that's fine I will send you another account by Mary Leadbetter, my very last effort re the Castle will be to check out the The Irish Magazine 1813, there was a report in the Carlow Sentinel of 1832 that it was recorded in The Irish Magazine of 1813 that frost of that year had contributed to the collapse of the castle, ( a year before the good doctor Middleton ! ) this is not recorded in any other source , best not mention this unless one views the actual report in the magazine which I hope to track down next month !. On 23 August 2013 11:05, Turtle Bunbury (History) <turtlehistory@gmail.com>wrote: > THE DEMISE OF CARLOW CASTLE, as recorded by Brewer in 1824. > > This noble pile was constructed on a slight eminence upon the west side of > the town overhanging the river Barrow. It was of a square form flanked with > a circular tower at each angle. The doors were remarkably low and narrow > and the apertures for the admission of light consisted chiefly or entirely > of loop holes. From the grandeur of its proportions, and the favourable > character of its situation, which allowed a free view of its massy towers > and rugged sides from the various roads which lead to the town, this august > pile constituted a feature of peculiar magnificence in the architectural > display of Carlow. But folly and presumption have recently deprived the > pictorial examiner and the antiquary of an object so well calculated for > their gratification. The manor of Carlow including this noble monument of > antiquity passed in consequence of an unredeemed mortgage from a late Earl > Thomond to the family of a Mr Hamilton, his Lordship's law agent, who are > the present proprietors. > By this family a lease of the castle was granted in the year 1814 to a > physician named Middleton who had formed the project of establishing in a > Maison de Santé for the reception of lunatics and who speedily commenced > operations with a view of rendering the building amenable to his purpose. > As the loop holes in the walls were not sufficient to give the requisite > light and ventilation, and as the thickness of the walls contracted > undesirably the space of the rooms, this person, confiding in his own > skill, undertook to enlarge the windows and diminish the thickness of the > walls without calling professional knowledge to his assistance. For the > latter object he laboured by a process rather new in practice, namely that > of blasting the walls with gunpowder. He had proceeded far in his > improvements when the pile, which had for so many ages derided the efforts > of the battering ram, yielded to this more fearful mode of assault and more > than one half of the castle fell to the ground. Only the western side, > comprising two of the angular towers is now remaining. > This tremendous downfall occurred at the hour of nine in the morning, a > time at which the workmen had suspended their labour, and happily no life > was lost. The huge masses of ruin incumber the whole of the mount, except > the west side, and mix with cottages at its base, which are inferior in > size to many of these ponderous fragments. A man who was a witness of this > unusual accident described the spectacle to the present writer in very > lively terms, and observed that the downfall was so slow in operation that > a person had sufficient time to escape from the sphere of destruction (as > was the case with himself) after viewing the portentous and amazing nodding > of the towers. The immense pile gradually disparted into vast masses, which > broke with difficulty into fragments less mighty. Many gigantic pieces of > the ruin rolled to the very doors of some humble cabins on the opposite > side of a road at the base of the castle mount. > > From “The beauties of Ireland: being original delineations, > topographical, historical, and biographical, of each county’, Volume 2, by > James Norris Brewer (Sherwood, Jones, & co., 1826) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > IRL-CARLOW-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message