Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on the edge of a high terrace, in pasture. Marked on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as ‘Site of Castle’. An irregular scarp is depicted to the immediate NE on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map. A motte and bailey (WM019-040002-) lies c. 65m to SW and Rathconnel Church ruuns (WM019-041----) and graveyard (WM019-041001) are c. 75m to SE. The ruins of a Georgian house annotated on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as Rathconnell Court are located c. 50m to SW (CUCAP BGH105). A tower house type castle and church (WM019-041----) are depicted standing beside a medieval roadway at 'Raconnell' on the 1654-57 Down Survey map of Moyashel and Magheradernon barony (NLI MS 723-4). On the Down Survey map of Rathconnell parish the castle and church are shown standing on lands belonging to Edward Nugent who is listed as an 'Irish papist' (ibid.).
Levelled monument is described in 1970 as no surface remains visible of a masonry structure. The castle site is represented by the remains of a subrectangular-shaped enclosure bounded by an earth and stone bank which is reduced to a scarp in places with an outer fosse. The earth and stone bank encloses the NW and NE sides and an irregular scarp defines the SE and SW sides. The scarp is very slight to SE and has been disturbed by a modern depression. A modern looking L-shaped bank of earth and stone is visible at the S corner. The irregular scarp to SW was apparently quarried away during the building of Rathconnell Court during the Georgian period (local information). The ruins of the house, outhouses and two yards are located between the castle site and the motte and bailey. There is a small circular castellated tower built into the NW corner of the large yard. This tower and the walls have been built into the side of the motte. Monument is visible on Digital Globe aerial photography as a partially tree-lined subrectangular-shaped earthwork.

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

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

Date of upload: 03 April 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.

CUCAP - Cambridge University Collection of Aerial Photographs. Unit for Landscape Modelling, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge. See:https://www.cambridgeairphotos.com