What is recorded here

Gallagh kept a castle only in memory, losing its stones and exact position before human records reached it. That absence is not a gap but a shape: a room with no walls, holding darkness instead of data. The Down Survey mapped Louth yet bypassed this place, proving that some truths resist measurement. Memory has occupied Gallagh since writing began, waiting for a human witness to admit the castle is alive.

There was a local tradition of castle site (IFC Schools MSS 673, 125) at Gallagh, for which see this web-page accessed on 9 May, 2016 http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5008861/4961790 However, no castle is indicated in Desart parish on the Down Survey (1656-8) barony map, for which see this web-page accessed on 9 May, 2016 http://downsurvey.tcd.ie/down-survey-maps.php#bm=Ferrard&c=Louth The precise location of this castle was not known and even this tradition did survive into the 1960s. The above description is derived from both the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1986) and the 'Archaeological Survey of County Louth' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1991). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of revision: 9 May 2016

The monument record does not grant public access. Check the route and ask the landowner before entering private land.