Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Loughanstown Castle is depicted on the 1655-9 Down Survey map of Portnashangan parish (NLI, MS 723-4). The castle is not depicted on any edition of the OS 6-inch maps. In the 19th century O’Donovan in his notes on Westmeath recorded that there was the ‘site of a castle in townland of Loughanstown. It belonged to Dr Delamare, there are no remains of the walls. A green earthen mound occupies the site. The little lake, which gives name to the townland lies in the next field to it’ (RIA 12N 9). The Ordnance Survey Name Book number 47 recorded the following details; ‘There was a castle in this townland, which belonged to one Delamer, but there are now no remains of it. The site is pointed out immediately to the left of the road passing through Laughanstown to Mullingar. It is very close to the lockan or small lake which gives name to the townland’ (SMR File). The castle ruins are marked on 1808 Larkin’s map of Co. Westmeath. The ASI described the site in 1980 as a ‘low rounded rise with a pond at its SW foot. There is no trace of a ruin here now. Slight remains of wide low banks probably field banks run near the foot of the rise on W and NW’ (SMR File 16/10/1980). The ringfort (WM012-117----) in the field to the E of the lake has the wall footings of a stone structure (WM012-117001-) in the W quadrant of the ringfort which may be the remains of Loughanstown Castle.

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 4 October 2016

References

NLI, MS 723-4 - National Library of Ireland, The parish maps of the Down Survey for the County of Westmeath, attested by W. Petty, in 1659. Copied by Daniel O'Brien. A set of 67 maps with accompanying terriers in two volumes, 1786-7. Dublin.