Castle

A castle at Drumsawry Glebe (63) in Oldcastle parish is depicted on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony and parish maps (http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/) but as it had once been owned by the abbey of Fore (WM004-035010-) it was not recorded in the Civil Survey (1654-6) (Simington 1940, 268-70). It is depicted as a ruin on Taylor and Skinner's map (1778, 57) and on MS map 1399 (11) in NLI, made in 1778. It is depicted as a roofless structure on the 1836 ed. of the OS 6-inch map but is not named. This is a cairn of stones with parts of the N and S walls standing from a structure (ext. dims 9.4m plus E-W; 6m plus N-S). The church (ME009-042002-) is 10m to the S. (O’Connell 1965, 174-5) Archaeological testing (05E1393) by C. Duffy on a plot (dims c. 100m E-W c. 30m N-S) c. 200m to the SSW produced no related material (excavations.ie 2005:1174; 2006:1522). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 8 June 2016 Amended: 18 February 2021

The castle at Drumsawry Glebe was once owned by Fore Abbey and appears on the Down Survey maps of 1656–58; its importance lies in its historical association with the medieval Cistercian abbey, reflecting the abbey's extensive landholdings in the region.