Castle - motte and bailey

The National Monuments Service's description

Anglo-Norman motte & bailey castle built by William le Petit in the late 12th century as the chief manor of his lands which included the barony of Magheradernon (Orpen 1911, ii, 86). A later stone castle (WM019-089001-) known as Mullingar Castle was built on the summit of the motte. The motte and bailey castle was situated on high ground overlooking the fording point (WM019-089006-) over the River Brosna 90m to the SE. Medieval mill site (WM019-089006-) 50m to SE, medieval parish church (WM019-089016-) 130m to NE. The Main Street of Mullingar town (WM019-089----) is 190m to N. The motte and bailey castle was demolished in 1828 when it was replaced by the County Gaol, which today is the site of Westmeath County Council Offices. On the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map the curve in Ballinderry Road (Bleach Yard) close to the junction with Gaol Street (Mount St.) probably indicates that the road respected the circular base of the motte. The OS 25-inch map marks Petit castle in the incorrect location (Andrews and Davies 1992, 13). The original location of the motte castle was closer to the junction of Mount St. and Blach Yard around the entrance area of the present Council Offices. Described in 1653 as ‘one great castle with a garden thereunto belonging now garrisoned by the governor of the said town’ (Andrews and Davies 1992, 14).
The Urban Survey of Westmeath recorded that situated south of the town (WM019-089----) beside the River Brosna, William le Petit’s motte, probably erected before 1192, survived until 1828 (Graham 1980, 47, 53). In 1582 Mullingar Castle (WM019-089001-) is listed among the forts of Leinster (Cal. S.P. Ire. 1574-85, 343) and, although one cannot be certain, this is probably to be identified with the motte. The site is now occupied by the County Buildings, none of which pre-date 1788 (Bradley et. al. 1985, 116). The motte castle was located in close proximity to the site of a medieval mill (WM019-089006-) and the fording point (WM019-089006-) over the River Brosna which is c. 90m to the SE. Richards map of 1691 shows the motte castle standing close to the banks of the River Brosna and S of the Main St. of Mullingar town (Andrews and Davies 1992, 2). On this map the motte is identified as a Danish fort, immediately to the W of the motte there is a second rectangular-shaped Danish fort that may be the remains of the bailey belonging to the Anglo-Norman motte (Ibid. 10). The motte is depicted on this map as a circular mound with steps built into N face giving access to the summit on top of which are the possible remains of a polygonal shaped structure. The polygonal shaped structure on top of the motte may be the remains of a later stone castle. The possible bailey to the W is detached from the motte and has an entrance gap at E end of N side close to NE corner of earthwork. The motte & bailey were incorporated into the town defences which were built around Mullingar during the Williamite Wars. In 1691 the motte castle or mount was used as a cannon emplacement during the Williamite Wars. This earthwork survived until 1828 when it was demolished and replaced by a new gaol which was later replaced by County Council Offices (Ibid.).

See attached image of motte and possible bailey shown on Richards Map of 1691 as two Danish Forts with watermill (WM019-089006-) standing on the River Brosna to S - taken from Irish Historic Towns Atlas of Mullingar (Andrews and Davies 1992, Map 4).

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 30 June 2014

References

Orpen, G.H. 1911-20 Ireland under the Normans (1169-1216), 4 vols. Oxford. Clarendon Press.

Cal. S.P. Ire. - Calendar of the state papers relating to Ireland, 1509-1670 [etc.] (24 vols., London 1860-1911).

Bradley, J., Halpin, A., and King, H. 1985 Urban archaeological survey - county Westmeath. Unpublished report commissioned by the Office of Public Works, Dublin.

Graham, B.J. 1980 The mottes of the Norman liberty of Meath. In H. Murtagh (ed.), Irish midland studies: essays in commemoration of N.W. English, 39-56. Athlone. Old Athlone Society.

Andrews, J.H. and Davies, K.M. 1992 Mullingar. Irish Historic Towns Atlas, No. 5. Dublin. Royal Irish Academy.