What is recorded here

Castle Kerinstown and Balrowan stands as a grass-covered oblong mound on a gentle south-facing slope in County Westmeath, its rectangular shadow still visible in aerial photographs though external facing stones have vanished. One vertical lump of bonded masonry marks the southwest angle, rising two metres above the pasture where sheep likely grazed for centuries after the castle fell. The structure faced southeast, south and southwest, positioning watchers or residents to read weather, approach and movement across the ridge rather than hide from it. What is left is not a complete wall but a directional presence, a place where human attention once turned repeatedly toward the open land.

On a relatively gentle S-facing slope, just off the summit of a ridge, in pasture with extensive views to SE, S and SW. Depicted on the revised 1913 ed. OS 25-inch map as a long, rectangular-shaped structure, annotated ‘Castle (in ruins)’. Monument described in 1988 as a grass-covered oblong-shaped mound (dims. 15m N-S; 13m E-W) of earth and masonry with irregular edges (1.6m H at S; 40cm H at N; 1m H at E-W). There are no exposed cut or dressed stones or any other type of architectural fragments visible. There is a vertical lump of in-situ mortar bonded masonry (1.8m N-S; 1.4m E-W) representing the SW angle of the castle (ext. H 2.2m; int. H 1.5m). Apart from two foundation stones on the W side, all of the external facing stones are missing. There are no other features evident. Oblique aerial photograph (CUCAP BDK018) taken 14/07/1970 shows the masonry remains standing in corner of large rectangular enclosure which probably represents the remains of a bawn (WM020-117001-). Monument is visible as a subcircular-shaped stony mound on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 08 July 2019

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