What is recorded here

Three armorial plaques still mark the east side of Raphoe Palace, including the Leslie coat of arms set into the north-east tower. A fourth disappeared from the building between Beaufort’s visit in 1787 and today, perhaps reborn in the front garden of a William Street house. The plaques turn a ordinary demesne into a ledger of passing owners, waiting for someone to read their marks and remember whose hands shaped the place.

There are three armorial plaques (DG070-003009-/010-/011-) built into the E side of the Palace (DG070-003003-); one in the N wall of the SE tower, the second in the S wall of the NE tower and the third (the Leslie Coat of Arms) in the E face of the latter tower. Beaufort noted a fourth armorial plaque (DG070-003012-) when he visited the Palace in 1787 (1787, fol. 17); it is probably that which is now in the front garden of a house in William Street in Raphoe. The above description was derived from the 'Archaeological Survey of County Donegal. A description of the field antiquities of the County from the Mesolithic Period to the 17th century.' Compiled by: Brian Lacey with Eamon Cody, Claire Cotter, Judy Cuppage, Noel Dunne, Vincent Hurley, Celie O'Rahilly, Paul Walsh and Seán Ó Nualláin (Lifford: Donegal County Council, 1983). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated. Date of upload/revision: 15 December 2011

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.