In Conclusion
Some general remarks on Irish Tower Houses and Castles, after visiting almost 300, in the 1980s and 1990s.
- Castle and tower house owners on the whole are special people, they tolerate and look after the castles on their land, despite the lack of encouragement and many hinderances. Often, they allow access to and welcome genuinely interested members of the public.
- As guardians of our Irish Heritage they get little or no help or recognition from the state.
- The state has safe guarded many of the more outstanding properties, however access to National Monuments for the general public has become increasingly difficult since the 1980s. Nowadays, even with the advent of the internet, there is little to no information available, on who to contact and how to gain access.
- Many of the lesser monuments are remarkably stable and have not changed in appearance for hundreds of years – even when in a ruinous condition. A credit to their designers and builders.
- There were over 3000 tower houses and castles in Ireland (arguably one of the most castellated countries anywhere in the world) and there are probably over 1000 remaining in some sort of condition. Along with ringforts, they count amongst the most numerous of Irish ancient monuments and like ring forts the bulk suffer from a national and collective amnesia, perhaps partially owning to their large numbers.
- It is interesting that very few of them are recorded on the Irish National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, as they pre date 1700, most are recorded on the archaeological survey of Ireland by the National Monuments Service. Surely they deserve to be part of our architectural heritage, it is as though Irish architecture only began in 1700.
- Apart from the well-known books on Irish Castles, there have been many high-quality theses produced on tower houses and thanks to the internet, are now easily accessible. Local historical and archaeological journals also do good job of recording and investigating selected monuments.
- There is a need for greater recognition: these monuments are important part of our Irish Heritage and more encouragement for owners to maintain them on behalf of the Irish nation is required.
- The buildings in and around our castles and their immediate environment, also need to be carefully considered. It is not acceptable to preserve the tower at the expense of all around it.
- Relaxation of regulations and imagination is needed by the official authorities, on behalf of the owners, to allow greater scope for the reuse of these properties, without being detrimental to the integrity of these outstanding buildings. The craftsmanship that was involved in their building, has ensured their longevity and should be treasured.
- They need to become relevant so twenty-first century Ireland can become proud of them. Conserve, restore and reuse. Less laborious system of grants.
- The energy that once went into them needs to be recaptured before we lose them. They should be a wonderful tool for teaching a wide range of building skills.
- Full marks to those few enterprising individuals who through their love of ancient buildings have beaten the odds and conserved/restored the castles in their ownership.
17th November 2018
