House - 16th/17th century

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a level landscape, at the crest of a slight slope down to the NW-SE River Blackwater, which is c. 100m to the N. The gatehouse (ME025-010----) is c. 70m to the SE. According to the Civil Survey (1654-6) Sir Robert Talbott of Carrtown and Adam Missett of Belewstown owned 292 acres there in 1640, and the property included ‘two Castles, a Church, a Mill, and a weare’ (Simington 1940, 231). The Talbots seem to have retained the property into the 1690s but by 1703 what was still known as Talbotts Castle had passed from the estate of the attainted Sir William Talbott to Henry Cadogan (pers. Com. Conchubhar Ó Crualaoich 04/02/2012). This house continued to be occupied into the middle of the 19th century when it was owned by a Mr. T. Gerrard, the proprietor of a nearby flourmill (Lewis 1837, 2, 281).

The house is just SE of the tower house (ME025-009001-), enclosing a rectangular court or bawn (dims 12.5m NW-SE; 6.8m NE-SW) between them. The ground floor is a rectangular chamber (int. dims 10.95m NE-SW: 5.1m NW-SE) with three smaller chambers (int. dims 4-5m NW-SE; 3-3.5m NE-SW) off it to the SE, two of which had brick vaults, and brick was used to repair some window surrounds and doorways. There is no other vaulting in the building. There is a wide doorway (Wth 1.25m) from the court on the NW wall but another doorway towards the S end of the SE wall leads through a chamber that has a fireplace to the outside. A mural stairs from this chamber leads directly to the chamber above and this was probably a kitchen and servants’ quarters. There is also a newel stairs (destroyed) in the W tower.
At the first floor the main chamber is featureless apart from one window on the NW wall, but there are fireplaces in the N tower and the chamber in the S angle, which might also be provided with a garderobe. The central chamber on the SE wall is a landing allowing access between the chambers at the E and S angles and also with the main chamber. The chamber in the E angle could have had a corner fireplace and a newel stairs rising to the parapet over the main chamber, and a light on the SW wall is ogee-headed. Only the projecting N and W towers and the corner rooms at the E and S angles rise to a second floor, and most of these isolated rooms have small lights on each wall, as far as can be seen but the walls of the main structure are either destroyed or obscured with ivy.

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 revised upload: 22 June 2016

References

Lewis, S. 1837 A topographical dictionary of Ireland, 2 vols. London. Lewis and Co.

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