Historic Buildings Record · Northern Ireland
The Sham Castle
Greenan, Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland
The record
- Designation
- Listed building, Grade B2
- Grade
- B2
- Type
- House
- Date of listing
- 11 November 1981
- Date of construction
- 1800 - 1819
- Address
- The Sham Castle, Greenwood Park, Warrenpoint Road, Newry, Co Down, BT34 2PF
- Townland
- Greenan
- Council
- Newry, Mourne and Down
- Country
- Northern Ireland
- Coordinates
- 54.14755, -6.31491
- HB reference
- HB16/10/001
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
Shown on 5 historical map sheets, the earliest the 1636 "Vltoniae Orientalis Pars" (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries).
The Department's description
Historical information
This castle stood in the demesne of Greenwood Park, a short distance SE of the main house which was demolished before WW2. It is shown on the 1834 OS 6” map. The estate belonged to Major Ross Thompson in the early 1800s and it was probably the Thompson family who erected this folly. It is described in an 1846 travelogue as “a picturesque quadrangular tower, completely shrouded with ivy, and surmounted by battlements, on which a few guns are mounted. … Although the building has an ancient air about it, it is comparatively modern and has no historical associations – nothing save the simple, yet abundant interest of its own beauty to recommend it”.
A gardener’s cottage (HB16/10/030) survives in the former demesne, as does a gate lodge (HB16/10/025) and the main gate screen (HB16/10/024).
Primary Sources:
1. Bradshaw’s Newry Directory (1819).
2. PRONI OS maps 1st edition (1834), Co Down sheet 50.
3. PRONI 1st Valuation book (c.1835), VAL 1B/389.
4. Information from owner in 1999.
Secondary sources:
1. P. Byrne, ‘Handbook to Carlingford Bay’ (Newry, 1846), p.69.
Nearby in the register
- Gates to Greenwood HouseGates/ Screens/ Lodgesunder 1 mi
- Gate lodge and outbuildingsHouseunder 1 mi
- AshtonHouseunder 1 mi
- Fathom HouseHouseunder 1 mi
Other entries of the same register within about three miles of this one, by straight line.