Sites and Monuments Record · Ireland
Castle - unclassified
Griffinstown, County Westmeath, Ireland
The record
- Townland
- Griffinstown
- County
- Westmeath
- Country
- Ireland
- First-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- Latest-edition OS map
- Not indicated
- SMR number
- WM027-062----
This record in the National Monuments Service's Historic Environment Viewer ↗
The National Monuments Service's description
The precise location of Griffinstown Castle hast not been identified within the townland of Griffinstown. The 1618 inquisition held at Mullingar into the estate of the deceased Walter Griffen of Griffinstown recorded that he possessed one castle, 20 messuages, 2 gardens, 240 acres arable, 200 acres of pasture & 60 acres of wood in the townland of Griffinstown (Anon 1826, 19 Jac 1). No castle is depicted in the townland of Griffinstown on the 1655 Down Survey map of Farbill barony. The Down Survey records Edward Griffen and Sir Luke FitzGerald as landowners in the townland of Griffinstown (NLI, MS 723-4). John O’Donovan’s notes on Westmeath recorded that in the townland of Griffinstown there was ‘an old castle in ruins 50 feet [15m] high’ (SMR File). The precise location of this castle within the townland of Griffinstown has not been identified. The RMP map of Co. Westmeath marks the location of Griffinstown House as the site of the castle. There is no evidence to suggest that a castle was located on the grounds of Griffinstown House which was constructed in the early 19th century.
Compiled and revised by: Caimin O’Brien
Date of revised upload: 12 October 2016
References
Anon. 1826 Inquisitionum in officio rotulorum cancellariae Hiberniae asservatarum, repertorium, vol. I. Dublin. George and John Grierson and Martin Keene, Printers.
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.