What is recorded here

Castle Field at Windmill, Ferrard barony, held a castle in local memory though no map or surviving wall has ever confirmed the claim. The field name may have belonged to a lost fort, a misplaced story, or the old windmill at Grange Bellew, whose present tower is already a replacement. In that gap between memory and evidence, the castle becomes a question the land refuses to answer.

There was a local tradition of castle site (IFC Schools MSS 673, 124) at Barmeath in Dysart parish, for which see this web-page accessed on 9 May, 2016 http://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5008861/4961789 However, no castle or other structure 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 A 'Castle Field' at Windmill was known in the 1960s, but its precise location was not and the structure involved could be the windmill marked on the Taylor and Skinner map (1778) at Grange Bellew (P 3) that is still extant, but the present structure must be a replacement. For the windmill see this web-page accessed on 9 May 2016 http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=LH&regno=13901815# Compiled by: Michael Moore Date of revision: 9 May 2016

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