Derryhivney Castle is what is described as a tower house . These structures were built as a single pile (one room stacked on top of the other) structures, with four or five floors and sometimes a number of smaller chambers situated off the main chambers.
Derryhivney is one of the last dated tower houses constructed in Ireland. Diagonal set chimneys of this type indicates a date in the late seventeenth century. The date carved on one of the corbels supporting a corner bartizan dates the structure to 1643. Some of the decorative features found at Derryhivney such as the circular or oval vents and mullioned windows are similar to those found at Portumna Castle, built in 1618. This seems to imply that the Gaelic OﾒMadden family of Derryhivney were heavily influence d by the style of architectural embellishment which they saw at the nearby residence of their De Burgo neighbours in Portumna.
Text by: Christy Cunniffe.
