Carrigaholt Tower, Shannon, County Clare

Carrigaholt Tower, Shannon, County Clare

Bence-Jones, Mark. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.

p. 58. The Cottage: “Burton sub Conyngham]  A C19 house of random ashlar consisting of a 2 storey centre with pointed windows, flanked by single-storey gabled wings; overlooking the mouth of the Shannon, close to the ruins of an old castle of the MacMahons which was captured by the O’Briens of Thomond and afterwards passed to the Burton family. Now rebuilt, but the old C18 pink brick garden walls still survive.”

*Carrigaholt Tower, Shannon, County Clare*, *photograph courtesy Sherry Fitzgerald* *McMahon*, *2024.*

Irish Castles and Historic Houses. ed. by Brendan O’Neill, intro. by James Stevens Curl. Caxton Editions, London. 2002:

This is a tall and slender five-storey tower standing on one corner of a bawn and built originally by the MacMahons, Lords of Corcasascin, around the end of the 15th century…

Teige Caech ‘the Short-sighted’ MacMahon was unsuccessfully beseiged in the tower by Sir Conyers Clifford in 1598, but a few months later the Earl of Thomond succeeded in wrestling the castle from him. It was then taken over by Daniel O’Brien who built the fireplace on the fifth floor which bears the date 1603.

In 1646, Admiral Sir William Penn called at the castle on his way to Kinsale, having just abandoned Bunratty to the Confederate troops. In 1651 it was taken by Cromwell’s general, Ludlow, who kept a garrison there for a year. Charles II, however, restored the castle to to O’Briens in 1666. But in 1691 William of Orange gave it to Keppel, Earl of Albermarle, who sold it almost immediately afterwards to the Burtons, who retained it up til the present century.

*Carrigaholt Castle, County Clare, photograph by Robert French, (between ca. 1865-1914), Lawrence Photograph Collection, National Library of Ireland*.

Carrigaholt Cottage, Castle & Lands, Rinemackaderrig, Carrigaholt Castle, Carrigaholt, Co. Clare V15 VK68 6 beds4 baths305 m² for sale courtesy Sherry Fitzgerald McMahon.

SOLD by auction on Wednesday the 27th of March 2024. This is a truly special property set privately along the stunning shoreline of the Shannon Estuary on the southern coast of the Loop Head peninsula. The property has stunning sea views and is located a short stroll from the village of Carrigaholt which is a picturesque sea side fishing village in south west Co Clare. It is accessed just off the quay road, which also leads to the local harbour and pier. The ruin of Carrigaholt Castle is a striking landmark adjacent to the pier and is included in the property. Rarely does a property with such a private setting and superb shore frontage come to market along the west Coast of Ireland. The property consists of circa 7.05 hectares (17.4 acres) of land bounded to the south and east by approximately 400 meters of private shore frontage and to the north by a walled garden and the ruins of Carrigaholt Castle. In a clearing of a private wooded area in the centre of the property there are two residential buildings in addition to outbuildings. The property was purchased by the McGrath family in 1910. Prior to that it belonged to the local landlord. Carrigaholt Castle is one of Ireland’s best preserved “Tower Houses”, built around 1480 by the McMahons, the last Gaelic Chieftains to rule this peninsula. The building is a protected structure. The two residential buildings are made up of the main residence and an adjacent more modern two bedroom residence. The main residence “Carrigaholt Cottage” (Eircode V15 VK68) is made up of a period style 4 bedroom residence to the front and a series of extensions to the rear and side. It was known as Carrigaholt Cottage. It is referenced in Hugh Weir’s houses of Clare book as a “rectangular, two storey, two bay Gothic windowed house”. The building was constructed approximately in the mid 1800’s and originally included two single storey wings on either side of the main building. There was also a glass structure to the front which has also been removed. Currently there is a sunroom extension to the side. In addition there is a large extension to the rear containing the kitchen and utility areas – (There is also a loft two bedroom conversion above this rear extension). The building requires significant modernisation. There are a number of sheds to the rear. Approximate floor area of the main house 235 sqm (2,528 sq ft approx.) The adjacent two bedroom residence (Eircode V15AK50) was built some time in approximately the early 1980’s or so. It is a two story residence with a kitchen, living/dining area and an entrance hall on the ground floor. There are two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor. Oil fired central heating. Approximate floor area of 70 sqm (754 sq ft approx.) BER D2. BER No. 116530932 The wooded area around the house clears to good quality pasture land to the east. To the south the property is bounded by the shoreline. There is some lesser quality land to the west of the residence. There is a wooded walled garden area to the rear (north) of the residence. This walled garden area is registered as Folio CE56767F and is made up of circa 0.33 hectares (0.81 acres). To the north of the walled garden there is a small area of ground to the west of the castle which has a path giving public access to the castle. This area and the Castle itself are currently under lease to the Clare County Council. The property was originally accessed, and can still be accessed, via a shared side road to the left of the L2002 Carrigaholt to Kilbaha road about 850 meters south of the village. The shared road is about 450 meters to the entrance from the L2002. This is in addition to the access to the property from the Quay road.

Accommodation

“Carrigaholt Cottage” – Entrance Hall – 1.97m x 6.4m Drawing Room – 4m x 5.75m Living Room – 3.9m x 3.9m Downstairs Bedroom single – 2.2m x 2.77m Wet room WC – 2.2m x 1.8m Sunroom – 2.6m x 4.8m Kitchen – 4.7m x 7m Store – 4.7m x 2.4m Utility Room – 4.7m x 3.4m WC – 1.45m x 1.37m Loft Attic Conversion – Room 1 – 4.7m x 2.6m Room 2 – 2.43m x 3 Bathroom – 1.5m x 3m “Second Residence” – Entrance Hall – 1.7m x 1.7m Living / Dining Room – 3.8m x 5.2m Kitchen – 2.7m x 2.7m Landing – 0.9m x 5.2m Corridor – 4.7m x 1 Bedroom 1 Single – 5m x 4.1m Bedroom 2 – 2.6m x 4.1m Bathroom – 1.85m x 2.15m