What is recorded here

Cannorstown Castle was a Dillon stronghold on a rock outcrop in County Westmeath, listed in 1611 with twenty dwellings, a watermill and a carucate of land. Robert Dillon surrendered the property to the Crown in 1621, after which Sir William Parsons received the castle, bawn, orchard and mill. Medieval door frames and pock-marked quoin stones still lie scattered among later ruined farm walls, proving the old hall gave up its bones to build something new.

Cannorstown Castle was a Dillon Castle which stood surrounded by a bawn wall (WM015-019----). Situated on rock outcrop in grassland, corn mill possibly built on site of medieval mill (WM015-025----) located 85m to N . This outcrop has been built up on the E side to form a platform that is faced with a stone wall (L 25m; H 1.75m) clearly visible on E side. At the S end of this wall are the wall footings of a small building. To E of this platform there is a small sub-rectangular-shaped enclosure defined by wall footings visible ay S and SE. On the E side of this enclosure there is a substantial stone wall (L 9m; max. int. H 2m; ext. H 3m) with remains of a gun loop visible. Later post-1700 farm buildings now in ruins encroach upon the N-NE and S ends of the site. The fabric of these ruinous buildings contains medieval architectural fragments including numerous pieces of door and window frames and several fragments of quoin stones dressed with rough pock marks in typical medieval fashion. An inquisition held on the 19th of December, 1611 AD, into the extent of the estate of the deceased Robert Dillon of 'Canarstowne' listed the town and lands of Canarstown also known as Ballencainoragh also known as Fowlerstowne which contained 1 castle, 20 dwellings and 1 carucate of land and 1 watermill (WM015-025----) (Cal. inq. post mortem, 5 Jas 1). In 1621 Robert Dillon of Cannorstown surrendered to the Crown his lands in Cannorstown including 'the water-mill' (Cal. pat. rolls Ire., Jas I, 513). In the same year the castle and lands of Cannorstown including 'the bawn, 1 stone hall, 1 orchard, 1 water-mill and 1 carucate of land' were granted to Sir William Parsons (ibid.). In 1641 the terrier of the Down Survey map of Nougheval parish listed Robert Dillon, an 'Irish Papist' as the owner of the lands of 'Conerstown' (NLI, MS 723-4). Compiled by: Frank Coyne and Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 6 September 2018

Cannorstown Castle was built by the Dillon family, a prominent Norman-Irish dynasty in west Cork, during the late medieval period. It is remembered as part of their extensive network of defensive and administrative sites in the region.

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