Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Alan Prutfot was a tenant of Dowth manor in 1253 and the boundaries of the townland were defined in the course of a dispute between Richard Proudfoot and the abbot of Mellifont in 1461, around which time the castle may have been built (Stout 2007, 348-9). A castle at Proudfootstown (32) in Dowth parish and Slane barony is depicted on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony map (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/). According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) Sir John Netterville of Dowth and Lord Charles Moore of Mellifont jointly owned 130 acres there in 1640 but ‘a castle, a stone house, an orchard and a corn mill’ belonged to Lord Moore (Simington 1940, 351). The castle is depicted as in a farm complex on the 1836 ed. of the OS 6-inch map and as a small shell (dims c. 4m NE-SW; c. 3m NW-SE), probably a projecting stairs or garderobe tower on the 1908 ed. It is described (Balfour 1890) as the base of circular tower (diam. c. 3.5m, H c. 1.8m). No visible trace survives.

The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research.

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revision: 9 June 2016

References

Balfour, B. R. 1890 Miscellanea: Round tower at Proudfootstown, Co. Meath. Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, 21, 247-8.

Stout, G. 2007 The church and tower house at Dowth, County Meath. in C. Manning (Ed.) From ringforts to fortified houses. Studies on castles and other monuments in honour of David Sweetman, 335-51. Wordwell. Bray.

Simington, R.C. (ed.) 1940 The Civil survey, AD 1654-1656. Vol. V: county of Meath. Dublin. Irish Manuscripts Commission.