Clononey castle in Co. Offaly, Ireland

A tower house stands on a hillock near Quin along the beside the R469 back road from Limerick to Ennis.

Neidpath Castle near Peebles in Scotland.

A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.^[1] Such buildings were constructed in the wilder parts of Great Britain, particularly in Scotland, and throughout Ireland, beginning in the High Middle Ages and continuing at least up to the 17th century. The remains of such structures are dotted around the Irish and Scottish countryside. Some are still intact and even inhabited today, while others stand as mere shells in a field or on a hillside. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 448 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1526 × 2042 pixel, file size: 821 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Typical Irish tower house, Clononey Castle in County Offaly, Ireland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 448 × 599 pixel Image in higher resolution (1526 × 2042 pixel, file size: 821 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Typical Irish tower house, Clononey Castle in County Offaly, Ireland. ... Image File history File links Ireland_tower_house_near_quin_county_clare. ... Image File history File links Ireland_tower_house_near_quin_county_clare. ... Quin Abbey is built on the site of a castle Quin (Cuinche in Irish) is a small village in County Clare, Republic of Ireland, situated north of Limerick city and near Ennis in the Midwest of Ireland. ... A regional road in Ireland is a class of road not forming a major route (such as a national primary route or national secondary road), but nevertheless forming a link in the national route network. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ... For people named Ennis, see Ennis (surname). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 534 pixel Image in higher resolution (1358 × 906 pixel, file size: 166 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Neidpath Castle near Peebles in Scotland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 534 pixel Image in higher resolution (1358 × 906 pixel, file size: 166 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Neidpath Castle near Peebles in Scotland. ... Neidpath Castle is a L-plan rubble built tower, over looking the river Tweed about 1 mile west of Peebles. ... Old Parish Church, Peebles Location within the British Isles Peebles (Gaelic: Na Pùballan) is a burgh in the committee area of Tweeddale, in the Scottish Borders, lying on the River Tweed. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell... The cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, a significant architectural contribution of the High Middle Ages. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell... Rural areas are sparsely settled places away from the influence of large cities and towns. ...

Tower houses are often called castles, and despite their characteristic compact footprint size, they are formidable habitations and there is no clear distinction between a castle and a tower house. Moreover, some structures are characterized as tower houses which are in the L Plan Castle style, such as the original layout (prior to enlargement) of Muchalls Castle in Scotland.^[2][3] Pierrefonds Castle, France Castle has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning. ... The Habitation at Port-Royal is a National Historic Site located at Port Royal in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. ... Muchalls Castle, Scotland L Plan Castle is straightforwardly enough a castle or towerhouse in the shape of an L, typically built in the 13th to the 17th century. ... Muchalls Castle, Kincardineshire Muchalls Castle stands overlooking the North Sea in the countryside of historic Kincardineshire, Scotland. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell...

The few surviving round Scottish Iron Age towers known as Brochs and the remains of numerous duns indicate that the idea of tower houses goes back at least two thousand years. Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Dun Carloway broch, Lewis, Scotland The Broch is an Iron Age dry stone structure of a type which is only found in Scotland. ... Dun comes from the Brythonic Din and Gaelic Dun, meaning fort, and is now used as a general term for small stone built strongholds, enclosures or roundhouses in Scotland, as a sub-group of hill forts. ...

In Ireland, there are over 1,000 tower houses extant. These were built with a grant from the then ruling English monarch, Ireland being under English control at the time. Many of these structures were positioned within sight of each other and a system of visual communication is said to have been established between them, based on line of sight from the uppermost levels. County Kilkenny has several examples of this arrangement. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 52. ...

World wide perspective

While tower houses are appropriately attributed to the British Isles as their main occurrence, examples from elsewhere in Europe and the New World exist. Most notably may be a focal element of the Mesa Verde Anasazi ruin in Colorado, USA.^[4] There is a prominent structure at that site which is in fact called the "tower house" and has the general appearance characteristics of its British Isles counterparts. This four story building was constructed of adobe bricks circa 1350 AD, and its rather well preserved ruins are nestled within a cliff overhang; moreover, other accounts date this ruin somewhat earlier. Mesa Verde National Park is a United States National Park, located in southwest Colorado. ... Ancient Pueblo People, or Ancestral Puebloans is the preferred term for the group of peoples often known as Anasazi who are the ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  Ranked 8th  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ... Location of the British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands off the north west coast of continental Europe comprising Great Britain, Ireland and a number of smaller islands. ... Renewal of the surface coating of an adobe wall in Chamisal, New Mexico Adobe is a natural building material composed of sand, sandy clay and straw or other organic materials, which is shaped into bricks using wooden frames and dried in the sun. ... Rocky landscape with ruins, by Nicolaes Berchem, ca. ... “Precipice” redirects here. ...

After initial European tower houses appearing in Ireland, Scotland and England during the High Middle Ages, Toy traces the appearance in other parts of western Europe as early as the late 14th century, especially in parts of France and Italy. This article is 150 kilobytes or more in size. ... Motto (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity Wha daur meddle wi me?(Scots)1 Anthem (Multiple unofficial anthems) Scotlands location in Europe Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official languages English, Gaelic, Scots3 Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  -  First Minister Jack McConnell... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... The cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, a significant architectural contribution of the High Middle Ages. ...

References

Country Life is a British weekly quality magazine. ...

See also

• Bastle house
• Keep
• Peel Tower
• L Plan Castle
• Castle

Bastle houses are found along the Anglo-Scottish border, in the areas formerly plagued by border Reivers. ... The keep of Scarborough Castle Rochester Castle featuring a massive turreted keep Early 13th century keep (Rouen, France) The 14th century residential keep at Largoët A keep is a strong central tower which normally forms the heart of a castle. ... Peel towers (spelt Pele towers in England) are small fortified keeps, built along the English and Scottish Borders, intended as watch towers where signal fires could be lit to warn of approaching danger. ... Muchalls Castle, Scotland L Plan Castle is straightforwardly enough a castle or towerhouse in the shape of an L, typically built in the 13th to the 17th century. ... Pierrefonds Castle, France Castle has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning. ...

External links

• Cutaway drawing Of Urquhart Castle tower house
• Information on tower houses
• Information on tower house, Canterbury, Kent

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Tower houses in Ireland