Ireland had thousands of tower houses. Most were built between the 14th and 16th centuries with a similar design. They were needed because the centralised government was failing and there was an increase in conflicts against the English Crown. They were the fortified residences of the elite were an effective protection against small-scale raiding.

The castle was built in the 15th or 16th century. It had four-floors and was constructed from uncoursed rubble with dressed granite quoins. It is approx. 4.7 by 5 meters and 8 meters high. Its floors were wooden and it had a circular stairway in the south-eastern corner and it used a mixture styles for the doors and windows. Like most of Ireland's tower houses, there is no documentation relating to its construction, ownership or history.

Since the formation of the Blessington Reservoir in the late 1930s, the tower has been significantly undermined by periodic rises in the water level. Today, the surviving part of the structure is under threat of total collapse.

The tower house was largely intact in the 1940s but today only a small part of its original structure is still standing. It is a protected structure and the responsibility of Office of Public Works but the reservoir is managed by the Electricity Supply Board. In 2018 it was agreed to stabilise the ruins but Covid-19 halted the plans (except placing a hoarding around the tower).

Hopefully, now that Covid-19 seems to be behind us, work can be started to preserve the remaining ruins and provide an interesting feature along the Blessington Greenway Walk.

References

Christiaan Corlett (ed), 2008, Beneath the Reservoir, The 1939 survey of the lands flooded by the Liffey Reservoir Scheme, Dublin: Edited by Christiaan Corlett
Wicklow Heritage
Independent
Map Location