Who want's to live in an Irish tower house

whorobbedme

I want to live in an Irish tower house, and im sure a good few people out there do to.
But how do you get your hands on one? and what sort of red tape and expense do you have to go through to put it back into a habitable state. what sort of alterations can you do to them if any, and what do they cost to buy?

If you can answer any of these questions or add anymore id be glad of the help

brianthebard

moved from History. Enjoy.

godtabh

Do you mean like a round tower? Or medieval structures?

Would imagine it would cost more to do it up so that you could live in it compared to buying it alone

Corsendonk

A martello tower? Good sea views, cost a bit to do up but might be cheaper option.

The one below in Fota in Cork is a cool recession price of 1 million.

http://www.daft.ie/searchsale.daft?id=457077

Cathmandooo

I've seen a few renovated in the UK on tv shows, they're amazing looking! Shame the one in Fota above isn't a bit more modern looking given it is already renovated and hasn't got a feature staircase given the shape of the building! Would love to renovate one, fabulous!

whorobbedme

godtabh wrote: »

Do you mean like a round tower? Or medieval structures?

Would imagine it would cost more to do it up so that you could live in it compared to buying it alone

It would have to be one of those square towers you see blotted about the country side. like this one in kilkenny
http://www.ballyburcastle.com/
and pretty much do what they did.

mocmo

Tower houses are National Monuments and as such any alteration of them would come under the National Monuments Act. To carry out work you would be subject to a lot of legislation and would most likely need the services of a professional archaeologist. Check out www.archaeology.ie and if you are looking for more detail maybe ask in the archaeology forum.

whorobbedme

thanks mocmo, theres a national monuments map viewer on there too, so it will be much handy'r to find towerhouses in my area.
i know 2 archaeologists so il have a word with them and see what they can tell me

Cookie_Monster

There's a martello tower converted to house on Killiney beach too, look horrid as a quality 70 concrete block placed on top of it. He has a huge TV though, you can see it in the bay windows

focus_mad

The cost would be immense but it would be worth it in the long term, would you be looking at an existing lived in tower or one that you have to renovate yourself?

A list & photos of all monuments in the country, you may see something you like.?
http://irishantiquities.bravehost.com/gazetteer.html

DeepSleeper

Coming to this a bit late, but I might be able to throw a bit of light....

There were probably 3,000 to 4,000 tower houses in Ireland in the late medieval period - they are a type of castle, but are essentially defensible residences rather than big fortresses. They are all listed on the RMP (a list of every known archaeological site in the country) and so are protected under the National Monuments Acts from interference - this applies whether they are owned by the State or they are in private ownership.

For anyone not sure of what we're talking about, think of Bunratty (the biggest of them all) and Knappogue in Clare, Barryscourt in Cork, Rockfleet in Mayo, Casteldoe in Donegal, Aughnanure and Dunguaire in Galway, Ross Castle near Killarney and Carrigafoyle (also in Kerry), Dunmoe in Co Meath, the Bridge castle in Thurles, etc etc

Many tower houses have been restored in recent years (in addition to many examples which were never abandoned because they had a big country house built alongside them and so remained in use - eg Barberstown, Co. Kildare). Restoration projects attract a lot of red tape and require a LOT of money - you need planning permission to restore them, but as part of that you are normally required to engage the services of a professional archaeologist and a conservation architect. You will have to use suitable materials (lime mortar, not cement etc.) and you will have to document every 'intervention' you make - i.e. everything you do. The restrictions placed upon you will be informed by various European conventions on the protection of the architectural and archaeological heritage (Granada Convention 1985, Valetta Convetion 1992). The most important thing to realise is that restoring a fifteenth or sixteenth century tower house is not like restoring a Victorian cottage or a Georgian villa - not a size thing, but the fact that the tower house is considered to be an archaeological monument and and piece of our architectural heritage - because of this, you get restrictions coming from a number of different bodies: you must include a detailed method statement with your planning application, you must submit an Archaeological Impact Assessment report in advance, you may only excavate trenches for service pipes, garden wall foundations etc. under the direct supervision of an archaeologist, you will probably not be allowed to use architectural salvage from other sites, etc etc. Not a task for the faint hearted, or for someone in a hurry... You're talking a ten-year project in many cases and I wouldn't like to even guess at the costs involved...