What is recorded here

Kiltimon Castle anchored the O'Byrne district for 137 years, occupying a prominent strip beside the road from Newtownmountkennedy to Ashford. The Lawless family may have built it after receiving Kilwiskey from Simon, Abbot of St. Thomas's Abbey, under a promise to provide a residence. That conditional origin turns a forgotten local castle into a transaction between pride, land and obligation.

The precise location of a castle within this townland has not been identified. In 1933 Ronan (1933, 178) recorded that 'the O'Byrne of this district had made, not New Castle, but the neighbouring castle of Kiltimon (Coill t-Siomoin, Simon's Wood), his chief residence during this period of 137 years. Kiltimon Castle stood in a prominent position, on the right side of the present high road from Newtownmountkennedy to Ashford, and not far from Killadreni. An old road joined it up with New Castle. It would appear that it was the Lawless family who built the old castle at Kiltimon as they had received the land of Kilwiskey from Simon, Abbot of St. Thomas's Abbey, on condition that they built a residence'. Date of upload: 29 September 2012.

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