Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

This O'Donnell castle undoubtedly served to guard a ford on the River Finn where the present bridge at Castlefinn is located. In the 17th century the medieval castle was refortified by Sir John Kingsmill as part of the Crown plantation of Donegal. The Castle was situated above "Glowering Row‟, the cutting that carried the railway line to Clady (Knox 2003, 31). The plot of ground between the old railway station and the river retains the name, "Castle Garden‟ (Dr. S.P. Kerrigan, 'Castlefinn-at the Base of the Laggan', Donegal Annual, vol. 3, no. 2 (1956), p. 98). In 1434 the castle is at the centre of a feud between Niall O'Donnell and his brother Naghtan who lived at Caislen-na-Finne [Castlefinn]. The Annals of the Four Masters mentioned this dispute when it states that in 1434, 'O'Donnell and O'Neill attacked Naghtan's castle [Castlefinn], namely, Caislen-na-Finne, and continued to besiege it for some time, but were,nevertheless, unable to take it' (O'Donovan 1856, vol. 4, 898-9). In 1480 this dispute between the two families was resolved at Castlefinn when 'O'Donnell held a conference with the sons of Naghtan and Con O'Neill, at Caislen-na-Finne, and they made peace with each other ; and the tanistship of Tirconnell was given to Egneghan O'Donnell' (O'Donovan 1856, vol. 4, 1115). Nial Garbh O'Donnell resided here in 1601 (CSPI 1600-1, 278). In 1622, it was described as 're-edified with good additions to it by Sir John Kingsmill' and had a strong bawn (DG079-023002-) adjoining it (Treadwell 1953-5, 516). In 1630 the house and bawn of Sir John Kingsmill was described as consisting of 'a castle or stone house, 45 feet [13.7m] in length, 36 feet [10.95m] wide, and 32½ feet [9.75m] in height; and a bawn, the walls of which were 12 feet [3.65m] high and 276 feet [84m] in circumference, with flankers each 13 feet [3.95m] square, and 12 [3.5m] high (Hill 1877, 518). A year later in 1631, Sir John Kingsmill was regranted the lands of Castlefinn which were created into the manor of Castlefyn with the power to hold 'a market every Monday, and two fairs at Castlefyn, one on Tuesday and Wednesday after the feast of Pentecost, and the other on St. Martin's Day, in winter, to continue two days' (Hill 1877, 518). The castle at Castlefinn had fallen to ruins by 1654-6 (Simmington 1937, 23). According to the 1836 OS memoirs of Lieutenant Wilkinson who recorded at the time that there was 'no trace of the castle remains, the stones having been used in the construction of the bridge' (Day 1997, 33). Fagan locates the site at the N end of Castlefinn Bridge; no visible trace then survived (OS Hill Drawing Antiquity Bk. 12, 8-9). Material from the demolition of the medieval castle, was used for the construction of the first bridge over the river at the village of Castlefynn, circa 1774 (Knox 2003, 32). The medieval castle was located beside the fording point over the river at Castlefinn and also controlled the ferry crossing at this point. In 1634, the Crown granted a 21 year licence to Robert Hodges, Henry Morewood and James Hornecastle for the ferry crossing at Castlefinn (Calendar of Treasury Books, Vol. 8: 1685-89, 16-20).

Day, A. (1997), Ordnance survey memoirs of Ireland, Volume 39. Institute of Irish Studies in association with the Royal Irish Academy, Dublin.

Knox, I. (2003) The Houses of Stewart from 1500. Unpublished report.

Lacey et al. Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century. Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983.

Compiled by Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload/revision: 15 November 2011