Castles of Tipperary

Roscrea Castle: Gate Tower, Curtain Walls and Damer House in Tipperary

A 13th-century castle in the middle of a market town, with an eighteenth-century house standing inside its walls.

Roscrea Castle is a 13th-century stone castle on Castle Street in the centre of Roscrea, north Tipperary. It has a gate tower, curtain walls and two corner towers, and in its courtyard stands Damer House, a Queen Anne style house of the 1720s. The castle is in OPW care while Damer House is owned by Tipperary County Council; together they form Roscrea Heritage Centre. It lies well north of Ardfinnan, at about 80 km by road.

From King John’s motte to stone

In 1213 King John ordered a motte and tower to be built here, on land that then belonged to the Bishop of Killaloe, as part of his effort to consolidate the conquest of Ireland. The work was overseen by the Justiciar, Henry of London. The first castle was of earth and timber. It was replaced in stone: Wikipedia records more than £875 spent on works from 1274 to 1295.

In 1315 the castle was granted to the Butlers of Ormond, who held it until the 18th century. The same family built Ormond Castle at Carrick-on-Suir (see our guide to Ormond Castle).

What to look at

The castle has no keep. It is a courtyard castle, about 40 metres wide, enclosed by curtain walls up to 2.5 metres thick in places, with a ditch and originally a river on the east side and a moat on the others.

• The gate tower. A three-storey rectangular block on the north side, about 27 metres high, which served as the main residence. The original gate dates to around 1280, and Wikipedia says the stone gate building was built by the 4th Earl of Ormond in the 15th century. The entrance passage has a barrel-vaulted ceiling and once had a drawbridge and portcullis. A prison cell lay below, reached by trapdoor.
• The corner towers. The taller south-east tower is called King John’s Castle, because its building is attributed to him. The south-west tower is the Ormond Tower, which carries a 17th-century plasterwork coat of arms.

Sources disagree on some dates, and tourism pages give figures from the 1280s to 1332 for the stone castle. The safest summary is that the stone defences date from the late 13th century, with later alterations.

War and a long afterlife

In 1646 the castle was stormed by Owen Roe O’Neill, and it fell to the Cromwellian army in 1650. In 1703 the Duke of Ormonde sold it to the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, and in 1722 it was bought by a local merchant, John Damer. In 1798 it became a barracks for 350 soldiers. It was later used as a school, a library and a tuberculosis sanatorium. It was declared a national monument in 1892.

Why it sits in the town

Many Irish castles stand in fields or on hills. Roscrea Castle is in the middle of the town, on Castle Street. Patrick Comerford notes that it was a strategic stronghold before it became the main seat of the Butler family of Ormond. That town-centre setting is part of its appeal: you can step from Castle Street through the gate passage into a quiet courtyard in a moment.

Damer House

Damer House was built by John Damer in the 1720s, in a Queen Anne style that Wikipedia describes as one of the few pre-Palladian examples in Ireland. It has three storeys over a basement and nine bays. Its staircase is one of only two Queen Anne staircases in Ireland.

In the 1960s it was nearly lost, with plans to replace it with a swimming pool or a bacon factory. A campaign led by Desmond Guinness and the Irish Georgian Society saved it, and it was restored in stages and completed in the 1990s. It now serves as visitor reception, and houses exhibitions and the Damer House Gallery.

Visiting

Dates and prices change, so check heritageireland.ie for current opening times. The upper levels of the castle are reached by stairs, which limits access.

From Ardfinnan

Roscrea is roughly 80 km by road from Ardfinnan, a little over an hour, so it suits a day on its own rather than a stop. Ardfinnan is a Norman castle of 1185 on the Suir, still a private house, and it is best seen from the village bridge. For a wider view, see Castles of Tipperary or the Tipperary castles hub.