What is recorded here

Stonestown Castle vanished before human memory, leaving only wall footings buried in County Offaly soil. The Down Survey mapped a possible keep in the 1650s, yet the OS Letters recorded no castle at all by 1838. Whatever stood there was consumed by time, decay or deliberate erasure. The ground keeps the shape of what it lost.

Only the lower wall footings mark the site of Stonestown Castle that is mentioned in the nineteenth century OS Letters (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 2, 4). The letters state that the Down Survey indicated a castle in Stonestown and that no castle existed there in 1838 (O'Flanagan 1933, vol. 2, 2; Loeber 1988, vol. 4, 47). Seventeenth century Down Survey (1654-7) barony map of Garrycastle shows a possible keep or tower in Stonestown (Loeber 1988, vol. 4, 47; NLI, MS. 716). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Offaly' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1997). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of upload: 23 May 2011

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