Browse Items (19 total)

View from the east. No modern roads lead to the castle, which is privately owned and surrounded by gated and fenced farmland. The seasonal lake and neighboring wooded land to the south and southeast of the castle (seen to the left in this picture)…

View from the north of Kilcolman Castle ruins, from within the area of the "bawn" or enclosure, which is no longer extant. In Spenser's time the castle would have been at least two stories taller (including the roof and battlements) and much more…

At center-bottom can be seen the original door into the tower house. It leads directly into a vaulted cellar.

The nineteenth-century platform addition is in the foreground. The Ballyhoura range of mountains can be glimpsed in the distance. To the south of the castle (in the background) is a marsh and seasonal lake, now part of a nature preserve.

Spenser,…

In the foreground is the nineteenth-century platform or patio. The marshy, seasonal lake to the south of the tower is partly filled with water. The Ballyhoura range of mountains can be glimpsed in the distance to the east and south of the tower.

In Spenser's day, the castle would have been taller, and a bawn wall enclosing the castle yard would have stood between the viewer and the castle. The Ballyhoura mountain range can barely be seen in the distance.

Spenser's residence in the castle…

Because it is on a ridge, the castle from this direction would have looked even more imposing (the castle would also have had at least two more stories, including parapets). The castle would also have had a "bawn" (i.e., enclosure) wall directly in…

Exterior view from the south of the gothic-style, ogee-headed “Raleigh's window” in the tower house.

Staircase/garderobe block of the tower house (on left). The additional building complex (with Parlor and Great Hall) would have stood in the center of this photo. It was attached to the east side of the castle. Remains of the south wall of the Great…

Kilcolman castle stands on a ridge. In the foreground (right) can be see the remains of the south-east corner of the bawn wall, which doubled as the wall of the Great Hall on this side. The Hall and adjacent Parlor are no longer standing.