What is recorded here

Carn Castle stood as a repaired tower house inside a bawn on a Westmeath rise, anchoring a small world where a holy well and nearby settlement still mark the land. It was not a distant ruin but a working home, likely crowded with people, firelight and ordinary life before destruction removed its walls. What is gone is not nothing; the shape of the place still points to the hands that built, defended and lost it.

Carn Castle situated on a rise, in gently undulating pasture. Levelled castle which stood in the centre of a bawn (WM030-030001-). Holy well (WM030-029----) named ‘Tobernakill’ lies c. 100m to NW, a settlement cluster (WM030-0123----) lies c. 160m to S. Annotated ‘a castle in repaire’ on the Down Survey map of Ballyloughloe parish and described in the terrier of this map as; ‘In Carne there is a castle in repaire’ (NLI, MS 723-4). On this map the castle is depicted as a tower house with a two storey house attached to one side of the tower. In 1641 the castle stood on lands belonging to 'Awly McGawley' who is listed as an 'Irish papist' (ibid.). Depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map as a rectangular-shaped building enclosed by a bawn wall. Monument described in 1973 as no surface remains visible. Levelled castle is not visible today on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 08 November 2019

Carn Castle in Carnpark is believed to have been built by the Clan MacDuff, Earls of Fife, during the 13th or 14th century. It is remembered as a strategic stronghold in the historic region of Gowrie and as part of the broader network of medieval castles in Perth and Kinross.

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