Cloghreagh Castle in Ruins — Report the wrong picture

What is recorded here

Five metres of broken stone still stand where Lord Gormanstown owned five hundred acres in 1640. The old Brocken Castle keeps its east corner on a low ridge, while a narrow lane has cut through the rest of the building. What is left is not a complete castle but a sharp geometric wound in the ground, marked by rebated walls, a ditch and the ghost of a larger house beside them.

Lord Gormanstown owned 500 acres at Cloghreagh in 1640, including the ‘old Brocken Castle’ (Simington 1940, 335), which is also depicted on the Down Survey (1656-8) parish map of Nobber. It is situated on a low NW-SE ridge. The E corner of a large, presumably square building, probably a tower house, survives to a height of c. 5m. The SE (ext. L 6m) and NE (ext. L 5.2m; T 1.2m) walls are featureless but both are rebated to take the first floor. A N-S lane just to its W truncates this building which stands at the E angle of a rectangular enclosure or bawn (dims c. 30m NW-SE; c. 23m NE-SW) defined by a ditch or fosse (Wth 4-6m; D 0.6-1m) on all sides except the SE where an 18th century building occupies its location. Just NE this building inside the bawn are the parallel grass-covered foundations of a house (int. dims 9.4m NE-SW; 3m NW-SE). The above description is derived from the published 'Archaeological Inventory of County Meath' (Dublin: Stationery Office, 1987). In certain instances the entries have been revised and updated in the light of recent research. Date of revision: 3 June 2016

Cloghreagh Castle was held by Lord Gormanstown in the mid-17th century, as recorded in the Down Survey of 1656–58. It is remembered as an example of early modern Irish castle architecture and landholding in County Meath.

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