Castle - ringwork

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated at the S end of a low NNW-SSE ridge in a low-lying landscape. This is a subcircular grass-covered area (dims 48m NW-SE; 41m NE-SW) defined by an earthen bank (Wth 6-7.7m; int. H 0.6-0.8m; ext. H 3.2-3.8m) with traces of external facing-stones separated by a rounded fosse (Wth of top 9.8-11m; Wth of base 2-3m; D 1.8-2m) from an outer overgrown bank (Wth of base 6-6.2m; Wth of top 1m; H 0.8m) which is incorporated into a road bank NE-SE. The entrance (Wth 3.3m) and causeway (Wth 3m) are at NNE (max. ext. diam. 73m NW-SE). The late 16th or early 17th century house (RO051-047001-) is in the interior. It has been interpreted as a possible ringwork castle (Graham 1988, 28-9; Sweetman 1999, 197), and has been identified as the castle of Onagh that was built in 1236 and destroyed by Áedh O'Conor in 1270 (Curley 2011, 40-1; 2016). It has also been interpreted as a rath that was re-fortified when the house (RO051-047001-) was built (O'Conor 2007, 191-2).

Compiled by: Michael Moore

Date of revised upload: 8 January 2015

References

Curley, D. P. 2016 Dundonnell Castle, Co. Roscommon: a neglected and misunderstood monument in the Irish Landscape. Journal of the County Roscommon Historical and Archaeological Society, vol. 13, 58-64.

Curley, D. P. 2011 A study of Dundonnell Castle, Co. Roscommon. Unpublished M.A. thesis, National University of Ireland, Galway.

O'Conor, K. 2007 English settlement and change in Roscommon during the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. in Horning, A., Ó Baoill, R., Donnelly, C., Logue, P. (eds) The Post Medieval Archaeology of Ireland 1550-1850, 189-203.

Graham, B.J. 1988b Medieval settlement in county Roscommon. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy 88C (2), 19-38.

Sweetman, D. 1999 The medieval castles of Ireland. Cork. The Collins Press.