Bawn

The National Monuments Service's description

In elevated rising grassland with good views to the N and E with limited views to the W due to rising ground. Poorly drained peatland lies 650m to the S and W, with well drained grassland to the NW through N to E, Kinnegad River 280m to the N. Rattin (Raitin/unenclosed land, common?) Castle stands in the parish of Killucan, in the barony of Farbill, Co. Westmeath. No castle is depicted on the 1654 Down Survey map of Farbill barony (NLI MS 723-4). On the 1654 Down Survey map these lands belonged in 1640 to Nicholas Darcy. In 1681 Nicholas Darcy leased the ‘castle-town, and lands of Rattin’ to James Clarke (Anon 1701, 120). Rectangular 4-storey high 15th century tower house (WM034-008----) aligned SE-NW with rounded corners that was extended to the SE possibly during the second half of the 16th century. A geophysical survey carried out in 2009 identified the sub-surface remains of a possible levelled bawn wall enclosing Rattin Castle (Gibson & O’Rourke 2009). According to the findings of the survey a deep trench marks the outline of the levelled bawn wall and a small (dims. 12m x 16m) rectangular shaped anomaly located at N side of the bawn ditch may be the remains of a gatehouse guarding the entrance into the levelled bawn of the castle.
An earlier site inspection from 1976 recorded the presence of earthworks to the E of the castle and the remains of a double-banked causeway to the N running from W-E (SMR File). This double-banked causeway feature represents the remains of the old road depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map which is visible on the 2011 aerial photographs on Bing Maps (www.bing.com/maps/). In 1837 the Ordnance Survey recorded the local belief that this road was known as an ‘old military road’ (SMR File). On the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map an old road was depicted running in the field to the N of the castle, this road has been re-aligned and a new road runs E-W to the S of the castle. The earthwork of this old road can be seen on Bing Maps aerial photographs taken between 06/07 November 2011 (www.bing.com/maps/).

See attached screenshots of the 3D model of Rattin Castle created by Ian McAuley. 3D model of the castle can be accessed on the Sketchfab website at : https://skfb.ly/6oCEE

See attached Geophysical results showing outline of bawn around Rattin Castle courtesy of Gibson & O’Rourke 2009

Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien

Date of upload: 30 July 2013

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.

Irish Tourist Association. Surveys undertaken in the 1940s for the Irish Tourist Association (now Fáilte Ireland) relating to ‘Natural features, antiquities, historic associations etc.' Extracts from these surveys were copied into the Topographical files of the Office of Public Works and these have been incorporated into the Sites and Monuments Record files (National Monuments Service).

Gibson, P. J. and O'Rourke, T. 2009 Geophysical investigation of the Environs of Rattin Castle Tower House, County Westmeath, Ireland. Archaeological Prospection 16, 65–75.