| The Mint | |
|---|---|
| Native name An Mionta (Irish) | |
 | |
| Type | Fortified house |
| Location | Tholsel Street, Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland |
| Coordinates | 54°02′25″N6°11′11″W / 54.040144°N 6.186272°W |
| Area | Cooley Peninsula |
| Built | 15th/16th century |
| Owner | State |
| Official name | The Mint |
| Reference no. | 242 |
  Location of The Mint in Ireland | |
The Mint is a fortified house and National Monument located in Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland. [1] [2] [3] [4]
The Mint is located in the southern part of Carlingford, 120 m (390 ft) southwest of Carlingford Lough. [5] [6] [7]
This castle, variously called a fortified house or tower house, derived its name from the license to mint coins granted to Carlingford in 1467 by Edward IV. However, the present tower comes from later, either the 15th or 16th century. It is believed to have housed one of Carlingford's wealthy merchant families (perhaps the Marmions [7] ); however, the lack of a fireplace and the strength of the defences suggest that it may indeed have served as a mint. Against this is the fact that no coin minted at Carlingford has ever been found. [4] [3]
The Mint is three storeys high and made mainly of limestone. There is a battlemented chemin de ronde on the roof, with loopholes for muskets. A doorway is protected by machicolation.
The ground and first storey ogee windows (five in total) face onto the street, with carvings of a horse, a bust of a man, a bird, a snake and Celtic interlace ornament which reflects a revival of interest in Celtic art in the 15th–16th centuries. They also have hood mouldings and mullions. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Tamworth Castle, a Grade I listed building, is a Norman castle overlooking the mouth of the River Anker into the Tame in the town of Tamworth in Staffordshire, England. Before boundary changes in 1889, however, the castle was within the edge of Warwickshire while most of the town belonged to Staffordshire.
Ardee is a town and townland in County Louth, Ireland. It is located at the intersection of the N2, N52, and N33 roads. The town shows evidence of development from the thirteenth century onward but as a result of the continued development of the town since then much of the fabric of the medieval town has been removed. The town is in a civil parish of the same name.
Carlingford is a coastal town and civil parish in northern County Louth, Ireland. For the purposes of local government, the town is part of the Dundalk Municipal District. It is situated on the southern shore of Carlingford Lough with Slieve Foy mountain as a backdrop, sometimes known as Carlingford Mountain. It is the main town on the Cooley Peninsula. Located on the R176/R173 roads between Greenore and Omeath village, Carlingford is approximately 27 km (17 mi) north east from Dundalk, 90 km (56 mi) north of Dublin and 11 km (7 mi) south of the border with Northern Ireland. Carlingford won the Irish Tidy Towns Competition in 1988.
In Ireland at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth century, the fortified house, along with the stronghouse, developed as a replacement for the tower house. 'Fortified Houses' were often rectangular, or sometimes U or L-shaped, three-storey structures with high gables and chimney stacks and large windows with hood mouldings. Some examples have square towers at the corners. The interiors were relatively spacious with wooden partitions and numerous fireplaces. In a number of cases 'Fortified Houses' were built onto pre-existing tower houses. 'Fortified Houses' were protected by gun fire from the angle towers and bartizans, and were also provided with bawn walls with gunloops, towers and protected gateways. 'Fortified Houses' were built throughout Ireland by large landowners from a variety of backgrounds, such as the Old English Earl of Clanricarde who built Portumna Castle in County Galway; Gaelic lords such as MacDonogh MacCarthy, Lord of Duhallow, who built Kanturk Castle in County Cork; and Cromwellian soldiers such as Sir Charles Coote, who built Rush Hall in County Offaly.
Over the past six decades studies concerning Irish 'Fortified Houses' have identified them as a transitional genre that emerged at the end of the sixteenth century and acted as an architectural bridge between the Irish medieval tower-house and the country manor house of the late seventeenth century. The 'Fortified House' drew on the earlier tradition of the tower-house and was influenced by the Tudor and emerging Jacobean architecture from England and the Classical and Military architecture coming from Continental Europe. The social, political and military changes that took place from the 1580s-1650s were to play a major role in the development of this unique Irish structure. These houses provided a comfortable living space for the elite of early seventeenth-century Irish society. They were fashionable yet defendable. The 'Fortified House' was a public display of power and wealth. They represented a long term investment in their owner’s regional future and were monuments to an aspiration for an English and Continental house style suited to local Irish conditions. On a basic level the construction of a 'Fortified House' represented the owners’ desire to modernise and Anglicize.
Marmion Tower, also known historically as Tanfield Castle, is a 15th-century gatehouse near the village of West Tanfield in North Yorkshire, England. It survived the destruction of the surrounding fortified manor and is now managed by English Heritage.
Moorstown Castle is a late 15th-century stone structure consisting of an enclosed circular keep near Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland.
Athclare Castle is a Tudor tower house in the Dunleer area of County Louth in Ireland. Built in the 1550s, Athclare was built for the Barnewell family, and is typical of defensive architectural structures built in the Pale during the Tudor period in Ireland. Athclare has been extended and adapted in the centuries since its construction and is classified as a site of National social historical importance by the Irish National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Coolhull Castle is a late 16th century fortified house and National Monument located in County Wexford, Ireland.
Slade Castle is a tower house and National Monument in County Wexford, Ireland. It is located in the village of Slade on the Hook Peninsula and primarily dates to the late 15th or early 16th century.
Roodstown Castle is a 15th-century tower house and National Monument located in County Louth, Ireland.
St. Mochta's House is a medieval oratory and National Monument in County Louth, Ireland.
Carlingford Abbey, also called Carlingford Friary or Carlingford Priory, is a medieval Dominican abbey and National Monument located in Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland.
Dromiskin Monastery is a medieval monastery and National Monument located in Dromiskin, County Louth in Ireland.
King John's Castle, also known as Carlingford Castle, is an enclosure castle and National Monument located in Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland.
Saint David's Castle is a 13th-century Norman castle located in Naas, Ireland.
Feartagar Castle, also called Jennings Castle, is a tower house and National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland.
Kiltartan Castle is a tower house and National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland.
Dísert Óengusa is a medieval hermitage and National Monument located in County Limerick, Ireland.
White's Castle is a 16th-century tower house in Athy, County Kildare, Ireland. Built on the site of an earlier 15th-century castle, White's Castle was built to guard the main river crossing in Athy and was extended over successive centuries.
Tynte's Castle is a tower house located in Youghal, eastern County Cork, Ireland.
The Mint (Carlingford).
The Mint (Carlingford).