Castle

On a low rise in wet pasture with good views in all directions; adjacent to the Longford/Westmeath county border. A raised circular platform (diam. c. 40m) defined by a scarp (H 2-4m) and an external fosse (top Wth 8m; base Wth 2m; ext. D 0.8-1.7m) with a causewayed entrance (Wth 3m; L 10m) at ESE. A NW-SE running road cuts the NE quadrant, destroying the fosse from N-NNE-NE. A late-16th/early 17th-century fortified house (LF016-018001-) is situated in the interior and its associated bawn (LF016-018002-) is evident on the perimeter of the platform. It is unclear whether the platform, house and bawn are of contemporary date or whether the platform is an earlier ringwork that was subsequently refortified. Compiled by: Caimin O'Brien Date of upload: 10 April 2012

Built by a local Gaelic lord or Anglo-Norman settler in the 13th or 14th century, Castle, ringwork in Coolamber is important as a rare surviving example of a ringwork castle in the Midlands, reflecting early medieval defensive strategies in a strategically contested border region.