Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a low rise, in pasture, 40m W of the W shoreline of Lough Owel, with landing place for boat to E. Portloman House 130m to NW. Motte (WM018-024----) castle lies c. 130m to S. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a rectangular-shaped building aligned NE-SW. Only a section of the NW wall of this castle is depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map with a short stretch of wall running parallel to SE, annotated ‘Nugent’s Castle (in ruins)’. No castle is depicted at this location on the 1657 Down Survey map of Portloman parish or Corkaree barony (NLI, MS 723-4).
Castle described in 1980 as the very poorly preserved remains of a rectangular-shaped stone-built structure (dims. 16.3m NNE-SSW; 7.3m ESE-WNW) defined by traces of masonry walls (T 0.9m; H 0.75m) to ESE, SSW and NNE, having relatively modern repairs. The walls are built of undressed limestone laid in fairly regular courses with a rubble core and bonded with mortar. The best preserved portion of wall (H 0.75m) at ESE, which is gapped and has a rough buttress erected against the external face. A possible door jamb is visible at the southern end of the ESE wall. A poorly preserved portion of wall survives at the N and S corners, with a buttress visible at N corner. Repairs are evident where the walls have been rebuilt and repointed in the vicinity of the buttresses. Some potential wall footings define the NNE wall, where steadfast stones protrude above the ground surface. The remains of an internal partition wall may run to W from the ESE wall. There is some fallen masonry around the site particularly just outside the ESE wall. No recognisable architectural features visible. Earthworks visible to the NW of the castle are visible on Digital Globe aerial photography. Monument is visible today as an irregular-shaped tree-planted area on Digital Globe aerial photography.

Compiled by: Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien

Date of upload: 11 January 2019

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.