Ballymalis Castle is a
tower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation. Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountainous or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strate ...
and
National Monument
A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure.
The term may also refer to a sp ...
located in
County Kerry
County Kerry ( gle, Contae Chiarraí) is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and forms part of the province of Munster. It is named after the Ciarraige who lived in part of the present county. The population of the cou ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
Location
Ballymalis Castle is located northwest of
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions
...
, on the north bank of the
River Laune
The River Laune (; Irish: ''An Leamhain'') is a river in County Kerry, Ireland, which flows from Lough Leane (sometimes written as Lough Lein), one of the Lakes of Killarney, through Beaufort, past Ballymalis Castle, through the town of K ...
, near its confluence with the
River Gaddagh. The
Ring of Kerry
The Ring of Kerry ( ga, Mórchuaird Chiarraí) is a circular tourist route in County Kerry, south-western Ireland. Clockwise from Killarney it follows the N71 to Kenmare, then the N70 around the Iveragh Peninsula to Killorglin – passing ...
runs to the north.
History
This castle was built in the early 16th century by the
Ó Muircheartaigh (O'Moriartys). It later passed to the Ó Fearghuis (Ferrises), who renovated it in the late 16th century. In 1677 the manor was confiscated by the Crown and granted to
Sir Francis Brewster, who granted it to the Eager (Eagar) family.
Building
This is a tower house, partially restored. It is rectangular, with four storeys and an attic, with
bartizan
A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted turret projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern fortifications from th ...
s in the southwest and northeast corners. Also featured are slopstones, a
machicolation
A machicolation (french: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at ...
, chimneys, fireplaces and decorated windows with
mullion
A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid sup ...
s and
transoms. Some of the
alure (
wall-walk) survives.
References
National monuments in County Kerry
Castles in County Kerry
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