Ringfort - rath

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a slight natural rise in gently undulating and hilly grassland, with good views to ESE. Ringfort (WM012-116----) 80m to NE, unclassified castle (WM012-114---) 110m to NW. A sub-circular shaped area (approx. diam. 24m NE-SW) enclosed by a poorly preserved earth and stone bank with wide deep external fosse. The bank is almost reduced to a scarp in places, and the fosse is visible from SE-SW. The interior slopes from W-E, and has traces of cultivation ridges. There is a complex of banks in the W half of the interior, where a sub-rectangular shaped structure or stone building (WM012-117001-) with an internal division is visible. To the N of this structure there is a square shaped annexe with a gap in its E side.
This stone structure possibly represents the remains of Loughanstown Castle which 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 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 which may be the remains of Loughanstown Castle. The site of this castle is marked in the Westmeath RMP as WM012-114---- in the field to the NNW. There is no surface evidence in this field to suggest that this is the correct location for Loughanstown Castle. The ringfort either predates the castle and was reused as a courtyard for the castle or is contemporaneous with Loughanstown Castle serving as a bawn enclolsed by an earthen bank and external fosse.

See attached profile of monument surveyed and drawn by the ASI.

Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 5 March 2018

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.