MountLong Fortified House
OS 112:14:3; OD
51ft. South-east county Cork.
Situated on the shore of Oyster Haven creek; Mountlong
is a three storey fortified house with an attic. The main rectangular block is 11.85m north-south and 6.65m east-west.
There were square towers at each corner. The west wall of the main block and most of the north-west
and south-west corner-towers have collapsed and the southeast upper corner of the northeast corner-tower has collapsed to
first floor level. Otherwise, the remaining walls stand to full height; all have massive structural cracking and will collapse
in the near future. There are gables atop the surviving wall and corner-towers and there are string courses on the external
wall between floor levels. Rectangular chimney stacks still remain on the south east tower. The house is
entered into at ground floor level by a central door in the east wall of the main block. The front door is similar to that
at Monkstown. The north jamb of this door is gone. All of the window and door embrasures
may have been covered by wooden lintels, a number of which still survive. One shows signs of burning, possibly from the event
that destroyed the house in the mid-seventeenth century. The windows have square or rectangular lights,
divided by a mullion. The largest window at first floor level in the main block is divided by two mullions and
a single transom. Most windows have external hood mouldings with stepped terminals. The surviving corner towers have a single
room at each level and a fireplace surround survives in the southeast corner-tower on the second floor. There are numerous
gun loops in the corner tower at ground-level, and under the window lights on the first and second floors. There
are single stepped crenel atop each corner-tower and on the north and south gables. According Dickson (2005)
the house was built in the 1630s by Anastasia Archdeacon (nee Galway). There are elements of decorative moulding remains at
first floor level at what was ceiling height.
;-)
Field Walking Photography
Mountlong Fortified House
- Decorative plaster work & room size
|
|
| First floor level at Mountlong is one room |
