Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Located on the S side of Killala town, immediately to SW of the cathedral (MA022-017003-) and graveyard (MA022-017010-).
A T-shaped building, annotated 'Castle', is shown on the 1838 OS 6-inch map. It is depicted as a rectangular E-W building, with short N-S projection midway along the N side, and it is bordered to S by a large subrectangular expanse of formal gardens. It is not shown on later OS map editions, and there are now no visible remains at ground level.
McHale (1985, 47) records that this ‘Castle’ was a bishop’s palace, already in existence in 1646 when a wall was built around it. It was the official residence of the Protestant Bishop of Killala and Achonry. There are records that it was repaired in 1663, and in 1691 Bishop William Lloyd repaired ‘at great expense the See-house and gardens which had been miserably despoiled during the wars under James II’ (McHale 1985, 48).
Knox (1908, 349) refers to a 16th-century castle in Killala, which was owned by Richard Barrett, but it is unclear if this is the same building or another.

Compiled by: Jane O’Shaughnessy

Date of upload: 25 April 2019

References

McHale, Rt. Rev. Mgr. E. 1985 The Parishes in the Diocese of Killala (North Tirawley). The Western People, Ballina.

Knox, H.T. 1908 The History of the County of Mayo to the close of the 17th century. Dublin.