In the past, the Irish Aesthete has come across several examples of late-mediaeval cylindrical tower houses, which seem to have been constructed only in Counties Kilkenny and Tipperary. From the latter county, this one can be found in Ballysheedy (sometimes Ballysheeda). Thought to date from the late 15th century, it seems originally to have belonged to the O’Dwyers, who were the dominant family in this area, the barony of Kilnamanagh Lower. Of five storeys, the building was recorded in 1607 as being in the possession of John O’Dwyer of Dundrum, deputy chief of the Dwyer clan. In the Down Survey of the mid-1650s, it is described as ‘the small castle of Ballysida wanting repair.’ Such remains the case today.

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