Castle

The precise location of Rathyoung Castle within the townland of Kinturk Demesne has not been identified. According to the Annals of Westmeath the castle was situated int he centre of Castlepollard (Woods 1907, 283). According to local folklore recorded in the Schools Collection for Castlepollard School, the Town Hall built in 1926 was constructed on the site of the castle belonging to Walter Pollard of Rathyoung. The folklore recorded in the late 1930s stated that 'Captain Nicholas Pollard's son built the castle of Rathyoung. This castle was built where the townhall now stands. There are no tracks of the castle now to be seen' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0720, Page 181). The castle of Rathyoung was built by Captain Nicholas Pollard who accompanied the Earl of Essex to Ireland in the 16th century (Burke & Burke 1847, 1053; Woods 1907, 281-2). The castle is marked on the 1657 Down Survey map of Rathgarve parish (NLI MS 723-4) but not any edition of the OS 6-inch maps. On the 1657 Down Survey the caste is depicted as a tower house type fortification standing in the centre of the townlands of 'Kilturke & Rathyong' which were described as Protestant lands. The castle of 'Kinturke' is depicted on the 1657 Down Survey map of Fore Barony. The terrier of the 1657 Down Survey map of Rathgarve parish lists Thomas Fitzsimons an Irish Papist as the owner of the lands of 'Kilturke' and Walter Pollard a Protestant as the owner of the lands of 'Rathyounge'. In 1716 Walter Pollard built a new manorial castle was built in Kinturk Demesne. A date-stone on the belfry of the outbuildings of the manorial house records the construction of this new building. The stone plaque on the Belfry bears the following inscription; 'THE CASTLE AND GOALE / OF THE MANOR OF / CASTLEPOLLARD / BUILT BY WALTER POLLARD ESQUIRE / PROPRIETOR OF THEM / AT HIS OWN / EXPENCES / 1716' (The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0720, Page 180) Compiled and revised by: Caimin O'Brien Date of revised upload: 21 February 2017

Rathyoung Castle, a tower house in Kinturk Demesne, was likely built in the 15th or 16th century by a local Gaelic or Anglo-Norman family, as part of the defensive and administrative network in medieval Westmeath. It is remembered for its historical association with the region's early settlement patterns and the power struggles between native Irish and English interests.