What is recorded here

William son of Edmund left the Old Meadow for France early in the eighteenth century, taking his family from a castle now absent even from memory. Harristown still passes the place where the Fitzpatricks stood, but the meadow gives no stone, mark or shape back. What departed may have carried more than furniture; it may have taken the last person who remembered the rooms.

Reference to a Fitzpatrick Castle here in the 'Old Meadow' (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 342). No other information. No visible surface remains. According to Carrigan 'There was a castle here, close to Harristown cross-roads, in the "Old Meadow". It belonged to the Fitzpatricks. Leeum McEmam (William son of Edmund), the last of them to occupy it, removed to France with his family, early in the eighteenth century (Carrigan 1905, vol. 2, 342). The precise location of this castle has not been located. The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Laois' (Dublin Stationery Office, 1995) compiled by P. David Sweetman, Olive Alcock and Bernie Moran. In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 17 December 2007

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