Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Westropp (1906-7, 192) recorded the following details about Mountblakeney (Cnoc an tSoipéalaigh) Castle; 'The south wall of the C[astle]. is down'. In 1939 folklore collected from Effin School recorded that; 'There is a castle in Mount Blakeney and it belonged to the Blakeneys. There is only a small portion of the walls now standing. It was a big castle and it's length is about 24 feet [7.3m] by 22 [6.7m] wide' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0509, Page 057). May be the same castle as Thomastown Castle which is described in the 1659 Civil Survey of Limerick where it is recorded that in the townland of Thomastown there stood, 'a ruinous Castle & a Mill seate' (Simington 1938, 122). The townland of Thomastown lies immediately to the E of Mountblakeney. No surface remains visible on OSi orthoimages or on Google Earth orthophotos. Cross reference with Thomastown Castle (LI047-087----).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 20 August 2021

References

Westropp, T.J. 1906-7 The ancient castles of the county of Limerick. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 26, 54-264.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1938 The civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. IV: county of Limerick, with a section of Clanmaurice barony Co. Kerry. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.