1998:281 - LISTOWEL CASTLE, Listowel, Kerry

Dúchas intends to build a metal stairway at the back of Listowel Castle to allow access to the upper floors of the two surviving towers. A substantial portion of the front of the castle remains, the fabric of which probably dates to the 15th century. The bulk of the structure, however, no longer survives. An area corresponding to the footprint of the stairway was excavated to see whether any archaeological material was present.

This revealed a series of modern rubble layers and three late pits. The fills of these contained ash, charcoal, animal bone, limestone blocks and redeposited subsoil. All of these continued into the baulks. The largest was 1.95m x 0.85m and 0.65m deep. The northern edge of the trench abutted the castle wall. In the section face could be seen a part of the base of the foundation of the western wall. This indicates that the demolition of the remainder of the castle was quite thorough and that the front was deliberately left in place. The amounts of ash found in two of the pits suggest that parts of the castle may have been set on fire in order to break up the fabric of the structure. Beneath these pits and deposits was the foundation cut for the castle wall. It was best preserved nearest the upstanding structure. Further away from the castle it was shallower or not present. It is 2.7m wide and 0.25m at its deepest. Along part of its southern side its edge is very compact, probably owing to contact with the mortar used in the foundation. The cut is flat bottomed and straight sided.

The bulk of the castle was demolished in the 18th/19th century, when much of the stone was used to build a nearby mill, as well as several of the houses in the town. All of the finds from the site were post-medieval in date, mostly modern. The oldest date to the late 18th century.

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