Ballycarbery Castle

Map Reference: V447797 (0447, 0797)

Ballycarbery Castle has part of the corner of a bawn wall in the north- west. It has a mural stairway and there are a number of simple defensive loops.



The main castle is a large rectangular building with a projecting corner tower in the north-east. It is aligned E-W with vaults above the first floor.



There would have been three large rectangular rooms at ground floor level with vaulted rooms above.



There are mural chambers at the north-east corner and passages in the west wall.



Mural stairways rise in the north wall and in the north-west corner to above the vault. A stairway in the north- east corner leads to chambers in the projecting tower. The room above the vault at the west end was lit by a large window with possibly three lights with ogee heads. Most of the castle at the south-east has gone. The upper levels are confined to the north and west walls and there are possibly four storeys.



The remains of windows at second floor level have an ecclesiastical appearance and may indicate the presence of a chapel. There are traces of crenellations and in the west wall there is a fragment of a gable. There are some traces of a doorway at the bottom of the stairway in the north and the castle is lit mainly by small slits at the lower levels.