Canbo Castle

A castle at Canbo was demolished by Rory Mac Dermot (KM 1549-68) and Brian Ballach Mor O'Rourke in 1536. The castle of Castlebragade or Canbo was held by John Crofton in 1585 (Freeman 1936, 164), but he had lost it to Irish rebels by 1596 (Cronin 1980, 117). Crofton moved to Ballymurry near Roscommon town, which was later called Mote Park, but his daughter Ann married Josias Lambert in 1603 and received Canbo as part of her dowry. Josias Lambert owned Canbo in 1635 when a house and bawn are mentioned together with almost 900 acres of profitable land he owned in Killumod parish (Simington 1949, 165-6), and he may have built the surviving house in the preceding decades. Lambert had also acquired Leamgire castle (RO010-0075----) in 1622. By 1676 Canbo had passed to a Thomas Farrell of Newcastle, Co. Galway, who had disposed of it to a James Farrell by 1681 (D'Alton 1845, 89). James' widow married Arthur French of Tyrone, Co. Galway, and the French family retained it into the 18th century. (Stalley 1991, 170-1; Mac Dermot 1996, 450-3; Keenehan 2006c, 159-162; O'Conor, 2007, 197) Situated on level ground overlooking a N-S stream or drain to the W. The E end of a rectangular three-storey building (int. dims c. 14m E-W; 5.78m N-S) survives, consisting of the E gable and adjacent lengths of the N (L 3.55m) and S (L c. 3m) walls (T 1.1m), the W end being reduced to a low scarp. A doorway (Wth 1.35m) with an internal drawbar-socket is at the E end of the S wall, but the walls are featureless apart from a window in the E gable and the E side of window embrasures in the N and S walls. There is no evidence of a bawn (RO010-084002-). Rath (RO010-083----) is c. 80m to the W and Knockroe Castle (RO010-085001-) is c. 1.2km to the WSW.