Aq’i (Cal., i., 13).—Unidentified; perhaps an alias for one of the Limerick castles, as it was certainly in the county of Limerick.
Ardfinnan, Tipperary (Gir., v., 386).—Built in 1185, immediately after John’s coming to Ireland. No motte; castle is late Edwardian and partly converted into a modern house; one round tower has ogee windows. [B. T. S.]
Ardmayle, or Armolen, Tipperary (Cal., i., 81).—A castle of Theobald Walter. A motte with half-moon bailey, and earthen wing walls running up its sides, exactly as stone walls do in later Norman castles. Ruins of a Perpendicular mansion close to it, and also a square tower with ogee windows. [B. T. S.] [Fig. 45].
Ardnurcher, or Horseleap, King’s Co. (Song of Dermot and Cal., i., 145).—A castle of Meiler Fitz Henry’s, built in 1192.[1059] An oblong motte with one certain bailey, and perhaps a second. No masonry but the remains of a wall or bridge across the fosse. [B. T. S.]
Ardree, Kildare (Gir., v., 356, and Song).—The castle built by Hugh de Lacy for Thomas the Fleming in 1182, was at Ardri, on the Barrow. There is an artificial mound at Ardree, turned into a graveyard, and near it a levelled platform above the river, on which stands Ardree House.[1060] On the west bank of the Barrow, opposite Ardree, is a low circular motte with ditch and bank, but no bailey. A piece of Norman pottery with green glaze was found by Mr Stallybrass, one foot below the surface in the counterscarp bank. Mr Orpen thinks this motte may have been the castle of Robert de Bigarz, also mentioned by Giraldus as near Ardree, on the opposite side of the Barrow.
Askeaton, or Hinneskesti, Limerick.—Built in 1199, probably by Hamo de Valoignes.[1061] An excellent instance of a motte-and-bailey castle, where the motte is of natural rock. The splendid keep and hall are of the 15th century, but there are two older towers, which might date from 1199. This natural motte has been identified with the ancient Irish fort of Gephthine (Askeaton = Eas Gephthine), mentioned in the Book of Rights. But this work does not mention any fort at Gephthine, only the place, in a list which is clearly one of lands (perhaps mensal lands), not of forts, as it contains many names of plains, and of tribes, as well as the three isles of Arran.[1062]
*Askelon, or Escluen (Cal., i., 91).—Castle restored to Richard de Burgh in 1215; the site is placed by Mr Orpen at Carrigogunell, which is in the parish of Kilkeedy, Limerick.[1063] Carrigogunell has the ruins of a castle on a natural motte of rock.
*Athlone, Roscommon (Cal., i., 80).—Built in 1210 by the Justiciar, John de Gray. The keep is placed on a lofty motte, which has been revetted with masonry. Turlough O’Connor built a caislen at Athlone in 1129, but it was not even on the site of the Norman castle, for which John obtained land from the church, as already stated.
Baginbun (Gir., i., 13; Song, 1406).—Mr Orpen has proved that this was the spot where Raymond le Gros landed and entrenched himself for four months.[1064] It is a headland on the sea-coast, and headland castles seldom have mottes, as they were not needed on a promontory washed on three sides by the sea. Moreover, Baginbun was of the nature of a temporary fort rather than a residential castle, and it is to be noted that Giraldus calls it “a poor sort of a castle of stakes and sods.” Still, the small inner area, ditched off with a double ditch, and the large area, also ditched, roughly correspond to the motte-and-bailey plan. [B. T. S.]