Chapter 5 1 When had the tower house castle been built at Lemeanah?
How was the tower house joined to the mansion?
What was the tower house used for in 1651?
Did the tower house have an ordinary staircase?
What sort of door did the tower house have?
Draw...!
A picture of a tower house. Make the windows small and narrow.
Fact File
Most of the castles in the west of Ireland were simple tower houses with a 'bawn', or yard, around them. They were usually four storeys high with one large and a couple of small rooms on each floor. The floors were connected by a spiral staircase. The soldiers were on the ground floor and sometimes the first floor. The 'dining hall' or grand room would be on the first or second floor, and family rooms above that. Because of the risk of fire, the kitchen was usually a separate building.
Explore...!
See if you and a group of friends could make a model of a tower house. Get a long box and stand it on its end and cut one side out. Put in three or four floors and make furniture out of match boxes or cardboard.
Imagine......!
. Write a list of reasons why landowners in Ireland liked to live in tower houses. What would be the reasons for living in them and what would be against living in them.
Imagine going back in time. You go to sleep in a modern bedroom, centrally heated, and you wake up in a cold, draughty tower house. You get up and go exploring. Write down what happens next. Do you ever get back to your own time?
