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Parkavonear Castle is a 13th-century Anglo-Norman ruin in
Parkavonear Castle is a 13th-century Anglo-Norman ruin in Aghadoe
Aghadoe ( Irish: ''Achadh an Dá Eó'') is a large townland overlooking the town and lakes of Killarney in Ireland. Officially it is also a parish, although the parish is larger than the area normally associated with the name. The area is famou ...
in Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
, overlooking the lakes of Killarney
Killarney ( ; , meaning 'church of sloes') is a town in County Kerry, southwestern Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane, part of Killarney National Park, and is home to St Mary's Cathedral, Killar ...
. It was built following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169.
Description
The castle is two stories high, and, unusually, is built to a cylindrical design rather than the more common rectangular shape for Norman castles. The walls are thick, and the internal floor space is several metres (or yards) wide. There is a staircase within the wall joining the two floors. An entrance has been made into the lower floor, but originally the only entry would have been to the higher floor, enabling the occupants to pull in the ladder in time of attack. Only the stone parts of the structure remain, as the wooden floors and roof have deteriorated and been removed. Square earthworks surrounded thekeep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...
but only traces of them remain.
Name
Parkavonear Castle takes its name from the Irish paírc an mhóinéir, meaning "field of the meadow". It is sometimes spelt ''Parkvonear'', but local spelling includes the middle letter 'a'.See also
*Office of Public Works
The Office of Public Works (OPW) (; legally the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland) is a major Government of Ireland, Irish Government agency, which manages most of the Irish State's property portfolio, including hundreds of owned and ren ...
information plaque at the site
References
* Castles in County Kerry Ruins in the Republic of Ireland National monuments in County Kerry {{Ireland-archaeology-stub