map details Pakenham Mahon collection, NLI
of Ballintober Bottom: OS 6-inch/mile, 1838 Source: Figure 9: Detail from OS 25 inch/mile showing
Bottom: View of Southwest corner tower by unknown photographer, published by Fitzpatrick in 1935. Note the base batter has been repaired. The ivy growth that now covers much of the stonework is already established but it is possible to make out details on the residential block, while the fabric of the west perimeter wall north of the tower is exposed.
Sources: Figure 11: Ballintober Caste, historic images O’Conor Don 1899 Fitzpatrick 1935 Gradiometry Data Gradiometry Interpretation
Resistance Data Resistance Interpretation Source: Figure 12: Gradiometry and Resistance Surveys, Ballintober Castle 2008 Target Archaeological Geophysics report, licence 08R262 ´ ´
Horizontal amplitude time-slice, z=90-110cm (scale not shown)
0-25cm
Slice and model amplitude time-slice, (nts) ´ 25-50cm 50-75cm
75-100cm
100-125cm
100-125cm
Time-slice intervals 0-125cm (nts)
Source: Figure 13: Ground Penetrating Radar Survey, Ballintober Castle, 2009 Target Archaeological Geophysics report, licence 09R032 fw D C fw
´ East-West Sections A A1 A A1
B B1 B B1 cw hb
counterscarp bank entrance North-South Sections C C1
D D1 cw fw
C1 D1
0 40 wi M North-facing elevation showing level line selected to show ground plan
Notes: Figure 14: Ballintober Castle, ground plan and sections, 2014 castle wall with ivy cw - causeway hb - handball alley fosse fw - field wall Northwest tower wi Causeway and postern Southwest tower
wi wi blocked wi 0 20 Southwest tower Postern gap M
Notes: Figure 15: Ortho-images of Castle’s west wall, exterior and interior view wi - window/loop opening rough fence hb rough fence Southeast tower Original entrance Northeast tower
present-day entrance Southwest tower Southeast tower
0 20 M
Notes: Figure 16: Ortho-images of Castle’s east and south walls, exterior view hb - handball alley wi wi wi Northeast tower wi wi wi Northwest tower
wi wi wi wi wi repair buttress wi Northwest tower Mural chamber 0 20 M
Notes: Figure 17: Ortho-images of Castle’s north wall, exterior and interior view wi- window/loop opening