Castle - tower house

The National Monuments Service's description

Situated on a ridge running E-W, in pasture, with good views in all directions. Enclosure (WM030-102----) lies c. 135m to WSW. Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a rectangular-shaped structure running NW-SE. Depicted on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map as a long, narrow linear structure annotated ‘Castle (in Ruins)’. O’ Donovan (OSL 1837, 15) recorded that the ruins of this castle belonged to the O’Melaghlins. According to Cox (1972, 32, 40-1, 47) there is reference to a castle at Farnagh in 1539 and again when it was decreed to Lord Dillon in 1663. It was apparently sold to Robert Mulock in 1748 (ibid).
Farnagh Castle described in 1976 as a rectangular-shaped building defined by the remains of the W wall (max. H c. 5m; L 10m; T 1.1m) running NW-SE and by a slight trace of mounding along the remains of the N wall. There is no trace of the E or S wall. There is a large breach in the lower central area of the W wall which is defined by a splayed window reveal (basal Wth 1m). The quoin stones are missing and there are no other features visible in the W wall. The masonry is very large roughly hewn conglomerate and limestone with no dressed stone visible. There is some loose collapse within and without. There are no earthworks visible in the vicinity. Castle is visible today as a linear structure on Digital Globe aerial photography.

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

Date of upload: 09 November 2019

References

Cox, L. 1972 The Magawlys of Calry (concluded). Journal of the Old Athlone Society 3, 147-60.

OSL - Ordnance Survey Letters. Letters written by members of the Ordnance Survey's 'Topographical Department' (T. O'Conor, A. O'Curry, E. Curry, J. O'Donovan and P. O'Keeffe) sent to headquarters from the field (1834-41). MSS in Royal Irish Academy.

Cox, L. 1972 The O Maeleachlainn Kings of Meath. Ríocht na Mídhe V, 2,22-53.