County: Limerick Site name: Askeaton Castle, Askeaton
Sites and Monuments Record No.: LI011-092003 Licence number: E005144
Author: Dave Pollock
Site type: Castle
Period/Dating: Late Medieval (AD 1100-AD 1599)
ITM: E 534020m, N 650355m
Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 52.600449, -8.973985
The refurbishment of a two-storey post-medieval building on the approach to Askeaton Castle has been in progress since 2021. First floor joists and internal plaster have been removed, and the ground inside has been lowered for a new subfloor. The removal of material below ground floor level was carried out as an open area archaeological excavation in June and July 2021.
The original two-storey structure had been built against the outside of the castle curtain wall, and along the side of a causeway linking the castle with the present bridge over the Deel. The building was then extended into the castle precinct, and the investigation below the floor of this extension revealed two phases of castle wall.
Further investigation in November showed the earlier wall to include a small tower partly built on a platform of stone and clay revetted by the front face of the curtain wall. Finished ground level behind the tower had been lowered at some stage, perhaps for extra headroom under the former arched gateway, at or near the present gate. The depth of the platform, and the nature of the underlying material, was unknown.
Archaeografix, Knockrower Road, Stradbally, Co. Waterford. X42PA48
