Castle - unclassified

The National Monuments Service's description

Annotated as Castle and depicted as an upstanding rectangular shaped building aligned on an E-W axis on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map. Depicted as ‘Castle (Site of)’ on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map. Castle site situated on gravel ridge with church (WM027-009001-) and graveyard (WM027-009002-) 260m to the SE. Ringfort (WM027-066----) located 55m to the S. No surface remains visible of castle site in area marked on OS 6-inch map. Access road into quarry which is located to the N of the castle site can be seen on Bing Maps aerial photographs taken between 06-07 November 2011 (www.bing.com/maps). Earthworks of this levelled castle site were bulldozed in 1977 (SMR File). Site inspection carried out by the National Monuments Service in 1976 recorded that a small section of the SW angle (H c. 2m) of the castle remains upstanding. The remains of an extensive series of earthworks (WM020-116----) consisting of low earth and stone banks were noted extending out to the N, E and S of the castle. These earthworks may represent the remains of a deserted settlement of uncertain date. No castle is shown in this townland on the 1655 Down Survey map of Farbill barony (NLI MS 723-4). On this 1655 Down Survey map the lands of ‘Knocknent’ in 1640 belonged to George Fitzgerald, Earl of Kildare (NLI MS 723-4).

Compiled by: Caimin O’Brien

Date of upload: 15 August 2013

This monument is subject to a preservation order made under the National Monuments Acts 1930 to 2014 (PO no. 5/1977).

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.