Cumminstown Castle

Situated on the summit of a ridge, in undulating pasture, with good views in all directions. Depicted on the 1655 Down Survey map of Newtown parish as a castellated house with gable ended chimneystacks and a lower house extending from one side which stood in 1640 on lands belonging to Thomas Geoghegan who is listed as an 'Irish papist' (NLI, MS 723-4). The terrier of this parish map described the castle as a 'handsome House at Cominstowne' (ibid.). Thomas Geoghegan of Cominstown was listed in 1653-4 as one of the people transplanted from Co. Westmeath (O'Hart 1884, 352). In 1837 the Ordnance Survey Letters recorded that 'there is an old Castle in ruins, of which, I could obtain no information as to its erection, or period of its erection' (OSL, Vol. 2, 32). Cumminstown Castle depicted on the 1837 ed. OS 6-inch map and on the revised 1910 ed. OS 25-inch map as a rectangular-shaped building orientated NE-SW with building to NNE and SSW. Levelled castle described in 1973 as no surface remains visible, a modern house now stands on the site. Castle is not visible today on Digital Globe aerial photography. Compiled by Alison McQueen, Vera Rahilly and Caimin O’Brien. Date of upload: 17 December 2019

Cumminstown Castle was built in the 17th century, likely by a local gentry family, as indicated by its depiction on the 1655 Down Survey map showing a castellated house with gable-ended chimneystacks. It is remembered as an example of early fortified domestic architecture in the region, reflecting the political and social tensions of the period.