What is recorded here

Clonlonan Castle was the chief seat of the O’Melaghlin clan around 1548 until the Baron of Delvin and English forces from Athlone took it in 1553. Its ruined walls still stand beside a working farm, marking a violent change of ownership rather than a forgotten fantasy. The loss of its quoin stones and the reuse of its materials remind us that even strong local resistance could be broken and scattered.

Clonlonan Castle ruins stands in pasture, adjacent to a modern farm complex. A horizontal water mill (WM036-020----) lies c. 140m to ESE and a bullaun stone (WM036-019----) lies c. 190m to E. Depicted on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map as a rectangular-shaped building to N and W of a farm complex with its long axis orientated N-S. According to Cox (1972, 33-34) this was a chief seat of the O’Melaghlin clan around 1548 which was taken by the Baron of Delvin and the English of Athlone in 1553. Poorly preserved ruins of Clonlonan Castle described in 1979 as a rectangular-shaped building defined by the ivy clad remains of the W wall (approx. H 25ft / 8m) with traces of a short return on the NW corner. The W wall is quite thick and there are traces of a low foundation plinth. The masonry comprises of large and small stones and is generally of poor quality. The quoin stones have been robbed out. There is a window opening at first floor level. Castle ruins are not clearly visible on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 28 November 2019

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