Roscrea Castle, Medieval fortress in Roscrea, Ireland

Roscrea Castle is a stone fortress in the Irish town of Roscrea with thick walls, two round towers, and a three-story gate building that enclose a broad courtyard. The site is complemented by the adjacent Georgian Damer House, which has stood since the 18th century and now hosts art exhibitions.

John, King of England, ordered a motte and tower built here in 1213 under Justiciar Henry of London. The wooden castle was destroyed late in the 13th century; from 1274 to 1295 over £875 was spent on the stone replacement, overseen by John de Lydyard. In 1315 the castle was granted to the Butler family of Ormond, who held it until the 18th century.

The castle's south-western tower, the Ormond Tower, keeps a 17th-century plasterwork coat of arms, and plaster decorations from the 1640s survive in the courtyard. Damer House, built in 1728 by merchant John Damer, holds one of only two Queen Anne style staircases in Ireland. Since 2012 it has housed the Damer House Gallery, founded by artists Patricia Hurl and Therry Rudin.

The castle and Damer House form the Roscrea Heritage Centre, entered through the gate building off the town centre. The courtyard is partly open to the sky and the southern curtain wall is no longer intact, so expect uneven ground and steps on the upper floors. Allow time to see both the medieval towers and the Georgian house.

The gate building hides a basement prison reached by a trapdoor, and its drawbridge was worked from a 17th-century living floor above. The south-western tower, the Ormond Tower, keeps a 17th-century plasterwork coat of arms over a first-floor fireplace.