The Tower houses of West Cork
This is a study of the local development of Irish Tower houses in West Cork that were built between c.1400-1650; these buildings were mostly built by Gaelic clans or Hibernicised Norman families. The study is based on fieldwork and published historical research. A corpus of individual tower house reports provide the raw data. The purpose has been to date these structures by reconstructing the development of their layout. The internal layout of these features is analysed in terms of function; apparent role changes indicated by these are related to changes in Gaelic society known from text-based research. Where possible, inferences are made from the layout of the regional tower houses to better understand the role they played in Gaelic society. The western part of the Survey region has an exceptionally high concentration of fifteenth-century tower houses. These 'raised entrance' tower houses are argued to be an archaic form directly inspired by relic Anglo-Norman hall houses; another ancestral form in the east part of the Survey region is the 'refuge tower'. The role of the tower house and its associated settlements in post-medieval seigneurial settlement and Gaelic/planter interaction is discussed. Sophisticated
Samuel, Mark Wycliffe
Irish tower houses; c1400-1650; Gaelic society
The Tower houses of West Cork. This is a study of the local development of Irish Tower houses in West Cork that were built between c.1400-1650; these buildings were mostly built by Gaelic clans or Hibernicised Norman families. The study is based on fieldwork and published historical research. A corpus of individual tower house reports provide the raw data. The purpose has been to date these structures by reconstructing the development of their layout. The internal layout of these features is analysed in terms of function; apparent role changes indicated by these are related to changes in Gaelic society known from text-based research. Where possible, inferences are made from the layout of the regional tower houses to better understand the role they played in Gaelic society. The western part of the Survey region has an exceptionally high concentration of fifteenth-century tower houses. These 'raised entrance' tower houses are argued to be an archaic form directly inspired by relic Anglo-Norman hall houses; another ancestral form in the east part of the Survey region is the 'refuge tower'. The role of the tower house and its associated settlements in post-medieval seigneurial settlement and Gaelic/planter interaction is discussed. Sophisticated
tower house west study local development irish tower house west build building mostly build gaelic clan norman family study_base fieldwork publish historical research corpus individual tower house report provide raw data purpose date structure reconstruct development layout internal layout feature analyse term function apparent role change indicate related_change gaelic society know text_based research possible inference make layout regional tower house well role_play gaelic society western part survey region exceptionally high concentration fifteenth_century tower house entrance tower house argue archaic form directly inspire relic anglo_norman hall house another ancestral form east part survey region refuge tower role tower house associate settlement post_medieval seigneurial settlement gaelic planter interaction discuss sophisticated