Structure

Tower House

Carriganass Castle is the best preserved of the tower houses of the O'Sullivan Beare Clan. The tower itself is a five - storey rectangular structure with only its western side standing to its original height of 17 metres. All of the eastern section of the tower is now gone so we are left with a spatially biased section of the structure in which to interpret its space and layout.
The ground floor was probably originally entered from an entrance in the now destroyed eastern wall and had an estimated area of 45 square metres. Two embrasured windows lit this level on the north and south west walls. A blocked up arch in the north wall may represent a third light. These are the only surviving architectural features at this level with no recesses or entrance features now visible or surviving.
The first floor level was originally vaulted and has two surviving windows again in the west and south wall. Two mural chambers are contained either side of the west window, both lit by narrow lintelled windows while a third mural chamber is present on the north wall. Each of these chambers is accessed through a lintelled doorway. A small number of rectangular (storage?) recesses are also present on the north wall. The combination of these architectural features would suggest that this level was a private space, constituting the private quarters of the residence.
The second floor level is lit by three windows in the west, south and north walls. These are finely built windows with some internal stone surrounds surviving. Projecting stone corbels mark the position of the ceiling. No mural chambers survive and there does not appear to be any attempt at the creation of private spaces at this level. This could then be a public space within the tower house, a space where guests were greeted and possibly entertained and where business was conducted.
The third floor level would also have originally been covered with a barrel vault and although only the springing for this now remains. Lighting does not appear to have been such an overt concern at this level as it is only lit by a single ogee-headed window on the west wall, centrally placed within the west wall. The south wall of this level also contains a mural chamber. The combination of the low lighting at this level and the presence of private chambers would again suggest that this was a private space constituting the sleeping or bedroom quarters of the primary residence.
Finally the fourth floor level has a narrow wall walk giving access to the two surviving bartizans in the north-west and south-west corners. The confined access and wide drop holes in the base of the features indicate a defensive role.

The Bawn

Refortification of existing buildings is a recurring theme in the later part of the 16th century. This process is most evident in the surviving architectural remains at Carriganass Castle. While the tower house here is clearly 15th century in date with later 16th century refurbishment, the surrounding bawn is of a later date. The bawn has been used as a farmyard over the last 150 years and has witnessed a significant amount of change and redevelopment. It has a substantial structure with an internal east west length of 42 metres and a north south width of 21 metres. The bawn is roughly rectangular in shape and is positioned on an exposed east/west oriented bedrock ledge which runs directly adjacent to the Ouvane River and its northern bank. It is a well built structure, constructed using an uncoursed rubble sandstone in a lime based mortar.
The bawn has four projecting spear shaped bastions or flanking towers. Each is stone built and consists of a ground and first floor level. While each of the bastions is broadly similar in shape and size each having an approximate internal area of 22 to 24 square metres, they differ in some respects. The south-east bastion has a very clear defensive function as exemplified by the presence of six pistol loops at ground floor level and four further examples on the east wall at first floor level but it does not simply serve this function. The presence of a large ground floor fireplace in the south-west corner of the building which was originally lintelled gives a sense of permanence about the occupation of the structure. The south-western bastion has a regular squared interior with three pistol loops at ground level on its western face. Interestingly the upper floor of this bastion is covered with four tiers of small rectangular niches which would originally have served as nesting boxes. The niches are present on all four internal first floor walls and this level clearly served as a dovecote. The presence of the cote provides an indication of the diet of the inhabitants.