Ballymacadam Castle (in ruins)

Ballymacadam Castle described in 1841 as follows; 'the ruins of a square castle [ext. dims. c. 7.6m N-S x 6.8m]; it measures on the inside fifteen feet nine inches [4.8m] from east to west and thirteen feet two inches [4m] from north to south. A spiral staircase led to the top at the south-east angle, but it is now entirely destroyed. The second and fourth floors are rested on stone arches of which but very small fragments remains. The walls are four feet nine inches [1.4m] in thickness. Its east side is down to the very foundations, as is also the greater part of the north wall. All the windows are disfigured except one narrow rectangular one on the south wall which lighted the first floor and one on the west wall which lighted the fourth one' (O'Donovan 1983, 76). A number of architectural fragments of the castle site have been incorporated into a house to the S of the quarry indicated on Digital Globe orthoimage taken between 2011-13 (Purcell 2006). According to Purcell (2006) quarrying in the past has truncated the site of Ballymacadam Castle and its earthwork by up to 10 metres. The quarry face at the site of this monument is now scrub covered indicating that the quarry wasn't recent. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 26 May 2022

Ballymacadam Castle was likely built by a local Gaelic family in the late medieval period, though specific builders and dates remain unidentified. Its importance lies in its representation of early Irish castle architecture and the historical presence of fortified structures in the region.